Trump's Worst Idea
One "big powerful bill" to enact huge parts of the MAGA agenda?
On election day, I looked for reasons to give President-Elect Trump a break. He won the election (though not by a landslide). And I assumed that the experiences—good and bad—of his first term and his four years out of office taught him something. I hoped for a wiser, less impulsive, more deliberative second Trump Presidency.
Since election day, Trump has provided us with a steady stream of evidence to suggest his second administration will, if anything, be more chaotic and destructive than the first. That is worrisome.
I am distressed by the motley group of people Trump has chosen for his cabinet and to lead essential federal agencies. Several (and probably more than several) have entire graveyards of skeletons in their closets. Trump nominated some people despite their skeletons being on open display (Matt Gaetz, RFK, Jr., Tulsi Gabbard). Dozens of them do not have the credentials or experience that most private-sector employers would require.
One could have assumed that someone who ran a “real estate empire” knew the importance of competent, experienced management. Trump’s appointments rebut that assumption. The President-Elect would not hire RFK, Jr., or Pete Hegseth to manage one of his golf courses or even as greenskeepers, but he put them in charge of two of the largest, most essential federal agencies.
Trump critics, known as Trump Haters in Trump World, speculate that Trump doesn’t care if poor management implodes entire federal agencies. Some assume, apparently, that DoD and HHS can “run themselves.” (If Trump believes his, that is scary but not out of character.)
On Monday morning, after reading President Biden’s editorial in the Washington Post about the importance of remembering January 6, 2021, I visited Trump’s social media platform. I wondered what he might say about January 6. I assumed that his lead post (he makes several a day) would be about the “heroes” and “patriots” that followed Trump’s call to march to the Capitol. It wasn’t.
Instead, I found a post that reminded me of 1930s Germany. After being elected Chancellor of Germany, Hitler dissolved the Reichstag.
Trump wrote:
Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before. We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better - NO TAX ON TIPS. IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS. Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Trump wants to pass major parts of his MAGA legislative agenda in one big bill and to do it as quickly as possible. He is asking Congress to abdicate their Constitutional responsibility and pass a bill written by Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tucker Carlson, and the authors of Project 2025.
I worked as counsel to a congressional committee for several years and with Congress in the private sector for more than 25 years. That experience taught me that Congress acts hastily and makes mistakes, including huge ones.
Omnibus legislation—and that is what Trump is asking for—tends to be so complex that members of the House and Senate cannot understand all of it. Omnibus bills tend to be hundreds of pages long and usually lack “legislative history”—non-legislative language written by Congressional committees explaining the intention of Congress in including a particular provision in a bill.
I assume the legislation the Trump team will send to Congress is being written the same way his team was assembled, haphazardly and recklessly. Trump will ask Congress (meaning his slim Republican majority voting as a monolithic block) to approve the bill without reading it, without hearings, and without allowing Democrats to offer amendments to it.
When we see the details of the Trump bill, it will grant unprecedented authority to the Executive Branch to implement the Trump agenda. The bill will, in essence, make Trump the dictator that many of us fear he wants to be.
Trump’s plan for Congress to enact his agenda in “one powerful bill” is his worst idea ever. Be afraid.