WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s sweeping plans to remake the presidency and give himself more power than ever if he is elected to the White House again have received a cool reception from members of his own party in Congress.
The former president and his allies are vowing to place independent federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission under direct presidential control, revive the practice of “seizing” funds appropriated by Congress, and remove job protections for thousands of public officials in the executive branch, ostensibly to replace them with Trump’s handpicked political appointees.
The proposals, outlined in a New York Times story earlier this week, stem from years of grumbling by Trump about the so-called “deep state,” the media, and Congress itself standing in the way of his autocratic tendencies. They depend on a thesis, long popular on the right, called “unitary executive theory”, a model in which the president has exclusive power over the entire executive branch of government, including independent agencies and even federal prosecutors, such as those who investigating the president himself.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who has already endorsed Trump’s bid for a second term, said Trump’s takeover would be necessary to check the power of bureaucrats and agency officials. He called Trump’s plan to give the presidency even more power “necessary to have a constitutional republic.”
“To have a true separation of powers, the president must have prerogative over the administration of the laws,” Vance told HuffPost. “If you have all these alphabet soup agencies where the bureaucrats cannot be fired and are not under the control of the president, you have actually created a fourth branch of government that is not accountable to the people. That’s a real problem.”
“What we’re trying to do is identify pockets of independence and seize them,” Russ Vought, a former director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget and a leading proponent of the takeover, told the Times.
There is some discussion to the left about how seriously to treat the scheme and whether it’s just campaign material that probably wouldn’t become law. By now, it’s clear that Democrats in Congress would unanimously oppose the plans, with at least some Republicans in the Senate willing to join them. Ultimately, an expansion of presidential power would come at a high cost to members of Congress, who value his ability to oversee industries and appropriate funds.
Top Republican appropriators also voiced opposition to the idea of reviving the president’s forfeiture authority. Congress in 1974 passed a law banning the tactic after a falling out with President Richard Nixon, who withheld $40 billion in funds Congress had approved during his first term. Reviving the practice would require another act of Congress.
“The Constitution is very clear about the role of Congress and the power of the purse, so I wouldn’t do it,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate appropriations committee, told HuffPost.
“I don’t think I agree” with the Trump team’s plans, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), who is also on the committee. “I want to have the independence of an appropriator.”
Republicans serving on the Senate commerce committee are also wary of the ways Trump could infringe on their power.
“I think those are independent agencies designed to be that way for obvious reasons, so I’m not sure what that accomplishes,” Sen. John Thune (RS.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told HuffPost when asked if he would support putting the FTC and FCC under presidential control.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the commerce committee, which oversees the two agencies, also did not back the plan. Instead, he went on to criticize FTC Chair Lina Khan, a top Republican target because of her aggressive approach to taking on big tech companies.
“I will say that Lina Khan’s abuse of the FTC’s power will add considerable momentum to Congressional efforts to rein in supposedly independent and out-of-control agencies,” Cruz said.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mis.), who also sits on the commerce committee, said he “would have to look very, very carefully” at any proposal to put the agencies under executive control. He expressed his desire that the FTC and FCC act in a nonpartisan manner.
According to the Times, Trump allies are drafting an executive order that would require independent agencies to submit actions to the White House for review. The measure, if enacted under a second Trump presidency, would likely face a legal challenge.
“I think it’s very important that we remember that he can’t just wave a magic wand and invalidate the statutory structure of these expert agencies,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said of the twice-impeached former president. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. The law is the law. If he wants to change the structure of the agency, he’s going to have to ask someone to introduce a bill.”
Schatz said that if Trump wants to change the structure of federal agencies, he must do so by appointing commissioners who agree with him.
“It’s exciting to think about the new ways that Mr. Trump would do harm, and it’s always worth worrying about, but the truth is that there are statutes and you’re going to have to abide by them,” Schatz said.
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