Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act in the Senate on Thursday. His bill intended to take action to “put power back in the people’s hands instead of the administrative state,” read a press release about the bill. This specifically applies to the current process involving legislation in the government in which regulations go into effect unless explicitly disapproved by Congress. Under Paul’s proposal in the REINS Act, major rules would need to be approved by the legislative branch before going to the president for signature and approval. “The purpose of this...

WASHINGTON—In laying out the checks and balances of democracy, authors of the U.S. Constitution imagined that the president and Congress would wrestle for power when their authority conflicted, each fighting for influence. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” James Madison wrote. President Trump’s ambition has been sweeping and muscular in the first days of his new term, producing less of a transition in government than a takeover. Congress, by contrast, has all but forfeited the match. The result, if Trump’s assertions of power survive the courts, would significantly rebalance power in Washington, centralizing unprecedented authority over federal spending, executive-branch...