Congress Reclaims Power by Giving It to Trump
House leaders moved to restore the constitutional authority of Congress on Monday by transferring another large portion of it to President Donald Trump. The House Rules Committee prepared to consider the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act after the Senate approved the measure 86-11, confirming broad bipartisan agreement that lawmakers can best exercise power by handing it to someone who does not require their further input.
The bill would authorize tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from major purchasers of Russian oil and gas while allowing Trump to choose the rates, targets and waivers. The arrangement relieves Congress of the outdated burden of deciding what its own legislation does. “This is Congress taking back its power by giving all the important parts to me, which is the strongest possible form of taking power back,” Trump said. “Nobody understands separation of powers better than I do, especially when Congress separates itself from the power and I keep it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson urged bipartisan support for the measure, citing the sacred constitutional principle that tariff policy should be determined by whichever presidential impulse remains in effect when customs offices receive the paperwork. Supporters said the delegation is tightly constrained: Trump may impose sweeping tariffs on major trading partners, disrupt supply chains, raise prices and waive the sanctions whenever he determines that national interest requires the sanctions not to sanction anyone.
Democratic Reps. Richard Neal, Gregory Meeks and Don Beyer objected that the measure could increase consumer costs, punish American allies and allow Trump to decline to enforce the policy Congress was supposedly passing. Their concerns reflected a premodern interpretation of Article I under which lawmakers write trade policy instead of placing it in a gift bag and presenting it to the executive branch. The legislation also preserves checks and balances by having Congress write Trump a check and permitting him to choose the balance. Congress has therefore reclaimed its constitutional authority by ensuring it will never again need to use it.
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