Trump and DOGE bump up against the Madisonian system
Also: Talking Congress at THE Ohio State University... and Senators are retiring
Trump and DOGE bump up against the Madisonian system
“Directionally good but the execution is sloppy.” This is what I have heard from most of the conservatives I have queried about DOGE and its cost-cutting efforts. Sure, they like cuts because they are worried about the deficit and the federal government doing far too many things. Not one of them shed a tear for the overseas USAID grants that were canceled.
But they and anyone else paying attention sees the gaffes are piling up from Musk’s “move fast and break things” strategy.
There are the dumb errors, like telling the nuclear weapons workers they were no longer needed—then hiring them back. DOGE also has been flagged for miscounting the purported “savings” of its actions.
But more problematic are the actions that have provoked a backlash from the governance system. The federal government is not Twitter or any other corporation. America does not have a unitary government.
It is a constitutional republic with a federal and separation of powers system. The Founders did not want any king-like figure to develop. So that shattered power and distributed it widely. Unlike European monarchs, the American president was not empowered to raise funds or to declare war.
Sure, for some weeks GOP legislators and governors stood by as President Donald Trump and DOGE acted unilaterally. But the people in the system can only take so much before they use the power they get off the couch.
Cabinet secretaries and agency heads grew tired of feeling like eunuchs at the court as Musk usurped their authorities and downsized their staff cohorts and programs. They pushed back.
Republican legislators grew annoyed that the laws they had passed were being ignored and the policies they oversaw were being frozen. They began to stand up.
State and local governments that had inked agreements with federal agencies only to see them abrogated started complaining and lawyering up.
The federal courts also have stepped in and said, “Hold on, now.”
Then there is the wellspring of all the power in the American governance system—the people. Constituents, some of whom voted for Trump, grew annoyed at losing their jobs and seeing members of the families and communities lose jobs. They began yelling at their GOP members of Congress.
This is our Madisonian system. It frustrates unilateral action over the long run.
Musk and the young men of DOGE do not really understand the system, and Mr. Trump has little respect for it. They imagined the only way to drain the swamp was to just do stuff as fast as possible.
Certainly, they got some wins, although it is not clear how lasting they will be. One can imagine a Democrat president signing spending bills in 2029 that completely restaffs the empty cubicles.
But make no mistake, the Madisonian backlash is happening.
It did not have to be this way. Imagine, say, that DOGE done its “audits” and shared the indefensible spending with the public and the congressional appropriators, and the President then demanded a rescission package — a bill to pull back funds previously appropriated to agencies — by April 1?
BOOM!
Congress would have been put under intense pressure to cut, DOGE’s errors could have been avoided, and no laws would have been broken. The GOP as a whole could have claimed a victory for shrinking the government.
Instead, executive unilateralism has sparked dissension and a mess.
Discussing Congress post-Chevron deference and goading Congress to change
I recently had the pleasure of visiting THE Ohio State University to chat with staff and students about Congress. Here I gab with Prof. Michael Neblo and students about what ails Congress, how legislators can better engage the regulatory process, and why I feel confident our Republic will endure. Enjoy!
Announced and coming retirements in the Senate
BGov’s Greg Giroux reminds us that senator retirement season is upon us. “Most senators disclose retirement early in the year before election,” he writes. New Hampshire’s Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (R) said she is hanging it up after the November 2026 election. She joins Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
Illinois’ Dick Durbin (D) and Idaho’s Jim Risch (R) are 80 and 81 respectively, which makes them possible candidates for retirement after their current terms. Other possible departures include Ed Markey (D-Mass). who is 78, and Jack Reed. who is 75 (D-R.I.).
A not insignificant number of Americans imagine that politicians come to DC and stay here forever and are out of touch with regular Americans. Certainly, some senators serve a long time. Durbin got elected to the House of Representatives in 1983 and joined the Senate in 1997. McConnell won election in 1985.
But four-decade tenures in DC are the exception not the rule. Shaheen arrived in 2009, Peters got here in 2015, and Smith won in 2018.
Turnover on Capitol Hill is the norm. People come and go, and that means America’s national legislature is relentlessly adding newbies.
Good point
"If the power to impound were to exist, it would effectively make negotiating with Congress unnecessary in cases where the President wants less spending than Congress, since the President could simply refuse to spend those funds after the fact."
Trump and DOGE is very well said and thus shared with folks of like mind. Thanks