Trump Has Revolutionized Executive Power

Persuasion  |  Francis Fukuyama

Donald Trump has systematically concentrated American governmental authority within the office of the president, fundamentally reshaping the limits of executive power for future administrations. This rapid expansion of authority has bypassed traditional congressional legislative powers through unilateral executive orders, including attempts to end birthright citizenship and unilaterally impose tariffs.

The Supreme Court's July 2026 decision in *Trump v. Slaughter* accelerated this shift by overturning the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent, which previously protected independent regulatory agencies from direct political interference. This legal transformation advances the conservative doctrine of the unitary executive, threatening the institutional expertise required to run a modern state. By replacing career experts with unqualified political loyalists across the defense, intelligence, and judicial sectors, the administration has degraded operational competence. Ultimately, plans like the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and the proposed Schedule P/C civil service designation aim to subject the entire federal bureaucracy to direct political control, permanently dismantling merit-based governance.

Comment

The dismantling of the 1935 *Humphrey’s Executor* precedent fundamentally alters the command and control architecture of the American regulatory state. By removing statutory protections against the arbitrary dismissal of commissioners at agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, the executive branch consolidates direct authority over market oversight. This centralisation shifts American antitrust and trade regulation from insulated, expert-led collegiate bodies to politically directed offices. Consequently, the operational independence of Federal Trade Commission enforcement becomes highly sensitive to presidential electoral cycles, eroding the predictability of long-term corporate oversight.

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