Why does Congress even exist anymore? They’re supposed to write laws, not dodge them. But here’s the dirty secret: they’re too scared of losing elections to do their jobs. Take the FCC. Congress knows it can’t pass a law stomping on free speech. So they create an agency under the executive branch, hand it a vague idea like “community standards,” and let it regulate what we say. The president bends it to his will, while Congress funds it and shrugs. It’s not just the FCC—think EPA, FDA, FDIC, the whole alphabet soup. This isn’t delegation. It’s dereliction. Congress has abdicated its power to the White House, all to keep their seats, and we’re left with an imperial presidency that answers to no one.
This started over a century ago. Way back in 1887, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to tame railroad barons. Farmers were getting fleeced by high rates, but instead of writing tough laws, Congress punted. They set up the ICC under the executive, gave it loose reins to “regulate,” and washed their hands. By 1942, it wasn’t just trains, it was your farm. Roscoe Filburn had a farm and grew wheat. Congress, via the Agricultural Adjustment Act, let the Department of Agriculture place a cap on crops. Filburn produced more than he was allotted by the government and fined him $0.49 per bushel. Filburn sued the government because his wheat wasn’t sold across state lines. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision disagreed, citing the Commerce Clause in the Constitution, saying it didn’t matter whether or not he sold the wheat across state lines. What mattered is that he could sell it if he wanted thereby effecting prices. The commerce clause became a superpower, letting the executive micromanage anything because Congress wouldn’t.
Fast forward to 2015. The EPA’s Waters of the United States rule turned ranchers’ nightmares into reality. In western states like Wyoming or Montana, a puddle in a low spot after rain could be a “wetland” under federal control. Congress had left the Clean Water Act vague, so the Obama administration defined “waters” to include seasonal ponds or ditches with a “significant nexus” to bigger streams. Ranchers fumed because stock ponds for cattle or dry ditches risked needing permits. One wrong move could mean hefty fines or jail. The EPA claimed exemptions protected farmers, but the rules were so murky, no one knew what was safe. Nothing in the Constitution gives the feds power to regulate private property like this. The Founders saw the government’s domestic job as arbitrating disputes between states, think trade spats or border fights, not dictating what a rancher does with his own land. Congress, by punting to agencies like the EPA, handed the executive a power it was never meant to have. The commerce clause got twisted from a shield into a sledgehammer.
The result? An imperial presidency. From FDR’s New Deal to Obama’s WOTUS, presidents wield power Congress won’t touch. Accountability vanishes when one person can rewrite laws or regulate your backyard puddle via unelected bureaucrats. Elections have become like picking a king, not a servant of the Constitution. Congress bickers over optics while the republic drifts toward autocracy. They’ve got to grow a spine and write real laws, not frameworks. Stop punting to agencies. Citizens should demand it, too. The Founders didn’t ditch one king to let us crown another. They wrote a Constitution to limit federal power, not to greenlight executive land grabs.
Look at President Trump’s second term, just one month in as of February 2025. He’s hit the ground running with a flurry of executive orders—over 60 by mid-month—made possible by Congress’s abdication. He’s halted federal hiring and launched a “Department of Government Efficiency” to slash waste, even eyeing entire agencies for elimination. I agree with many of these moves: exposing fraud, cutting costs, targeting bloated departments. But, I worry that without Congress taking back its power, every four years, the United States gets a de facto king… eight if they stick around. When presidents govern through executive order, there’s no legislation through representation. This is what Congress created. Just because some prefer Trump’s actions doesn’t mean they’ll cheer the next president’s. Imagine a Kamala Harris with this power! I shudder to think what she could’ve done. The balance of power isn’t just a phrase, it’s the heartbeat of our democracy. Right now, it’s flatlining.
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