Since the time of the first President of the United States to today, executive power has steadily grown to address crises, a changing electorate and evolving interpretations of the U.S. Constitution.
Generally speaking, the Central Illinois congressional candidates this year agree the House and Senate roll over too much for the president. Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said that is the case for every president he’s seen in his past 10 years of office.
“In several administrations, we have given too much power to the executive branch and not retained our power as the legislative branch, and I think tariffs is one of those particular areas where we’ve done that,” he said.
Expanding executive power
LaHood is facing off against Democratic newcomer Paul Nolley this year in the 16th District, which covers a large, rural swath of Central Illinois. Nolley agrees the trend affects both parties and many administrations. But this administration, he said, is a bigger problem.
“I think we’re at a unique point in time right now where one political party has just become a servant of one man, of the president, and that is something that is very unique,” he said.
According to NPR, President Trump has presided over a sweeping expansion of executive power by overcoming norms, checks and balances; targeting free speech; using the pardon power to benefit his allies and more.
That argument is not new. Similar warnings came from other modern presidents including George W. Bush’s use of the Presidential Signing Statement and Barack Obama’s many executive orders to undo the policies of his predecessor.
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Nolley said, yes, some Democrats were antagonistic to President Obama. And while there were examples he saw of party members being obedient, he believes it is nowhere near the “full cult of personality” as it is for President Trump.
Nolley and LaHood agree robust oversight committees can hem in ethical excesses of chief executives. Right there with them is Democratic incumbent 17th District U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen who said presidents can grab more power when lawmakers avoid tough votes.
“We should be able to curtail the advancement of these emergency executive orders and say, ‘Where is the emergency?” said Sorensen. “Donald Trump is putting forth more executive orders than any other president because he knows he can circumvent Congress.”
Sorensen said part of the cure for the problem he describes is Congress reclaiming the power of the purse. But for his colleague LaHood, the answer is also the courts, such as when the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on tariffs, striking down one of the president’s key campaign promises.
LaHood agreed with the precedent prohibiting the economic tool’s use on national security. His opponent, Nolley, does not share the faith that the courts will always come to the rescue.
“The Supreme Court has really opened Pandora’s box on this, because they basically said anything that the president does while in office is legal,” said Nolley. “I just think that was a big miss. I don’t think that that is good for our country and that’s going to be hard to reverse.”
Crossing the aisle
Like Democrat Sorensen, Republican LaHood said fixing the balance of power requires political will.
“We take back more of that authority through legislative means to do that,” he said.
For both of them, you do that by tending relationships across the aisle and by building examples of cross-party projects.
“I think it’s the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” said Sorensen. “We were able to pass it in the House in a bipartisan measure. It went to the Senate and Republicans and Democrats came together to pass it out of the Senate.”
Another bipartisan project pushed by Sorensen is the Stop Games Act to limit pharmaceutical companies using bureaucratic procedures to half approval of generic drugs thereby eliminating their cheaper competitors. A third example, Sorensen mentioned a bill called the National Weather Safety Board Act to help build resilience in communities after tornado destruction.
However, bipartisanship is tricky in today’s Congress. With narrow majorities for the GOP, a single vote or two can be what it takes to sink a bill sitting there on Capitol Hill.
Republican candidate in the 17th District, Dillan Vancil, said bipartisan efforts will probably remain an exception as opposed to a rule.
“I don’t think there’s a world anytime soon where Democrats are going to cross the line to work with Republicans and vice versa,” he said. “We’ve become so separated.”
Democrat Nolley, in the 16th, said breaking down barriers requires blue lawmakers to spend time in red areas, and vice versa, to promote acceptance on the other side. Dillan Vancil agreed with that premise.
“I’m so done with party lines on either side,” he said. “At the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves in these positions: is this good for the American people or is it not?”
The devil, as always, is in the details of how both sides define what is “public good” for America.
