"Frigid January weather prompted Donald Trump's second inauguration to be held in the rotunda of the US Capitol, an iconic room ringed by busts of former presidents that lies at the heart of Congress. Almost immediately after departing the Capitol, Trump took aim at the legislative branch, moving to siphon from lawmakers the powers to control spending, agencies and declaring war, and take them for himself, experts say."
"What we have seen over the past year represents a real escalation by the executive branch of its intrusion into things that are historically powers of Congress, said Molly Reynolds, the director of governance studies at the non-partisan Brookings Institution. We've seen new and different ways that the executive branch has tried to intrude into congressional power, and then Congress, particularly congressional Republicans, not mount a defense of the institution in the way that we might have expected in some previous era."
Frigid January weather prompted Donald Trump's second inauguration to be held in the rotunda of the US Capitol. Almost immediately after departing the Capitol, the president moved to siphon from lawmakers the powers to control spending, agencies and declaring war. Leaders of independent agencies intended by Congress to be immune were fired, federal offices were gutted, and the Department of Education was ordered dismantled. The president refused to spend funds appropriated by Congress and cited emergency powers to impose tariffs. Lawmakers were kept in the dark before a raid that captured Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro. Most policies face legal challenges and potential Supreme Court review, while congressional Republicans largely failed to mount a strong institutional defense.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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