Overview

• Federal courts are inundated with lawsuits challenging President Trump’s attempts to dismantle federal agencies, fire independent officials, and bypass statutory constraints on executive authority.
• Alan Raul, a former Reagan administration lawyer, has publicly renounced his prior support for the unitary executive theory, citing Trump’s actions as a threat to constitutional checks and balances.
• Raul argues that courts should rely on precedents like the 1952 Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer decision, which limited presidential power in the absence of congressional authorization.
• Statutory frameworks like the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and Reorganization Act Amendments of 1984 require congressional approval for agency reorganizations, which Trump has attempted to bypass.
• Legislators, including Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. James Comer, have introduced the Reorganizing Government Act to formalize congressional oversight of presidential reorganization plans.