The New York Times, NO. 3
An
authoritarian bypasses the legislature. Trump has started to.
When a
democracy slides toward autocracy, the leader often finds ways to neuter the
legislature, turning it into a body that rubber stamps his decisions. Congress
has started down this path. The Constitution makes clear, in Article I, that
Congress alone has the power of the purse. Mr. Trump is undermining this
system.
His
administration has violated federal law at least six times by withholding
funding authorized by Congress for libraries, preschools, scientific research and more, the Government Accountability
Office found. He has gutted or dismantled congressionally authorized agencies
like the Department of Education and U.S.A.I.D. He has also imposed new taxes
— his tariffs — without congressional approval. Since the current government
shutdown began, he has used donations from billionaires to pay troops and finance the construction
of a ballroom at the White House.
Some of
the blame lies with the Republican leaders of Congress, who have failed to
fight his power grabs. Their complicity does not change the fact that these
power grabs have been illegal.
The Bottom
Line
Mr. Trump has defied the Constitution by trampling on Congress’s power of the
purse. In full autocracies, legislatures often formally transfer some of their
authority to the executive, and some congressional Republicans have proposed such changes.
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