Whenever voters, commentators or politicians don’t like agency policies, it is easy to blame “unelected bureaucrats” acting in anti-democratic ways. Sometimes presidents appoint agency heads who try to subvert that statutory mission from within. But courts will also discipline presidents who try to steer an agency away from its statutory mission. The Trump administration has made clear its intent to roll back regulation in ways that may contradict agencies’ enabling legislation. If Republicans want to “deconstruct” the administrative state, as Trump senior adviser Stephen K. Bannon says, changing presidents is not enough.

Source: Washington Post March 15, 2017 23:26 UTC