LinkedIn on Tuesday, December 9, 2025

I’m not a lawyer.  Nor am a Constitutional historian.  And I’m lightyears away from being a Supreme Court Justice.  What I have, at best, is an understanding of how our government is supposed to work that I was taught in high school – a long, long time ago, figuratively speaking, in a galaxy (Annapolis Senior High) far, far away.

According to cable news and the online editions of various newspapers, six of our Supreme Court Justices are on the verge of giving President Trump permission to “dis-independentize” (my terminology) the independent agencies Congress created and earlier Supreme Court Justices have affirmed.  The case at hand has to do with the Federal Trade Commission, but the results will apply to all other independent agencies, including the Federal Reserve, which no less an authority than Congress itself felt should be independent of Presidential politics, prejudices and other nutty behavior.

The idea is simple enough.  Congress, representing the people, will make the laws.  The President, as the CEO of the government, will execute those laws.  Hence, the “Executive” Branch.  And the Judicial Branch will settle disputes related to those laws.  Easy peasy, three co-equal branches of government.  Each with a significant degree of authority over the other two.

Here’s my question in light of the case the Supreme Court is now considering…  The Executive Branch, a/k/a Donald Trump, is supposed to execute laws Congress passes.  The President doesn’t make the laws.  He/she is supposed to carry them out.  And yes, I know I’m oversimplifying the process, but that should be the basis of their relationship.  The point is, the President is not in charge of our government.  Is not endowed with some Constitutional or other authority, whatever, to remake government as he or she sees fit, without regard to the laws Congress, the people’s branch of government, creates.

If the Supreme Court rules that the President has the authority to ignore Congressional law with respect to the establishment of independent agencies, what laws can’t the President ignore?  And, if there aren’t any, isn’t that the end of our democracy?  And how un-Constitutional is that?

Do you see the problem I’m having?

-Les