Tuesday, December 07, 2021

Congress Should Not Continue to Delegate Its Power to the Executive Branch

Recommendable! Law-maker in chief! Ruling by executive order! Caution: The Cato Institute is also thoroughly infected with the Trump Derangement Syndrome.

"By now, Congress has ceded enough policymaking initiative to render itself expendable. When Biden wants a law made, he can go it alone."

"Biden has been issuing executive orders at an unprecedented clip for modern presidents — 71 and counting. If he sustains this pace through the year, Biden would almost double the combined annual average of his three immediate predecessors. ...
In this regard, Biden’s actions reflect a modern trend. Scholars have coined the phrase “presidential administration” to describe American government since at least the Clinton administration. The idea is that the president, rather than Congress, has become the primary policymaker in Washington, D.C. Think former president Barack Obama’s “pen and phone” ...
And therein lies the rub: Congress has given away, or “delegated,” much of its policymaking power over the last century to the executive branch by passing broadly‐​worded laws that empower the federal bureaucracy to impose law‐​like rules. For the most part, Congress delegates to pass the buck. When voters want something done, lawmakers could legislate policy specifics, but they’ll get blamed if they err. By delegating, Congress can escape accountability. ...
The good news is that the Supreme Court might compel Congress to get its act together.
In a line of cases stretching back more than two decades, the Court has been hinting that Congress must be clear when it delegates significant policy decisions to the executive branch. This principle is known as the “major questions doctrine,” and, if it takes hold, presidents would have far less leeway to advance their agendas through creative interpretation of old laws. ..."

Vaccine Mandate Exemplifies How President Joe Biden Has Become Lawmaker-In-Chief | Cato Institute As someone who spent most of his adult life in the Senate, President Joe Biden surely appreciates the constitutional boundaries between the legislative and executive branches of government. So why is he acting like the lawmaker‐​in‐​chief?

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