Independent Agencies and the Constitution

            According to the book about Constitutional law of which I read parts of tonight, the three branches of government have different roles and responsibilities. The legislative branch creates laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the judicial branch decides individual cases and interprets law. Three reasons are provided that President Trump’s executive order from the date of February 18th, 2025, regarding independent agencies is risky.

President Trump suggests moving independent agencies to the executive branch because of lack of accountability. Since the agencies were created by the legislative branch, they may be accountable to the legislative branch. The order seems to imply that the independent agencies would have more legitimacy if they were a part of the executive branch because of the election of the President, however, the officials in the legislative branch who created the agencies also won elections, which is also a source of legitimacy.

Trump has a history of exploiting other people. When claiming authority of agencies independent from the executive branch, President Trump might not use this power to promote good for all Americans or as many people as possible, but exploit this power for personal gain.

An independent agency is not a part of the executive branch. The word “independent” conjures the idea that the agencies spontaneously appeared out of the air, which is not true, because the legislative branch created the agencies. Since President Trump is the leader of the executive branch of the US government, he should not have the power to end the employment of leaders of agencies that are not part of the executive branch of government.

In summary, the first point is that independent agencies are accountable and legitimate because they were created by the legislative branch. Second, since President Trump has exploited people in the past, he may use new power to exploit people in the future. Third, independent agencies are not part of the executive branch, and since President Trump is the leader of the executive branch, he should not be able to end the employment of agency leaders that are not a part of the executive branch. 

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