GOP rep sees Congress’s authority waning
By Robert Cloud
U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-8th District, shared his concerns about President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration to build a wall on the southern border.
He met with voters at the Waupaca VFW hall Tuesday, Feb. 19.
“While I may happen to agree more than disagree with what President Trump wants to do on border security right now, doing anything through executive order is impermanent,” Gallagher said. “It can just be undone by the next administration.”
On Tuesday, Feb. 26, Gallagher joined 13 Republicans in the House who voted in favor of a resolution to nullify Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. The resolution passed by a 245-182 vote.
Gallagher discussed Trump’s national emergency declaration as part of the shift in power from the legislative branch to the executive branch.
Gallagher said the trend began with the passage of Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the War Powers Resolution in 1973.
“Both pieces of legislation were intended to reign in the power of the executive branch and re-empower Congress, but they did the exact opposite,” Gallagher said. “Since then, Congress has systematically surrendered all of its primary authority under the Constitution, that is the power of the purse, to the executive branch and all of its significant authority under the Constitution to have a role in foreign policy to the executive branch.”
Gallagher called the shift in power a “fundamental distortion of our Constitution.”
He noted that Article I of the Constitution was designed to make the legislature the most powerful branch of the federal government.
“For good reason: We are most accountable to the people,” Gallagher said. “You have a way of getting rid of me every two years.”
Gallagher noted that 535 legislators are elected to Congress, either every two or six years.
“There’s only one person in the executive branch that’s elected,” he said.
Gallagher said he is also concerned that declaring a national emergency will set a precedent for future presidents who can also use it to thwart the will of Congress.
“The fundamental thing we need to do to fix our Republic right now is to restore power within the legislative branch of government relative to the executive branch,” the congressman said. “Otherwise, we’re going further down this path of adjudicating everything through executive order.”
Gallagher said Republicans who were opposed to President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders to accomplish his agenda should be consistent when Trump tries to use a declaration of an emergency to accomplish his agenda.