(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu = Under the assumption that the Republican Party led by President Donald Trump will be defeated in the U.S. midterm elections in November, legislative preparations to limit President Trump's authority are underway in the political world.
The Washington Post (WP) predicted on the 4th (local time) that if the Democratic Party recaptures the Senate and House of Representatives, it will be a move to restore the appearance of the United States that the Trump administration has changed over the past two years. In fact, it will be an arduous task reminiscent of a major overhaul of the country.
Democratic lawmakers are scrambling to come up with related bills. The purpose is to nullify or prevent recurrence of what President Trump has done in areas such as foreign affairs, defense, government spending, immigration, judiciary, and personal affairs. There is also a tendency to appeal to voters' 'anti-Trump sentiment' ahead of the election.
Representatives Susan DelBene (Washington) and Don Beyer (Virginia) proposed a bill to limit President Trump's emergency declaration authority, which he used 12 times to impose tariffs, deport immigrants, and deploy the National Guard.
Representative Jamie Raskin (Maryland) has prepared a bill to prevent the president from accepting money from foreign governments without the consent of Congress and to require public review of White House renovations and renovations. This bill targets President Trump's receipt of the Qatar Royal Air Force One and the construction of a large banquet hall at the White House.
Legislation has also been prepared to prevent the president from entering into financial agreements with his own government. This is a bill related to President Trump's push for a 'judicial victims' fund' worth about $1.8 billion in return for dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, claiming responsibility for the leak of his tax records.
Senator Chris Murphy (Connecticut) proposed the 'Enemies Prohibition Act', which would prevent the administration from prosecuting and punishing individuals or groups for their speech.
In the Justice Department under Secretary Pam Bondi and Todd Blanch, lawyers who were concerned about President Trump's "weaponization of the Justice Department" have retired or been fired, and bipartisan discussions are underway on ways to restore the Justice Department's political independence.
The Partnership for Public Service (PPS), a non-profit organization that pursues government reform, proposed a bill to strengthen layoff regulations to prevent a recurrence of the mass layoffs of federal civil servants immediately after the inauguration of the Trump administration.
Rep. Raskin told WP, "Trump's use of presidential power can and must be reversed, but it will take decades," and added, "We have a tremendous rebuilding task ahead of us."
In American history, such a major reform took place immediately after the 'Watergate incident' that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. At the time, Congress passed a large number of bills restricting the president's authority to misuse personal information, spy on citizens, divert campaign funds, and declare a state of emergency.
WP said, "Critics predict that the United States after Trump will be engulfed in a similar reform craze," adding, "It is expected that lawmakers will scramble to score points amid widespread public distaste for Trump's self-aggrandizement and pursuit of private interests."
However, it is unclear whether the current Democratic Party will secure the same political momentum as it had during the Watergate incident. At that time, the Democratic Party won a record landslide victory in the Senate, 61 seats to 39 seats, and in the House of Representatives, 291 seats to 144 seats.
Additionally, some scholars believe that the phenomenon that has emerged in this administration is due to President Trump's popularity, aggressiveness, and his personal tendency not to follow traditions and customs, so even if the Republican Party returns to power, it is unlikely that Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio will act like 'Trump II'.
There is also a counterargument that amid the polarization trend in politics, presidents after Trump also have considerable incentive to rely on 'executive order rule' to strengthen their authority. President Trump has issued over 280 executive orders to date, far more than any previous president.
Fundamentally, it is also argued that in modern politics, regardless of East or West, a social consensus must come first to curb the increasingly enlarged power of the president and establish a leader who is 'dedicated to the public interest'.
PPS Chairman Max Steer emphasized, “We need the people to demand reform.” A Pew Research poll last year found that 78% of Americans were concerned about expanding presidential power.
