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Remember when we had this thing in the United States called "Congress" that was a check on the Executive Branch? I mean, it was usually pretty terrible and ineffective, but it did actually exist at one point. In fact, there used to be a whole Legislative Branch that was very protective of its co-equal Constitutional role. I don't remember changing the Constitution to get rid of it, but I guess I just wasn't paying attention when that happened.
When your lawmakers are above the law
you aren't governed
you are ruled (and fooled).
U.N. Owen.
In his second term, Trump has taken aim at and circumvented the legislative branch – from mass firings to tariffs
Chris Stein at The Guardian:
Frigid January weather prompted Donald Trump’s second inauguration to be held in the rotunda of the US Capitol, an iconic room ringed by busts of former presidents that lies at the heart of Congress. Almost immediately after departing the Capitol, Trump took aim at the legislative branch, moving to siphon from lawmakers the powers to control spending, agencies and declaring war, and take them for himself, experts say. “What we have seen over the past year represents a real escalation by the executive branch of its intrusion into things that are historically powers of Congress,” said Molly Reynolds, the director of governance studies at the non-partisan Brookings Institution. “We’ve seen new and different ways that the executive branch has tried to intrude into congressional power, and then Congress, particularly congressional Republicans, not mount a defense of the institution in the way that we might have expected in some previous era.” At Trump’s orders, leaders of independent agencies intended by Congress to be immune from the whims of presidents have been fired, federal offices whose work the administration disliked were gutted and the Department of Education was ordered dismantled. The president has also refused to spend funds appropriated by Congress and cited emergency powers to impose tariffs on US trading partners far and wide. He kept lawmakers in the dark before ordering the raid that captured Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolás Maduro, to stand trial in the United States.
Most of these policies are facing legal challenges and several are expected to be addressed by the supreme court, which is dominated by conservative justices who have so far shown deference to the president’s policies. Experts on Congress warn that the president has spent the past year effectively crowding lawmakers out of areas of governance over which their influence was once unchallenged, with little pushback from the Republicans who control the Senate and House of Representatives. “Over the decades, the presidency has piled up enormous powers because of the actions of presidents of both parties and congresses of both parties allowing them to do that,” said Philip Wallach, who studies the separation of powers at the center-right American Enterprise Institute.
“I think every everyone involved was comfortable with that amount of power, in part because of unenforceable norms about how the president would behave. And this president has very little respect for those norms, and that allows him to use some of these powers in entirely new ways, that allow him to enrich himself and those around him and allow him to take the government in radically new directions.” In response to a request for comment, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said: “President Trump is committed to delivering on his promises to the American people with every legal authority granted to him by the constitution and Congress.”
Congress’s authority is spelled out in article one of the constitution, which delegates to lawmakers powers including making war, levying taxes and regulating commerce. Further powers are specified elsewhere in constitutional amendments or through supreme court precedent. One of Trump’s most potent salvoes against Congress came in the days after he took office, when he fired the leaders of agencies including the National Labor Relations Board, Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Trade Commission. All had been confirmed by the Senate to roles in which they were intended to remain between presidencies, and operate independently from their policies.
Later in 2025, he tried to fire one of the Federal Reserve’s governors and opened a criminal investigation into its chair, Jerome Powell, amid disagreements over the central bank’s interest rate policy. David Mayhew, a professor emeritus at Yale University and a leading scholar on Congress, called the assault on independent agencies the president’s “most disturbing behavior”.
[...] Trump’s course of action may also be influenced by the fact that despite Republicans holding majorities in the House and Senate, their ability to enact his priorities is limited. Most legislation needs 60 votes to clear the upper chamber, meaning at least seven Democrats have to sign on. The GOP was able to circumvent that by using the budget reconciliation procedure to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made permanent tax cuts, funded deportations and downsized federal anti-poverty programs, but many areas on which Trump might like to legislate cannot follow that avenue. Republicans control the House by no more than three seats, meaning speaker Mike Johnson’s agenda can be upended by the defiance of small groups within his party. That has pushed Johnson, who almost never breaks with Trump, to take drastic measures against the various rebellions that broke out against the president’s policies. When it appeared that a resolution to overturn Trump’s tariffs may have enough Republican votes to pass, the speaker changed the rules of the House to ensure it went nowhere. There has been dissent in the Senate, too, such as when five Republican senators broke with Trump to advance a war powers resolution that would have prevented future attacks on Venezuela without first consulting Congress.
Donald Trump and the complicit Congressional GOP have helped neuter the Legislative Branch during his first year of his 2nd term.
There is no enigma in the US Constitution about the separation of powers or which branch has the power to tax or to declare war. (SPOILER: It's Congress)
Dictators, defenders, and dysfunction
Well y'all - we are cooked! The Senate version of the Big Beautiful Bill has officially passed through Congress and is heading to the pres 😒
The ONLY positive off the top of my brain is the fact the Senate removed the part where we wouldn't be able to push for any regulation in AI for 10 years 😶
I'm being so serious when I say we need to take cue from Puerto Rico protesting the govenor and South Korean's stopping the coup. It's to that point. Take notes those that live in the states where the Supreme Court and congresspeople live along with the buildings they work off of. Until the congresspeople who sold out their communities and citizens give up their positions and we can elect new people to come in. They must also immediately push for term limits (and age limits). They must call for an impeachment of the president and look into the election fraud that occurred. We are not dense. There have been reports of the "maintenance" Trump's daughter and Elon did. There's been enough speculation to call for a re-election. For the Supreme Court, we demand those who have been taken bribes (large gifts and vacations) and not reported them as is required for their job, step down immediately. Potentially call for a new seat addition to the court and change how it functions so it's no longer til death. Folks used to live to hopefully 30 or 40 years old when that was implemented. Now, folks bodies are living to the 100s even when their brains get left behind. It's time to re-evaluate.
We the people - the hard working class - the everyday people are fed up. NOW is the time to talk and establish a third party, not a year before the election. THIS IS WHAT I CALL FOR. The party is We the People. Politians that want to run under our party must advocate and follow our demands - lawyers or other people that can make this more official and focused for the people, feel free to contribute or take it for yourself - spread the message and fine tune until we are ready to recruit for our party:
Pass legislation against lobbying. Why are we allowing large corporations to pay off our congresspeople to pass legislation that actively works against the working class? We are the only nation that has absolutely no guaranteed paid time off requirement. No guranteed paid leave for new parents - do you wonder why? Nestle, who creates baby formula, has invested millions of dollars to our politians to strike down any legislation suggestions to gurantee paid parent leave. Follow the money. This is the root of our issues.
With the bullet above, politicans running under our party would not accept large donations from corporations. They will let us know any attempts they recieve so we the people can use our buying power effectively and boycott against them.
Following the bullet above, they will lobby to pass legislation and spending to help support small businesses. Allow them to thrive so we can actually fight against the three large monopoly of companies that currently own basically everything. Especially local grocery stores that would allow them to offer competitive pricing to places like walmart.
There is absolutely no reason why a person that works full-time at a company has to be on SNAP benefits because they don't get paid enough. We need a shift in our salaries and minimum wage. The minimum wage should be as the definition suggests, the minimum wage required to pay for the price of living. So many people will be like "well this person shouldn't get paid more than (insert profession like teachers)". EXACTLY - why are they still also getting paid so little?! Wages have been STAGNANT while the cost of living goes up. This is no way for we the people to live!! There needs to be a re-evaluation of all the professions's worth and minimum wage to those professions. For example, in higher education, many new jobs are minimum requirement a master's degree, but the starting pay is $40,000.... UMMM EXCUSE ME?! (I have to move on or I'll get stuck here)
Increase budget for education! Our kids are suffering. Stop ignoring education of the children. This also includes making sure we create safe learning environments for them. A student that is hungry is not safe to learn. All children should have the bare necessities funded. We need to invest in our teachers. They are the building blocks of future generations and have been abused. The good teachers that people were blessed to have are true diamonds in the rough that have suffered enough. The system is currently set up to crush new professionals who are truly excited to make a difference and support all children. They are burned out and are suffering. Band-aid solutions to fast track folks who are not passionate or qualified to teach is NOT A SOLUTION. We need to invest in education. That's what I want my tax money to go to.
The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government.
It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants.
Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a neoclassical style and has a white exterior.
Today is the 235th birthday of the United States Coast Guard, 4 August 1790. The Coast Guard originally founded as the United States Revenue Cutter Service as part of the Department of Treasury to collect tariffs and stop smuggling. Except for a brief period during and after the Civil War there was no income tax until 1913, therefore a major source of US tax revenue was collected through tariffs until the 16th amendment was ratified.
Should we reconsider how taxes such as tariffs are levied? Twelve US states are challenging the capricious and arbitrary way tariffs are currently levied by the Executive Branch instead of the Legislative Branch.
Happy birthday, US Coast Guard.
@uscg
