Shared Pool of Knowledge

The great ship of state that is the US government is designed in the Constitution to be exactly like a giant ship at sea – cumbersome and slow to change directions. The interwoven checks and balances assure that no single branch can dominate the other two. The President can present his vision and ideas to Congress, the President can work to persuade Congress to approve his proposed plans, laws, and programs. But Congress makes the laws, creates the programs, and determines the funding. Congress creates the agencies, and Congress must abolish them.

All the agencies in the Executive branch, which implement the laws and programs created by Congress, are designed to run smoothly between administrations, to continue the programs created by Congress until Congress acts to create new programs and laws, or cancel existing programs and laws. Those agencies are staffed with subject matter experts and dedicated civil servants. Civil servants can only be fired for cause or through a reduction in force. This is built into the system to assure continuity of institutional memory in the agencies, so our government programs are run efficiently and effectively. The Executive branch agencies can issue rules to interpret and implement the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President.

The Judiciary branch determines whether the laws are consistent with the Constitution, and on an individual case-by-case basis, determines whether laws have been broken, and if so, what the appropriate punishment is. The drafters of the Constitution provided a means to amend the Constitution, but the path to do so is long and difficult. All of this design favors continuity of government and assures that changes are incremental, absent a huge push of public sentiment and attention on any specific topic.

Now comes Donald Trump, determined to re-make the entire Executive Branch to his own liking, relying on the speed of Executive Orders versus the slowness of the wheels of justice. Trump is violating federal laws on civil service protections left and right, in a blitzkrieg of  illegal firings and illegal shuttering of federal agencies. He’s crashing through every limit, guardrail, law, and norm, daring the protectors of the Constitution to try and stop him. He is firing the watchdogs – the Inspectors General – of the federal agencies, firing the FBI investigators and DOJ attorneys who would be involved in stopping his illegal actions. He is illegally firing the career leadership of both agencies for the same reason. He is freezing delivery of already obligated funds in violation of the Anti-Impoundment Act.

It is not an exaggeration to say that, two weeks into his administration, Donald Trump has already created a Constitutional crisis through his behaving as if he does not have to follow any law but his own. He is weakening our government, throwing sand in the gears of federal agencies, and seizing control of every aspect of the Executive Branch.