Former President Joe Biden’s departure from the political scene is not just the end of a historical career or a political era. It may represent the last gasp of the founders’ view of a presidential-congressional balance.

For over a century, Congress’s power has been eroding, including during Biden’s 2021-25 presidency. Biden, by far the longest-serving member of Congress to ever be elected president — 36 years as a Democratic senator from Delaware plus eight years as vice president — would have seemed a natural to try to restore some Capitol Hill prerogatives. It is hard to imagine any future president, or even congressional leaders, having any real interest in reversing the growing executive branch power expansions, exemplified by President Donald Trump during his early weeks back in office after four years away.