Forum: Congress needs to take back its constitutional authority

By Melissa C. Batson / Herald Forum

President Trump has taught us two valuable lessons. The first is the risk that a president could grab enough power to become a tyrant is very real. The second is the danger of a Congress that acquiesces in such a tyrranical power grab.

The answer is for the Congress to claw back the power it has gradually surrendered to the president over the last 236 years. The president should be left with only the powers vested in him by the Constitution. Those powers are to be commander in chief of the armed forces, the power to pardon, make treaties and appoint Supreme Court justices. That is it.

Boiled down to its essence, the president commands the military, pardons criminals, negotiates treaties, appoints Supreme Court justices and attends state dinners.

All of the massive power inherent in the bureaucracy, like the Department of Justice, the State Department, the FBI and the rest of the “deep state” were made possible by the acquiescence of a Congress that was too lazy to exercise these powers itself.

So, the Congress should abolish all cabinet positions except for the Department of Defense and reclaim those powers for itself.

It could assign the responsibilities of each of those departments to the appropriate committee to run as that committee sees fit.

For example, the Department of Transportation was established by the Department of Transportation Act in 1966. Repeal it.

Then reestablish it and have it report to the House Transportation Committee. The Transportation Committee appoints the Secretary of Transportation who serves at the pleasure of the committee and appoints all of the subordinate officers like the heads of the FAA and the NTSB.

We could do this for each of the departments and assign them to the appropriate oversight committee.

So, Congress established the Department of State by law in 1789. Repeal it and reestablish it under the oversight of the Senate Foreign Relations committee who will appoint the Secretary of State.

We could even repeal the National Security Act of 1949, which established the Department of Defense, and pass legislation placing it under the control of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who would appoint the Secretary of Defense. Then, if Congress declares war, the Department can automatically revert to the Commander in Chief for the duration of hostilities.

This restructure would prevent a tyrant from ever accumulating the power Mr. Trump has. It would also restrain Congress from surrendering power to the president because, human ego being what it is, each of the committees would be loathe to surrender the power they have.

None of this would require a constitutional amendment. However, it would require a medical miracle as the Congress would have to grow a spine.

Melissa C. Batson lives in Monroe.