When President Donald Trump signed his executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, it should have caused consternation from the United States Congress. Presidents cannot unilaterally abolish Cabinet departments; that requires an act of Congress.
Instead ,Trump received praise from almost all Republican lawmakers, despite the fact that he subverted their power and took away their authority.
Only a few, like Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy — who helped push Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary over the finish line — alluded to proposing legislation.
It’s just the latest example of Congress utterly abdicating its duties in the name of Trump. In fact, this week as Congress was out of session, Republicans on the Hill could not even muster the energy to speak out against Trump during a litany of actions that actively subvert the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
Trump on Friday decried attacks on Teslas a day after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced “severe” charges for anyone who vandalized Teslas, ranging up to 20 years in prison. The president took it an additional step.
“Perhaps they could serve them in prisons in El Salvador, which have become so famous for such lovely conditions,” he threatened.
This came despite the fact that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in a sworn statement that many of the Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration has sent to El Salvador’s notorious mega prison had no criminal record.
A president threatening people with rendition and imprisonment would normally require oversight from Congress to ensure that civil liberties were not violated. But no such concerns were expressed by the Republicans in Congress.
Nor was there any objection after Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick encouraged viewers on Fox News to buy Tesla stock, as its price continues to tumble as a way to protest Elon Musk, who leads the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Lutnick’s interview would normally raise questions about whether he violated the Hatch Act, which constrains the conduct of federal employees. But again, almost nothing came of it.
Earlier this week, when Trump called for U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to be impeached, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts denounced Trump’s words. saying it flies in the face of more than two centuries of American history.
But no denunciation came from Congress. Rather, a group of hard-right members of Congress led by freshman Brandon Gill of Texas, who previously called for Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar to be deported, filed an impeachment resolution.
In the same token, Trump fired Democratic commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission earlier this week — despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled 90 years ago that the president did not have “illimitable power of removal.”
Unsurprisingly, no Republicans spoke out about this overstepping of presidential power again.
The subsequent day, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell held a press conference to address the decision by the central bank, which is meant to be apolitical, to keep interest rates the same. Inevitably, a reporter asked him about the FTC firings, which led to a dodge.
“I think I did answer that question in this very room some time ago, and I have no desire to change that answer, and have nothing new for you on that today,” he said.
Powell also laid out how tariffs proposed by the Trump administration would lead to increased inflation. Trump also raged against that in the wee hours Thursday, saying: “The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S. Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy.”
The country created the Federal Reserve specifically to make sure politicians do not interfere with monetary policy. But Trump’s pressure on the Federal Reserve received zero pushback, likely because doing so would mean having to oppose Trump’s stance on tariffs.
Perhaps nobody embodied this unwillingness to confront Trump more than Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the idiosyncratic moderate Republican from Alaska. Murkowski held a press conference this week back in her home state where she said she did not fear Musk going after her, but understood why others did.
“I get criticized for what I say, and then everybody else is like, ‘Well, how come nobody else is saying anything?’” she said. “Well, figure it out, because they're looking at ... how many things are being thrown at me, and it's like, ‘Maybe I just better duck and cover.’”
At the same time, Murkowski made it a point to say her pushing back should not be construed as an attack on Trump.
“I am standing up for my role as a duly elected senator and a member of the congressional branch, standing up for my responsibilities under the Constitution, and I think I can do that without it being interpreted that I am against Trump,” she said.
Read More