Republicans who controlled the House and Senate refused to use
Congress's constitutional power to stop trump.
Actions for which congressional authorization was constitutionally required or strongly implicated.
1. The war with Iran -- probably your strongest example
Trump took the United States into sustained war with Iran without first obtaining congressional authorization -- and for months, Republicans controlling the House and Senate refused to use Congress's war powers to stop him.
2. Trump's unilateral tariffs -- Congress's taxing and tariff power
Trump imposed enormous taxes on imported goods using emergency powers Congress never gave him. Republicans controlled the branch of government constitutionally responsible for tariffs -- and Congress did not stop him. Ultimately, the Supreme Court had to.
3. Refusing to spend money Congress had already appropriated
Congress appropriated money. Trump directed agencies not to spend portions of it. The congressional watchdog found multiple violations of the Impoundment Control Act -- and the Republican Congress did not aggressively defend its own constitutional power of the purse.
4. Freezing and attempting to dismantle foreign-aid programs Congress created and funded
Trump attempted to accomplish through executive action what normally requires legislation: eliminating or functionally dismantling programs Congress created and refusing to spend money Congress appropriated. Republicans controlling Congress largely allowed the courts, rather than Congress itself, to police the boundary.
5. Mass deportation: Congress could have imposed limits, but this is a different legal category
Trump marketed his immigration crackdown around removing dangerous criminals--the "worst of the worst." But his own executive order authorized enforcement against virtually every removable undocumented immigrant, and ICE increasingly arrested people without criminal convictions. Instead of demanding that enforcement remain focused on dangerous criminals, Republicans in Congress funded and enabled a vastly broader mass-deportation program.
6. Attempting to regulate federal elections through executive order
Trump attempted through executive order to influence rules governing federal elections--an area in which the Constitution gives regulatory authority to the states and Congress. Yet the Republican-controlled Congress largely surrendered the field and left challenges to states and the courts.
7. Using emergency declarations to obtain powers Congress never intended
Trump repeatedly used declarations of "emergency" to expand presidential authority into areas traditionally controlled by Congress. Rather than reclaim powers delegated to the presidency, Republicans in Congress repeatedly allowed those emergency powers to expand.
8. Reorganizing or effectively eliminating congressionally created government functions
Trump sought to eliminate or hollow out offices and programs Congress had created by law. Instead of insisting that major restructuring come back through Congress, Republican congressional leaders largely permitted executive restructuring to proceed until courts intervened.
Signed, Cyrus Vox
Who Is Cyrus Vox