Kenneth Lewandy
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
So I think you have to be able to hold two ideas in your head at once. Yes, it would be true that if all of these things were carried out and implemented the way that they ostensibly want them to be, it would be a dramatic expansion of presidential power. But then there's this other idea, which is, well, why are they doing this? Why are they carrying out actions at the pace that they are?
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
signing 70 or so so far? And why do they seem to not care whether or not they'll be invalidated in court or whether they're unworkable or how long they will take? And the answer is because presidents see a political advantage to taking executive action, regardless of whether it's actually carried out. So I think that the concerns are real, and I don't want to downplay the concerns.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
But if your question is, well, why are they taking this route, it's not always about changing policy. It's messaging at times as well. Ronald, what do you think about it at this all?
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
I think that the fundamental point is that there are bandwidth limitations in Right. They've got a couple hundred very close aides who are loyal and competent and the administrative state is massive. Right. That's a really difficult logistical management problem that presidents have been trying to solve for decades. Right.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
So I think that even the most empowered president is going to have these problems. And in fact, if you look outside the US and you looked at even at dictators who can literally control the life or death of their subordinates, they still have trouble executing their initiatives and getting people to follow their orders. So. I think that the point stands.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
It doesn't necessarily mean that they can only focus on one thing at a time, but I think people need to keep in mind the fundamental human limitations of the challenge that any president faces.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
The most important check, if you made me pick one... is the one that they're attempting to smash through, which is an independent, nonpartisan federal workforce. So, I mean, the details on this sometimes get a little bit boring and make people's eyes glaze over.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
But you have to keep in mind what their fundamental goal is, which is to make most government jobs essentially the property of the sitting president. And that would be a fundamental change to the way that we do government in this country. A return to really the first century of how the federal government worked.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
Well, not even a return to that, because at that time, we did not have two million employees, some of whom maintain nuclear weapons or do food inspections. Basically, all we did at that time was the Postal Service. So that would be truly a different world. Some of what public servants do make politicians look bad. They uncover fraud, waste, and abuse. They reveal bad inflation numbers.
Consider This from NPR
Is Trump testing limits or trying to eliminate them?
And if suddenly all of those employees could be fired on a whim by the sitting president or someone who identifies them as opposed to the administration, that's just a totally different world. So I think that that's the last most important check, particularly given the way the courts and Congress has behaved. And it's the one that I'm the most concerned about.