Jay Cost on Trump's Expansion of Executive Power and American Government

Expansion of Executive Power

• ⚡ Jay Cost argues that President Trump, continuing a trend from previous administrations, has expanded executive power at the expense of the legislature.
• 📈 This expansion is most evident in areas like the tariff agenda, where Congress has ceded its constitutional power to set tax rates.
• 🏛️ The legislative branch has, over time, allowed the executive branch to exert significant control, a trend seen across administrations including Trump, Biden, Obama, and George W. Bush.

The Administrative State Argument

• 🗣️ Cost addresses the argument that the administrative state is hostile to "Trumpism," necessitating presidential intervention.
• 📜 This echoes historical arguments, such as Andrew Jackson's assertion of rotation in office, suggesting executive branch positions are the "property of the people."
• ⚖️ A balance is needed: the administrative state should not be entirely independent of politics, but it must administer laws neutrally, requiring some political insulation.

Challenging Bureaucratic Independence

• 🎯 The president's aggressive posture is exemplified by actions like firing the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and pressuring the Federal Reserve chairman.
• 🚫 These actions challenge traditional notions of bureaucratic independence, particularly for agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which should be removed from the political process.
• 📜 The Constitution vests executive power in the president, who is responsible for ensuring laws are faithfully executed, but presidents have historically been more deferential than Trump.

Pre-existing Corruption in Government

• 🔍 Cost's 2015 book, "A Republic No More," identified inherent corruption in American government predating Trumpism, linked to the size and scope of government.
• 🤝 Government contracts and relationships with "mediators" (e.g., healthcare providers for Medicare) create opportunities for interests to influence public policy for their own ends.
• 🚩 Trump has not been concerned with cleaning up this system; instead, a pro-Trump conservative attitude often involves using government power for factional interests.