Trump 'havoc' forces Reagan lawyer to rethink commitment to presidential power

A former legal counsel to President Ronald Reagan says watching Donald Trump in action has changed his perspective of just how much power presidents should be allowed to wield.

In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Alan Charles Raul, now a lecturer at Harvard Law School, wrote that he once supported "the 'unitary executive' theory — a legal concept that would allow the president to disregard the contours and safeguards that Congress prescribes for the executive branch to follow."

But, Raul admitted, "Unchecked presidential power is not what the Framers had in mind."

Raul's change of heart "might be a surprise coming from an associate White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan," Raul wrote. "In fact, I served in the White House during the years when the unitary executive theory came into vogue, and indeed, I supported it. Today, however, we can all see how an unleashed president can wreak havoc on constitutional order and the rule of law."

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Raul continued that the Supreme Court has been "far too solicitous of presidential power against encroachment by an intrusive Congress," And, although the Constitution "vests the president with all executive authority, it vests Congress with all legislative authority, including, significantly, the power to set fundamental policies and procedures for the executive branch."

Judges hearing cases brought by and against the Trump administration, "need to remember that, under the Constitution, Congress’s legislative power to set polices and rules to govern the executive branch must generally prevail over presidential executive orders and unilateral mandates."

Raul wrote that these court must reject the "unitary executive" theory that has allowed Trump to base his actions and executive orders on "radical claims of power that do not exist."

"Yes, the Framers were amazing," but they couldn't possibly predict the political climate of 2025, Raul wrote.

"Nonetheless, they did approve of 'auxiliary precautions'...to guard the people against oppression by their rulers. It was for this very purpose they created a 'structure of the government' that would 'furnish the proper checks and balances.'"

Raul argued that it's time to get the "unbalanced executive chaos" that exists under Trump back under control.

Read The Washington Post opinion piece here.