Democrats’ eight-year love affair with the vastly expanding executive branch came to an abrupt halt on the night of November 8, 2016. Since then, their promises to #RESIST President Trump have not ceased. This Presidents Day, Congress ought to put their money where their mouth is and take their enumerated powers back from an executive grown beyond its bounds.
Congress’ abdication of their responsibilities didn’t begin with former President Barack Obama, and it certainly won’t end with Trump. But that doesn’t mean that Congress can’t begin to reclaim its power and return the legislature to its natural eminence over the federal government.
The most obvious political win Democrats and truly conservative Republicans could achieve would be repealing the Trade Expansion Act that’s allowed the president to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum on the grounds of “national security,” as determined by the Secretary of Commerce. The Constitution doesn’t mince words when deciding who has the authority to regulate trade. In passing not only the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 but also the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917 and International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, Congress has slowly abandoned its constitutional duty to regulate trade. Instead it has punted responsibility to the executive, allowing the president to fill in the blanks of whatever “emergency” or “national security” circumstances warrant unilateral tariffs.
Congress has also allowed the executive branch to seize war powers. Congress hasn’t officially declared war since World War II, instead allowing the president to begin battles and bloodshed unchecked by the legislature. While the president does have the limited constitutional power to use the military for police actions, our Founding Fathers never could have fathomed the president starting wars of choice without so much as an approving nod from Congress.
Then there’s the problem of presidents becoming one-man legislatures. Obama’s DACA order was a prime example of this overreach. DACA recipients have remained in legal limbo as various courts across the country have questioned its constitutionality. Congress, and especially its Democrats, ought to hold Trump to task and come up with a compromise that issues him border security and immigration enforcement fixes in exchange for a constitutional solution for “Dreamers.”
Finally, Congress must not let Trump expand the definition of a “national emergency” invoking it only to build the wall. The Constitution grants only a handful of emergency powers, none of which are originally bequeathed to the executive branch. But Congress has passed hundreds of laws gifting the president a blank check to deploy in the very vague case of a “national emergency.” Congress can balk all it wants at the prospect of Trump abusing these powers to build a wall, or they can actually do their jobs and legislate.
The president of the United States has ruled the free world since George Washington, whose birthday marks Presidents Day, took the oath of office in 1789. While those who’ve filled his shoes have not always lived up to the job, the office itself has remained sacred to the republic. But Congress has let the executive bloat beyond recognition. It’s high past time to respect the office, bring it back to its constitutional role, and return responsibility to the legislature.
