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congressional memo
The administration is showing it doesn’t view the House and Senate as equal partners. So far, Republicans, who hold both majorities, are accepting their new status.
Jan. 30, 2025Updated 11:37 a.m. ET
Congress passed a law shutting down TikTok, and President Trump flouted it. Congress required advance notification for removing inspectors general, and the Trump administration fired them on the spot. Congress approved trillions of dollars in spending, and Mr. Trump ordered it frozen unless the federal programs receiving it passed his ideological litmus tests.
The new administration is quickly demonstrating that it does not intend to be bound by legal niceties or traditional checks and balances in its relationship with Congress. That has alarmed Democrats but drawn shrugs and approval from Republicans, who say that Mr. Trump is delivering what he promised even if it comes at the expense of Congress’s authority and constitutional status as a coequal branch of government.
“President Trump clearly ran for office to be a disrupter, and he’s going to continue to do that,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Republican.
Mr. Trump is also clearly embarking on a test of what he can cow a Congress under total Republican control into swallowing. Early indications are that it will be a lot.
In addition to his rush to snatch the power of the purse away from lawmakers, he has sent up a crop of cabinet nominees who would have never passed muster on Capitol Hill in the past, daring Republicans to either back them or risk the wrath of the movement behind Mr. Trump. All but a few have snapped into line.
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