Charlotte Howard: “There is a difference between pursuing power and gaining it, of course, with the latter dependent on a president’s context. Threats to national security have proved the most potent enabler, as was true for Lincoln in the civil war, Roosevelt in the second world war and George W. Bush after September 11th. But in peacetime, and even in times of war, either Congress or the Supreme Court has often stepped in to check presidential power. Take Roosevelt, whose plan to expand the Supreme Court was opposed by Congress. The court itself ruled against his FTC firing in Humphrey’s Executor v United States, noting that the move was a clear violation of the statute creating the commission.”
“In this broader history, a few factors set Mr Trump apart. In 2025 Mr Trump brazenly stretched the limits of his office, from setting sweeping tariffs to deploying the justice department to prosecute his political enemies. Some efforts have a larger goal, or at least a purported one. But in many instances Mr Trump seems interested solely in extending his power. Why else would the president seek to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs, when other tariff tools are at his disposal, if not to test his ability to declare any situation an emergency and do what he likes? The point of acquiring power, it seems, is to acquire power. Regnare est regnare.”
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