THREAD ➡️ President Biden has just issued an unprecedented number of foolish and economically destructive executive orders. So much for unity. You might be wondering how he is allowed to do this. After all, America isn't a dictatorship and the president doesn't make laws.
Put simply: Congress. Every president issues guidance to the executive branch. That's normal. But when Congress passes bad, vague, or imprecise laws, it opens up space that executive orders fill. In other words, Congress enables presidential discretion.
This is THE biggest problem with Congress today. You may have heard that America has three coequal branches. This is wrong. Congress is the dominant branch of government. We are the first branch, and we have the most power over the other two.
Our constitution is designed to have Congress at the center. We are supposed to be making laws and directing the government. The president and the federal courts are empowered to check Congress, but they are not supposed to replace our legislative authority.
So what happens when Congress decides not to play its part? First, the other branches step in to fill the space. Courts legislate from the bench. The president and bureaucracy tackle problems and policy however they like.
In the short term, this behavior wins the praise of partisans. But in the longer term it creates instability and chaos in our constitutional system. Every single election, the disposition of the entire federal government changes on a dime, across a wide range of issues.
That hurts the economy, it sows confusion among citizens, and it often helps the powerful and the connected at the expense of everybody else. That, in turn, raises the stakes for each election - because seemingly everything turns on the outcome.
President Biden is blowing through norms with the sheer volume and scope of these executive orders. That's wrong. But it shouldn't be surprising. The next president, regardless of party, will probably do the same thing.
This is not a cheap partisan jab: I made this exact same criticism of the previous administration and voted against Trump's use of emergency executive authority because it ignored Congress's clear constitutional authority to appropriate money.
https://twitter.com/RepGallagher/status/1096225020995620864?s=20
If we want to stop this chaotic way of governing, if we want to make politics more reasonable, we can't have a giant gap in the heart of our Constitution. Congress has to do its job. Here are some thoughts on how to force Congress to do its job. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
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