Phil Gramm and Michael Solon (“Cheer Up, Obama’s Legacy Can Be Erased,” Dec. 22) miss the forest for the trees. Yes, the morass of Mr. Obama’s executive orders and regulatory actions can be undone with the same tools used since 2009, although even that will be easier said than done because of the economic investments and political interests benefitting from the current rules.
But the fundamental problem is exponentially larger: Amid the wreckage wrought by Barack Obama is the destruction of the separation of powers and the wholesale arrogation of legislative power by the White House narrowly and the executive branch more generally. This Obama version of Leninism—any tools that advance his goals are acceptable—is the real Obama legacy, and a systematic reversal of a myriad of executive orders and regulations will do little to induce future presidents to respect America’s traditional constitutional structure. That is why Ms. Clinton is already promising to make Mr. Obama look like a piker in the abuse of presidential power.
A real reform would force presidents and bureau officials to adhere to the laws and constraints actually enacted by Congress (with courts serving their proper role of enforcing the constitution rather than as enablers of legislative whims). This won’t be easy to achieve. One approach might be a requirement that all regulations be approved by Congress, combined with a sharp strengthening of the Antideficiency Act, making executive-branch officials personally liable for the broad economic costs of exercising powers not enacted by Congress. Because any such reform will have to be negotiated, the next Republican president might use the Obama approach temporarily, so as to bring Democrats to the table.
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