President Trump and the White House are increasingly sidelining Congress during the government shutdown, increasing the trend toward emboldening the executive branch during Trump’s second term.
Since the shutdown began, the administration has canceled or halted previously approved funding for projects in blue states; threatened to withhold previous salary For furloughed workers; made additional attacks on Venezuelan drug boats while providing limited information to lawmakers; and reappropriated funds derived from tariffs imposed without Congressional approval.
The White House has also in recent days Thousands were thrown out of jobs Workers were threatened with eliminating some programs amid the shutdown.
Trump used “pocket sanctions” to unilaterally withdraw billions of dollars of previously approved spending at the start of his term, and he has imposed sweeping tariffs, which have drawn objections from some lawmakers who argue he is overstepping his authority.
The Republican-led congressional majority has been almost entirely deferential to Trump in the process, allowing the president to pursue his agenda with little resistance.
Casey Burgett, director of the Legislative Affairs Program at George Washington University, said, “This is a trend that has been true with both Democratic and Republican presidents and congressional majorities, and this administration … is poised to take it to the next degree.”
“Presidents are mostly only as powerful as their Congress allows them to be, and right now we have a Congress that is ready to pursue what we’ve seen this president do in this administration,” Burgett said.
charge
Trump has pressed to impose sweeping tariffs on imports, despite opposition from some in Congress that he is exceeding his presidential authority.
The White House has argued that Trump has the constitutional authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump has imposed tariffs on dozens of countries as well as specific goods, citing national security concerns.
But critics have argued that tariffs amount to a tax on American consumers and that their use by the President violates Congress’s role in imposing taxes and controlling spending.
Tariffs have been a rare area where senators have attempted to rein in Trump’s actions. Senate votes in August to remove Trump comprehensive tariff Dozens of countries had a narrow escape.
now it depends on Supreme Court will decide Could the tariffs extend further, or will they expire. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he may participate in arguments in the case at the Supreme Court.
Trump said, “If we don’t have tariffs, we have no national security. This country will have no financial security. … So I think I’ll go to the Supreme Court to look at it.”
reallocating and depositing funds back
Trump has trampled on Congress’s traditional power in other ways beyond tariffs, including in recent days a government shutdown that threatened pay for military members and funding for some programs.
The administration has announced this Canceling green energy projects And Withholding of funds already sanctioned For transportation projects in Democrat-led cities and states. The stated argument is that those projects no longer comply with executive orders issued by Trump regarding diversity initiatives, nor do they align with his agenda.
Trump invoked a rarely used measure just before the shutdown Known as pocket resection Unilaterally cutting nearly $5 billion in funding approved by Congress. The cuts, which sparked bipartisan criticism, mostly targeted State Department funding for programs that officials said did not align with Trump’s agenda.
Recently, Trump has sought to divert funding to pay for other things, raising questions about his authority to reappropriate money approved by Congress without lawmakers’ approval.
The White House said Trump would use the money brought in by the tariffs to cover funding shortfalls for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC, which were imposed without congressional approval or input.
The President also signed an order directing the Pentagon to use funds for other purposes, namely research and development funding, to pay service members who otherwise would have missed pay due to the government shutdown.
“Democrats have shut down the federal government and are holding the American people hostage to pay benefits to illegal alien taxpayers,” White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt posted on social platform X.
Venezuelan boat attack
Trump has also ignored questions about congressional approval when it comes to military strikes.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have announced five strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months, the latest of which came last Tuesday. According to administration officials, a total of 27 people have been killed in the attacks.
Earlier this month, the President informed Congress that the US is in armed conflict with drug cartels identified by the administration as terrorist groups.
Democrats have objected to the strikes, arguing that Trump does not have the authority to carry out unilateral strikes under his Article II authority. A proposal to stop the strikes was led by Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). failed by 48-51 votes earlier this month.
“They have been briefed that they were loaded with drugs,” Trump said Wednesday when asked about congressional protests. “And that’s the only thing that matters. When they’re loaded with drugs, it’s fair game.”
Trump also explained on Wednesday why he did not allow the Coast Guard to stop suspected drug boats, even though it has the authority to do so.
“When you did it the politically correct way, it never worked,” Trump said. “Boats get hit and you see that fentanyl all over the ocean.”
The president has been expanding his war powers for years, carrying out strikes without getting congressional approval. But Venezuela’s attacks have raised concerns additional legal questions About whether they violate international law, and whether it opens a slippery slope to future military action at sea.
Layoffs, unpaid wages and termination of programs
Trump has used the shutdown to dramatically shrink the size of the federal government, with officials suggesting the final total number of people fired could exceed 10,000.
Although laying off federal employees is not something that requires congressional approval, the administration has ignored calls from some in Congress to refrain from doing so. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the lawmakers who warned that widespread layoffs could negatively impact services their constituents rely on.
The White House also said that employees furloughed during the shutdown will not receive back pay for the time they were away from work. While many lawmakers have noted this would violate legislation passed at the end of the previous shutdown in 2019, some top Republicans have suggested the administration might have a point.
Trump has also threatened to end government programs that Democrats favor. The President said he would release a list of “Democratic programs” that would be targeted, while he promised that “Republican programs” would be unaffected.
“Democrats are being killed in the shutdown, because we’re shutting down programs that are Democrat programs that we oppose,” Trump said Tuesday. “And they’re never going to come back in many cases.”
Lawmakers have argued that closing some government agencies, such as the Department of Education or the U.S. Agency for International Development, requires congressional approval. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from pursuing efforts to dismantle those agencies.
