Since the earliest days of the United States, the framers grappled with the challenge of creating presidential powers strong enough to govern effectively, yet restrained enough to prevent unilateral control. Recently, debates over the scope of presidential power have been at the forefront of American politics with renewed intensity.
In this episode of You Might Be Right, former Tennessee Governors Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam explore why the authority of the president has extended and what might be done to restore its limits. The conversation examines the history, arguments, and constitutional stakes behind a complex question: Can the president really do that?
The governors are joined by Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School and former assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute.
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Goldsmith begins by arguing that Congress has gradually delegated its powers to the executive branch, often to avoid political accountability. At the same time, he notes that Congress still has the necessary tools to check the president and restore the balance of powers.
Shapiro agrees that Congress has ceded too much power to the presidency, allowing the executive branch to exercise authority beyond what is laid out in Article II of the Constitution. He also discusses how observers might recognize when the expansion of executive authority crosses the line into abuse of power.
Although they approach the issue from different perspectives, both guests agreed that executive authority has grown too broad in America today. Goldsmith and Shapiro each provided unique solutions for restoring the balance of powers in the federal government.
To conclude, Governors Bredesen and Haslam personally reflected, discussing how their own political parties have played a role in giving away Congressional authority to the president.
By examining the actions of President Trump, recent Supreme Court decisions, and the founding documents of the United States, the episode asks a fundamental question: Has the presidency outgrown its constitutional limits?
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