Accountable to the pumpkin
The transfer to dictatorship proceeds apace.
Trump has signed an executive order making independent regulatory agencies established by Congress now accountable to the White House – a move that some experts said clashes with mainstream interpretations of the constitution.
The order forces major regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report new policy priorities to the executive branch for approval, which will also have a say over their budgets.
Everybody and everything has to get Trump’s permission to do anything, and if he doesn’t give his permission, that’s the end of it.
In a fact sheet, the White House described the move as, “ensuring that all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution”.
Trump is not the American people.
The latest apparent power grab from the Trump administration would give the office of management and budget head, Russell Vought, oversight over a suite of major agencies – including regulators of Wall Street, campaign finance, telecommunications companies, labor and even the Postal Service.
The Trump order aligns with campaign promises to make independent agencies accountable to the president and a pledge Vought made in 2023: “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”
Aka make the US a dictatorship.
“The [order] directs that all independent agencies shall subordinate themselves to the office of management and budget (OMB) and Trump’s OMB hatchet man, Russ Vought,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
“Under the [executive order], independent agencies’ rules would be approved by OMB and Vought, their funding would be determined by OMB and Vought, and they would be required to follow White House policy dictates,” said Weissman.
Weissman argued the move was an effort to shield major corporations from the scrutiny of such independent agencies. The SEC, for instance, often investigates major corporations on behalf of shareholders.
“Not incidentally, both the FTC and SEC have ongoing investigations or enforcement actions against companies owned by Elon Musk,” said Weissman.
Of course they do.
He doesn’t know what “accountable” means. He’s not holding anyone “accountable.” He’s destroying any measure of accountability at all. He’s making them UNaccountable.
Or accountable to him and only him, which amounts to the same thing.
Trump’s transportation department has withdrawn approval of NYC’s congestion pricing. But that’s not the main takeaway from this story. The main takeaway is that, in celebrating it, Trump seems to have declared himself king.
Unfortunately, we’ve been sliding toward de facto dictatorship for a long, long time. Presidential administrations, regardless of party, have a history of expanding executive power and diminishing congressional authority as defined by the Constitution. (Or as Jon Stewart put it, “Again, for some reason, we have given presidents the power of a king. And then we say, oh, by the way, with that power, you’re not going to get all, like, kingly and shit on us, right?”) While this particular move directly asserts White House control over independent agencies, the broader pattern of presidents’ centralizing power at the expense of Congress has been ongoing for literal decades. This Trump order isn’t exactly an outlier, not even from what Democratic presidents have done.
– Both Democratic and Republican administrations have increasingly bypassed Congress in military actions (e.g., Libya intervention under Obama, Syria strikes under Biden), avoiding formal war declarations. The last time Congress actually did its Constitutionally defined job and formally declared war was over eighty years ago, in 1942. That means every single war the US has been … not a war?
– The Obama administration increased White House oversight over regulatory agencies, particularly through executive orders such as Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review (EO 13563) and Regulatory Planning and Review (EO 12866, which Obama reaffirmed). These required independent agencies to justify their regulations under cost-benefit analysis frameworks set by the White House.
– The Biden administration used executive orders and agency directives to enforce major policy changes (e.g., student loan forgiveness, OSHA’s vaccine mandates) without clear congressional authorization. His regulatory review changes (EO 14094) further centralized regulatory power under the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), similar to Trump’s move.
– Under Dodd-Frank (2010), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was set up to be largely independent of congressional budgetary control, with funds coming directly from the Federal Reserve. This effectively removed oversight from Congress, paralleling Trump’s attempt to consolidate oversight under the executive branch.
– Through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the Obama administration effectively redefined immigration enforcement priorities without congressional approval. This set a precedent for the executive branch to determine de facto immigration policy, bypassing legislative debate. It’s not like that came back to bite anyone in the ass, though.
– Presidents frequently declare national emergencies to bypass congressional gridlock. Obama declared an emergency over the Swine Flu, while Biden extended COVID-19 emergency powers long after the pandemic’s peak. This follows a trend where executive declarations serve as justification for unilateral policy changes.
Sometimes it feels like America just wants to live in a dictatorship. Well, at least a dictatorship run by the people on our side. That’s certainly the way we behave.
In fairness on that wars thing, there’s probably only been about 16 declared wars in the intervening 80 years. The niceties of declaring the beginning of hostilities have long been discarded.
What’s different here is that the executive is bypassing a friendly, slavish Congress that could be counted on to do pretty much whatever he wants, he just can’t be arsed to do so. I’m guessing a significant reason is that he doesn’t really believe his hold is as strong as it appears. He doesn’t want to risk any John McCain moments.
[…] a comment by Nullius in Verba on Accountable to the […]