Aaron Blake: “Five years ago, congressional Republicans blasted former president Barack Obama as ‘Emperor Obama’ and compared him to a king for his executive actions, most notably those protecting some undocumented immigrants. Ten years ago, conservative activists launched the tea party movement in large part as a call for a more limited federal government.”
“Today, conservative Republicans have moved sharply toward embracing a more powerful chief executive with fewer checks and balances.”
“A new Pew Research Center poll, in fact, finds that a majority of conservative Republicans (52%) agree that many problems would be solved ‘if U.S. presidents didn’t have to worry so much about Congress or the courts.’ Just 41% choose the other option, that it ‘would be too risky to give U.S. presidents more power’ to confront problems.”
“This represents a sea change in the party. The number favoring fewer checks and balances has doubled just since last year, when only 26% favored a more powerful executive.”
