Republicans take a back seat as Trump steamrolls Congress with flurry of unilateral moves
President Donald Trump is moving at breakneck speed to disrupt and reshape the federal government, challenging oversight powers reserved for lawmakers.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has tried to freeze up to hundreds of billions of dollars in federal money and given billionaire ally Elon Musk access to sensitive Treasury payment systems that send out trillions of dollars. Trump and his team have purged agency watchdogs, top FBI executives and federal prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
Now, Trump and Musk want to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, which gives tens of billions of congressionally approved dollars to foreign allies every year.
All are areas where members of Congress have either direct power or some level of oversight. And yet at each turn, Trump has bypassed them.
Since he returned to the White House two weeks ago, Trump — at the height of his political power after he won the popular vote — has been expanding his own executive authority and steamrolling Congress as he tries to shrink the government and rid it of anyone he perceives to be disloyal.
Lawmakers traditionally have heralded their oversight responsibilities and the power of the purse as points of pride in a city where there is a constant push and pull among the three branches of government. But in the second Trump administration, Republicans are so far largely deferring to Trump, who carries a huge level of influence among GOP primary voters.
Rating: 5