And frankly, I think Congress should stop trying to dodge responsibility by letting the executive stretch its authority to take care of problems Congress won't.
There are countless situations in which Congress tries to punt its responsibility to the other branches. If they want to be a responsibility-free elected TV pundit class that lives high on the taxpayer hog, then let's amend the constitution accordingly. Congress just tries to delegate responsibility to the other two branches so it can get back to fundraising, "investigating," and grandstanding.
Congress can only delegate authority that it actually has itself. Read the 10th amendment of the constitution and it’s clear that Congress doesn’t have nearly as much authority as most of us apparently assume they do.
Congress, in most cases of late, prefers to give more arbitrary authority to the Executive branch rather than actually craft specific and meaningful rules.
Congress is using their current power to get more power. It's supposed to be up to the executive branch (using veto etc.) and the legislative branch (declaring a law unconstitutional etc.) to hold them back. But really, the branches have an agreement to mutually increase their power instead of acting in the best interests of the people they "serve." As far as I can see, there isn't anyone left who's powerful enough to stand up to them.
Congress has the power to enact new laws to replace rulings they fundamentally disagree with. It feels like the only difference is what happens when the legislature is too divided to do anything.
Well, Congress is only able to abdicate their responsibility because we have departed from our "Constitutional design." All 3 branches now write law, not to mention other unelected government agencies, so Congress is now free to avoid doing their job and point the finger at someone else instead.
Congress keeps ceding more of its power to the executive, since it can't seem to accomplish much of anything any more. It does allow stuff to get done, but the only oversight is whatever the voters decide to do every four years.
This will not force Congress to suddenly become a responsible and capable legislative body. It will result in there being less government. Fewer rules to protect consumers, fewer rules to keep our air, water, and ecosystem healthy, fewer rules to prevent the powerful few from exploiting the many.
Make no mistake about it, this is about giving more power to the powerful, and it's working. This is the swan song of America if we don't wake up.
Bullshit. Congress has been exercising the power of the purse all along, passing budgets with deficits. Congress does not have the power to default on our obligations. The executive taking corrective action is worse than the congress doing so, but it's the congresses fault for failing to do their jobs not any sort of power grab.
If it were congress's job to pass these rules and regulations instead of pawning off their authority to someone else, I would assume that congresspeople would have to generally take the job a lot more seriously.
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