'Dark places': Expert sounds alarm on little-known theory weaponized by Trump
The powers of President Donald Trump are being placed into question because of his use of unitary executive theory, according to a new analysis from Mother Jones.
Unitary executive theory claims the president has sole authority over the executive branch. The constitutional law theory is typically brought up in the context of whether a president can oust government officials who don't implement their policies.
Proponents of the theory "believe this gives the president the power to fire the heads of independent agencies; some even say it applies to civil servants who carry out the functions of government," Mother Jones reported.
The logic behind the theory is simple: we elect a president to enact an agenda, so he should be able to oversee a team willing to carry it out.
However, the outlet said the ability to remove independent agency heads and civil servants “leads to dark places.”
President Trump has taken this theory one step further by implementing it in the funding of schools and foreign aid.
There are already cases about Trump’s use of the unitary executive theory. Including, if the President has the ability to override the legislature’s power to send foreign aid, a case Trump lost.
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In a different ruling, the court upheld Trump’s use of executive theory. The Department of Education’s ability to send money to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for teachers. The ruling stopped $65 million in grants from being issued.
“The unitary executive theory is a pathway to autocracy,” Syracuse University law professor David Driesen told Mother Jones. “In every functional democracy I’m aware of, there is a civil service that can’t be easily fired, and there also are pockets in the government where even the top levels are somewhat independent of the head of state.”
Congress creates executive branch agencies and delegates rulemaking authority and enforcement to them. According to Mother Jones, “But under a maximalist unitary executive theory, no agency could put out a rule the president disliked, replacing agency expertise with the whims of the White House—and Congress’ will for that of the president.”
“The further you take the logic of the unitary executive theory, the more absurd and dangerous it becomes," the report added, noting that if the president fully controls the executive branch, neither congressional investigations nor court orders could "pierce his authority.”
The Supreme Court has embraced a stronger unitary executive since the Reagan administration.
The theory is being championed primarily by the high court’s conservative justices, the Federalist Society, and the Heritage Foundation.