If elected president in 2024, former president Trump would work to limit the authority of unelected federal government officials, according to former and present aides.
If awarded a second term as president, Trump would operate in accordance with a legal theory referred to as the unitary executive theory to exercise executive control over federal agencies, while facing virtually continual resistance from inside the federal government throughout his first term.
The proposals, which were the subject of a New York Times piece published this week, sparked accusations of dictatorship from the Left but received applause from conservative policymakers.
According to John McEntee, a former Trump adviser, “our existing executive branch was designed by liberals for the sole purpose of promoting liberal principles. There isn’t a way of making the current system operate conservatively. Just having the appropriate individuals is insufficient. A thorough system revamp is required.”
A draft executive order that would’ve allowed Trump to examine federal agency regulation actions was never released before he left office. The Federal Trade Commission, according to Trump and his friends, has served as a type of “fourth branch” of government.
The measures will undermine American democracy, according to The Atlantic senior writer Anne Applebaum.
“Imagine planning to give this type of authority to someone as vicious, spiteful, and mentally handicapped as Donald Trump if you truly wanted to destroy the United States as a democracy and a civilization,” she remarked on Twitter.
In a policy video dated April 2023, Trump, who is now in the lead in the race for the GOP’s nomination for president in 2024, already outlined intentions to implement a similar executive order.
“I would reinstate presidential power over independent regulatory organizations like the FCC and the FTC, as required by the Constitution. These organizations are not granted the right to act as an independent fourth body of government that makes laws and regulations. And they have been acting in this manner. Any regulations they are proposing must be submitted for White House consideration,” he added.
