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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2025.
GZERO Explains: Trump tries to tighten grip on independent agencies
The Trump administration is moving to expand presidential authority over key independent regulatory agencies that were set up to be guarded from the executive’s influence.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump issued an order titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” requiring independent agencies to submit any proposed regulations to the White House to ensure they align with the president’s priorities.
What does the order say? It gives the Office of Management and Budget – which has been working in lockstep with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency – the authority to make funding decisions and to “establish performance standards” for employees. It also instructs the agencies to create a leadership position for a “White House Liaison.”
The order applies to 19 agencies, and notably affects:
- The Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees markets.
- The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws and protects consumers from deceptive business practices.
- The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the media, internet, and all other forms of communication.
- The Federal Election Commission, which oversees elections and political campaigns.
- The Federal Reserve. While the order does not apply to the monetary policy decisions of the Federal Reserve, it does bring its regulation of financial institutions under the purview of the president.
Pros: Proponents of the executive order argue that putting the commander in chief in charge makes agencies more democratically accountable because voters can hold the president responsible for their decisions at the ballot box. Trump is also keen to control the regulatory state, which he believes hindered his first time in office.
Cons: These agencies were established by Congress to operate independently from the White House for a reason. They protect democratic principles like freedom of the press, preventing their potential weaponization through selective auditing or manipulation of election and campaign finance laws, and shielding markets and financial institutions from short-term, politically motivated regulations that could cause long-term harm.
The courts just caught another case. Since these agencies were established by Congress to be independent of the president, the order will inevitably trigger legal challenges, likely to reach the Supreme Court since they concern questions of checks and balances and executive authority. Once there, Trump will test the long-fringe unitary executive legal theory, which argues that the president has the sole authority over the executive branch.Trump’s top line: From DOGE to deportations
Donald Trump had a busy first week in office, signing a deluge of executive orders on everything from immigration and the environment to the number of genders acknowledged by the US government (two). While it may seem like the only constant is Sen. John Fetterman wearing shorts on formal occasions, presidents ruling by executive order is also nothing new.
“As Congress has both delegated more and more authority to the executive branch and become less and less capable of passing new legislation, every recent president has stretched the boundaries of executive power,” explains Eurasia Group US director Jon Lieber. “Trump has been far more aggressive on day one, but he’s also returning to office with a clear agenda and lots he wants to get done.”
Here are the biggest things Trump did this week.
Government efficiency: In his first week, Trump signed executive orders implementing a freeze on new regulations and reversing environmental protections. He created the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which aims to send at least four employees into each federal agency to carry out its cost-cutting and efficiency-boosting agenda. He’s also betting on AI, hosting a joint meeting with tech industry leaders to announce “Stargate,” a $500 billion AI infrastructure project.
But in his attempt to boost government efficiency, Trump is also trying to consolidate power in the executive – and pissing off some in the federal workforce. By reinstating Schedule F, he stripped protections against being fired for not carrying out the administration’s agenda, a move that could affect as many as 50,000 civil service workers. He has ended DEI practices and mandated that federal employees come back to the office full time, which DOGE head Elon Musk predicted would “result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” These actions are facing pushback and legal challenges by unions and agency leaders. Whether a mass exodus (or firing spree) occurs, or whether fewer workers will equal more efficiency, remains to be seen.
America’s energy agenda: As wildfires continue to burn down the country’s second-largest city, Trump has U-turned America back toward fossil fuels. While the US was still extracting record amounts of fossil fuels under the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act was steadily pushing the country toward green energy. But Trump has reversed Biden’s efforts in his first week by declaring an “energy emergency,” repealing regulations, opening vast areas for oil drilling and mining, eliminating government initiatives protecting poor communities from pollution, and halting approvals of new wind farms in federal waters.
The upside? Building and energy are likely to get easier and cheaper. But the planet could pay a steep cost.
Immigration: Trump has wasted no time implementing his plan to carry out mass deportations and secure the Southern border. The president declared a state of emergency, is deploying 1,500 troops to the border, and commanded the Justice Department to criminally investigate state and local officials who attempt to resist or obstruct his immigration enforcement efforts.
But the courts and states are already pushing back. This week, California led 22 states in suing Trump over his ban on birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, an order that was blocked, at least temporarily, by a federal judge on Thursday.
“These executive orders, even the ones that will be challenged in court, cite legal authorities and precedents,” says Lieber. “It’s now up to the courts to decide if Trump’s attempts at expanding power are constitutional or not.”
Basically, Trump laid the groundwork to get a lot done this week, but the roadblocks are on their way.