Introduction Over the last couple of years, there have been concerns among some Americans that the presidency is too strong. There are various acts by past presidents that justify their fears. A good example is former president George W Bush whose reign was characterized by imprisonment of American citizens suspected of engaging in terrorism without a warrant of arrest and letting them hear charges leveled against them. Barack Obama is also accused of overstepping his presidential powers. He is accused of ignoring the Congress and going ahead to pass various legislations such as expanding background check for gun sales, raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and extending the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate (Shapiro, 2017). Donald, Trump, the current U.S president has come under heavy criticism for his perceived disregard of the U.S constitution. In this paper, I will look into the problem of abuse of power by U.S presidents and establish where the problem is by examining an article by William Adler that goes by the title; The Problem Isn’t Donald Trump. It’s The American President. Summary of the Article In this article, William decries the breakdown of norms that is so prevalent since president Trump assumed office notably the increase in polarization ad collapse of civil discourse. So far, Trumps presidency entails significant controversies, tweets galore and regulatory rollbacks (Adler, 2018). William blames what we see today to a long-building trend about the growth of presidential power. He lays the blame for this worrying trend squarely on the U.S Constitution which has left presidents unchecked in their pursuit of power. He takes us down memory lane to James Madison, the primary author of the U.S constitution who pressed for a strong executive to counterbalance the legislature. Besides, Alexander Hamilton, a famous American statesman, argued that a good government is viable only if there is energy in the executive (Adler, 2018). William breaks down Article 2 of the U.S Constitution which outlines the presidential powers. The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has pardon powers, and appoints judges and heads of executive departments (Adler, 2018). Besides, he tries to give answers to the question of what is executive power by taking us back to Hamilton who argued that the term should be constructed broadly comparing it to Article one of the constitution which states, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the United States.” Hamilton argues that the words, “herein granted” limit Congress’s power while giving it to the executive (Adler, 2018). This argument has been cited on numerous occasions by presidents and the Supreme Court in cases regarding wars and international affairs. William further goes ahead to give various instances where numerous Presidents have exercised executive powers indiscriminately. They include Richard Nixon who ordered the bombing of Cambodia and Laos while publicly stating that he was working to end the war. Another one is President George W Bush who waged war on terror indiscriminately and Donald Trump who issued a travel ban on the U.S without seeking Congress approval. What should be done to address the Issue? I feel that it’s the high time that presidential powers in the U.S undergo review. The current trend we are seeing is worrying and could be catastrophic if left unchecked. In a world where there are flaring political temperatures, a call by a U.S president without consultation can have ramifying consequences. To check the presidential powers, I feel that the best approach is through the Congress. Firstly, I think that there is a need to increase human personnel in the legislature. Over the past century, the executive branch of the government has been growing while the legislative branch has undergone downsizing over the last forty years. The consequences of this have been that the legislature has found it a daunting task to oversee and control the expanding executive. Second, the Congress should make clear what an impeachable offense is. The Congress is the only body with the power to impeach. The constitution, however, does not make it clear what an impeachable offense is. The vagueness implies that U.S presidents have little to fear about their actions. Congress should introduce more resolute legislations that list actions such as initiating war without congressional authorization as impeachable offenses. Thirdly, I feel that there is a need to deal with executive branch propaganda. Presidential propagandizing has increased over the last couple of years with the advent of social media communication. Presidential communication teams can speak directly to the public hence winning public support. Congress enacted some legislation to curb this but have been ineffective over the last couple of years. It’s high time the Congress passed a law making it clear that official communication must be objective and should not be intended to sell the public policy. Fourthly, presidential powers can be checked by clipping the executive branch’s regulatory authority. The executive branch regulatory agencies issue thousands of mini-laws annually which have a have a significant impact on the U.S economy. In stark contrast, the legislature which issues only a few legislations. The shift in law making power from the legislature to the executive is worrying. Congress should pass statutes to curb agencies’ authority to issue regulations and cull the current heap of executive-made rules.
Conclusion From the above, it is evident that presidential powers have been increasing over the years and there is a need for legislation to check on these excesses. The Congress is the primary legislative body in the U.S and is vested with powers to check on the excesses of the executive. Thus, it should perform its duties and mandate without any fear or bias whosoever. The U.S is a country founded on democratic principles and respect for law despite one's race, gender, political or social standing. Thus, it is essential for whoever assumes the presidential office to respect the existing presidential powers.
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References
Adler, W. (2018).The Presidency has become too Strong. We Need to Find Ways to limit it.Retrieved from https://arcdigital.media/the-problem-isnt-donald-trump-it-s-the-american-presidency-66f569970021 Shapiro, I. (2017).Top 10 Ways Obama Violated the Constitution During his Presidency. Retrieved fromhttp://thefederalist.com/2017/01/19/10-ways-obama-violated-constitution-presidency/
