by Laurika Pich ‘27

On February 18 Trump ordered the White House to review regulations in federal agencies, made to “[ensure] that all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution.” The Constitution dictates that all executive power rests with the President, also including all executive branch officials and employees. Trump believes that this Constitutional clause of executive oversight and mandate provides him with power over all executive departments and agencies, including what he called “independent agencies”.

Independent agencies are ones that while being constitutionally part of the executive branch, are independent of the Executive Office of the President. The duty of each respective agency is to perform a variety of administrative functions in their area of specialty, helping the federal government to administer various aspects of its authority. Such agencies include the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which issues recalls and safety warnings, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees markets, and others. Independent agencies in previous times have been operating independently with minimal Presidential supervision. This is in large part due to laws passed by Congress allowing the government to be able to perform functions without direct presidential involvement for reasons such as limiting political pressure, making their work less partisan, reducing turnover of agency leaders, and other factors.

However, Trump argues that it is wrong for these agencies to exercise power without the supervision of the president, saying that according to the Constitution, it is unjust to the American people and that the United States was founded on the principle that the government should be accountable to the people. He also says that the Constitution indicates that he as president has vested executive power and responsibility that the laws be “faithfully executed”, therefore saying that he is allowed to have the discretion to execute the laws as he sees fit.

This ultimately expands the control of the executive branch and limits autonomy and independence of independent agencies. Regulations which limit the authority of such agencies may lead to a further erosion of the system of checks and balances, allowing for increased potential for corruption. The Federal Reserve (FED) is responsible for controlling inflation and helping make sure the economy is up-to-par for Americans. Actions by Trump could impact the authority of the FED. Politicians like him care immensely about elections and they will want to make decisions about interest rates that serve their electoral goals instead of long-term economic growth for the people. One might want to lower interest rates which provides economic prosperity making people more likely to vote for them, but it could result in inflation in the overall economy and public as an immediate after-effect.