Carte Blanche: It’s time to rein in the presidency

Donghun Shin

Much has changed since the nation's founding. Some have been made out of necessity, and others out of political expediency and ease. Thomas Jefferson was known for his deep distaste for public speaking. To fulfil his constitutional duty of delivering an address on the state of the union to Congress, he opted to send it in writing rather than physically address Congress. What was once a duty a president dutifully fulfilled, without much pomp or circumstance, has become a platform for political grandstanding and an instrument for displaying the power of the party that holds the majority. This transition has affected all branches of government, but none more than the office of the president. What once was an office with more constraints than any other has developed into something the founders feared most. Something imperial in all but name, with few checks and balances enforced, and much to be desired in constraint from those who occupy it. The problems don’t lie with the office or really those who occupy it. In the end, the issue has reached critical mass because Congress refuses to act, fearing it will tie the hands of their candidate when the time comes to occupy the office.

We are all taught the basics of the government in our high school civics classes. The Legislative branch passes laws, the judicial branch determines their constitutionality, and the executive branch carries them out. Each has its defined role and is meant to balance the others. What has emerged after 250 years is a system that only thinly balances, while Congress has vacated many of its responsibilities and authorities to the executive branch. A prime example is the Trump Administration's vigorous use of tariffs. Regulating commerce is an exclusive authority given to Congress in the Constitution. However, starting in 1934, Congress began delegating that authority almost entirely to the executive branch, chiefly the president. This has led to the situation the country finds itself in, where tariffs are used as a political bargaining tool and a weapon against friends and foes alike to achieve a president's political aims. All at the cost of American citizens and businesses. While Congress would have to debate and vote on such issues, the president can levy tariffs with a stroke of a pen or, in modern times, a single Truth Social post. A power not constitutionally granted to the president has now become a glaring issue, highlighting how elected members of the government have vacated their authority and do little to regain it. After all, if they did, their party couldn’t wield it when they controlled the presidency.

Of all the powers of the president that are most widely interpreted, none is more so than the opening line of Article II, section 2. “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.” This, coupled with multiple Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) resolutions over the years, has given presidents the power to deploy military force outside the U.S. with impunity. The continuous strikes on boats in the Caribbean that may or may not be used to run drugs to cartels and the U.S. prove as much. The Trump Administration cites the Constitution and various authorizations to attack these targets and remove Nicolas Maduro from power by citing them as narco terrorists and thus legitimate targets. The administration rarely informed Congress, nor sought their consent in doing so. There was an attempt in the Senate to block future operations in Venezuela. However, the chamber was evenly divided, and the Vice President cast the tie-breaking vote against the resolution. While some Republicans had defected, the deeply partisan divide was evident. The ability to restrain the current administration exists, but the desire to do so is divided along party lines, not by what is right for the American people and the global community.

Now is not the time for dystopian despair or for throwing in the towel and searching for homes in far-flung places around the world. All is not lost, and reform is as possible now as it has ever been. All that is necessary is for Congress to act, spurred on by the citizens they claim to represent. The powers the legislature has vacated and delegated must be regained, and the duties that they volunteered to uphold must be enshrined in their purview alone. For over 80 years, presidents have acted when they felt that Congress failed to do so, and nothing good has ever come from it. Every precedent that was achieved meant that more blood and treasure was spent in far-off lands and at times closer to home, and the nation has not been better for it. Senators and Representatives are paid too well, and given too great a latitude, to enrich themselves without any accountability for the welfare of the American people. Now is also the time when each citizen should remember their duties when it comes to holding all branches of government accountable. Change can and should occur, and what it would take to make this happen is nothing extreme or overly demanding. It would only take the consensus of voters working together to ensure that what was promised in the constitution is delivered, and that accountability isn’t cast aside for convenience. If America is going to survive as a nation and not become a part of history, then constraint and accountability must become not only fashionable but an absolute in the eyes of the electorate and the elected. A sworn duty for everyone in the country who enjoys the rights and privileges enshrined from the very beginning.