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Republicans in Congress Cede Power
Constitutional clout handed off to Trump
Matt Davis
March 14, 2025
Hey, friends,
For those of you who are new here, I read the top story in the New York Times every morning so that you don’t have to. If you were forwarded this, you can subscribe here. I’m also doing a five-minute video version of this, each morning at around 9 a.m. (depending on how long it takes me to read the newspaper). If you’d like to follow me on LinkedIn (you can always watch the recording later). If you subscribe to my Youtube channel it’ll also send you a notification when I’m “going live.”
Now, let’s do this!
Which is the lead story?! I can’t tell!
There are two stories at the top of today’s front page. The first is about how an anti-vax doctor got pulled from the CDC before his confirmation hearing because even Republican congresspeople couldn’t justify his appointment during a measles outbreak that has killed two people in Texas. Bravo! The second is about how the Republican-dominated congress is ceding power to Donald Trump, and I’ll go with that.
Last night Twitter was ablaze with Democratic ire over Senator Chuck Schumer’s decision to support the Republican spending package. That makes it to page eight of the paper this morning. But the lead, as I said, is this one.
The Republican-led Congress isn’t just watching the Trump administration gobble up its constitutional powers. It is enthusiastically turning them over to the White House.
Reporters Carle Hulse and Catie Edmonson do a good job rounding up the implications of all this. For those who don’t understand American government, there are three branches. The executive (the president), judicial (as in, the Supreme Court) and Congress. The idea is they hold each other accountable and in check. But they’re…handing that power back to the president.
As they cleared the way for passing the spending measure on Tuesday, House Republicans leaders also quietly surrendered their chamber’s ability to undo Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China in an effort to shield their members from having to take a politically tough vote. That switched off the only legislative recourse that Congress has to challenge the tariffs that are all but certain to have a major impact on their constituents.
Schumer has said he prefers supporting this bill to handing the keys to Trump and Musk during a government shutdown. When their mission is to shut down the government, it would hand away congressional checks, the theory goes. But under this congress, the power to check the president is already dwindling. In the past, lawmakers “of both parties have fiercely protected their turf, pushing back strongly at moments when presidents have attempted to usurp congressional prerogatives,” the story says. For example:
When the Reagan administration was suspected of illegally selling arms to Iran and diverting funds to Nicaraguan rebels, Congress in 1987 empowered a bipartisan, bicameral committee to conduct an inquiry. When House Republicans believed the Obama administration was illegally spending money on health care subsidies, they filed suit in 2014 and won a federal ruling that “Congress is the only source for such an appropriation.” Even as recently 2017, when Republicans controlled Congress during Mr. Trump’s first term, a Senate panel investigated whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help his campaign, ultimately issuing a report that supported that finding.
But. Republicans now say it’s important to give more power to Trump so that he can ram through his reforms alongside Elon Musk.
“This is the Super Bowl,” Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News in describing how Congress would work with Mr. Trump to change the way government functions. “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for our entire careers, and finally, the stars have aligned so we can do that better.”
Ugh. It’s such an effective talking point, and Schumer’s capitulation last night shows the Republicans have their messaging sewn up on this. Republicans are “unconcerned with the precedent they are setting,” and Musk and Trump benefit as a result.
In the past, Congress has typically called Cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking agency officials to the carpet to explain administrative overhauls of far less significance than the chaotic firings, program suspensions and funding cuts the Trump administration is now executing. There is no sign of that yet from the Republican Congress.
Democrats, relegated to the minority in both chambers, have no power to convene oversight hearings and Republicans have quickly rebuffed their appeals and calls to subpoena Mr. Musk. Instead, G.O.P. lawmakers have huddled with Mr. Musk behind closed doors and contented themselves with getting his cellphone number to raise any concerns they may have.
Instead, Democrats have had to push for “resolutions of inquiry” to require the administration to provide extensive information about Mr. Musk’s activities.
The resolutions carry special status that could force them to the House floor for votes. Republicans are unlikely to support them, but Democrats see them as another opportunity to highlight what Mr. Musk is up to and try to put Republicans on the record defending his work.
I’m not going to hold my breath. Are you?
Matt Davis lives in New York with his wife and kid.
