Trump Signs New Order to Vastly Expand His Presidential Powers

President Donald Trump signed a landmark executive order Tuesday that would allow the White House to control independent agencies that have long operated outside of its influence.

The sweeping order, which claims to promote “Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch,” could affect independent agencies like the Federal Election Committee, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The order appears to be designed to test a once-fringe legal theory, dubbed the unitary executive theory, which holds that the president has sole control over the entire executive branch. It also reflects the growing influence of Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought, who has long been a proponent of the unitary executive theory.

The order is sure to be swiftly met by legal challenges.

“Previous administrations have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal Presidential supervision,” the order reads.

“These regulatory agencies currently exercise substantial executive authority without sufficient accountability to the President, and through him, to the American people,” it continued, adding that these practices undermine the agencies’ “accountability” to the nation and prohibit a “unified and coherent execution of Federal law.”

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” the order declared.

“Therefore, in order to improve the administration of the executive branch and to increase regulatory officials’ accountability to the American people, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to ensure Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch.”

The order proceeded to outline how Vought, the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, would supervise the agencies instead by establishing “performance standards and management objectives” for their heads and reporting “periodically to the President on their performance and efficiency in attaining such standards and objectives.”

The order also allows Vought to amend agency budgets “as necessary and appropriate to advance the President’s policies and priorities.”

Alongside his role as budget chief, Vought has also assumed a temporary title of acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, another independent agency, where he’s since laid off a large percentage of employees and halted funding.

The move is unprecedented. Past presidents have rarely tried to challenge the independence of these agencies and some have gone so far as to avoid even suggesting a hint of interference through their actions.

But Trump last week made the stunning claim: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”