Strengthening Checks and Balances
The executive branch has amassed too much power. Even though our system was designed to have three co-equal branches of government, today it’s far too easy for the president and other executive branch officials to circumvent Congress and act unilaterally on matters of great importance. While Congress sets the nation’s budget and declares our wars, presidents can spend funds without the approval of Congress, and they have the power to deploy troops and federal law enforcement. These authorities are ripe for abuse, especially since officials in the executive branch are able to act with little accountability. We’re urging Congress to enact reforms that would put better guardrails on executive power and ensure more robust oversight over the president and cabinet officials.
Over the past few decades, the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department has issued a series of nonpublic legal opinions that have granted the executive branch more and more authority and shielded officials from accountability.
The president can declare a national emergency with little say from Congress, granting the executive branch wide-ranging powers. This process is ripe for abuse by a president looking for a way use funds and authorities Congress would not support.
The White House has the power to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, DC, without the consent of the city’s mayor. We saw the impact of this power in 2020, when National Guard helicopters were used to menace Black Lives Matter protesters.
It’s time for Congress to curb the Office of Legal Counsel’s abuses. The OLC has been on a decades-long quest to expand executive power, and Congress must step in and reform the secretive office.
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