Democrats Must Prevent Trump Presidential-Power Abuses
- President Donald Trump defied Congress and flouted norms from the White House.
- Democrats are pushing measures to limit presidential power, but their paths are tough.
- Legal experts say any president could follow Trump’s road map.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
It’s January 20, 2025, and President Donald Trump is giving a thundering second inaugural address on a platform outside the Capitol, a crowd of disputed size filling the National Mall. Melania Trump, the first lady for the second time, stands nearby, stone-faced, while outgoing President Joe Biden bows his head in disbelief.
This is the opening scene of nightmares for some members of Congress and experts in constitutional law who fear that an emboldened second-term Trump could strut back into the Oval Office in a few years with even less regard for laws and presidential norms than he had during his first term.
Trump enraged critics by snubbing congressional subpoenas, defying the anticorruption Hatch Act, refusing to divest himself of business interests, circumventing Congress on spending, and much more.
“There is a road map for any president to abuse any of these powers in the same way or potentially worse ways,” said Elizabeth Hempowicz, the director of public policy at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group.
Congressional Democrats are pushing a series of measures that directly respond to many of their biggest criticisms of Trump. The effort, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who led Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, aims to give Congress more power when it comes to presidential pardons, enforcement of the emoluments clauses, and the policing of subpoenas. It would make it harder to fire government watchdogs, toughen federal enforcement for Hatch Act violations, and attempt to limit White House political interference at the Justice Department.
But nine months into the Biden administration, and with Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress, none of the legislation introduced to prevent a Trump 2.0 has been enacted, and it doesn’t appear to have much of a chance of becoming law anytime soon.
The White House and Congress are more immediately focused on the coronavirus response and legislation to enact some of Biden’s biggest domestic-policy priorities.
Even if the reforms were to clear the Democratic-led House, they’d need to get Republican support in the Senate. There, Democrats hold 50 seats and the narrowest of majorities — and face a 60-vote threshold for overcoming a Republican filibuster to pass most legislation.
Read More: Democrats Must Prevent Trump Presidential-Power Abuses