General Discussion

When Donald Trump swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” perhaps he brushed past this detail. The Associated Press reported:

President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin. ... Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny’s cost.

As the Republican left New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl, he wrote to his social media platform, “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations [sic] budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”......

But whether one supports or opposes sticking with the penny is separate from the question of governmental power. Penny critics have spent recent years pressing lawmakers on this for the most obvious of reasons: It’s up to Congress to make decisions about U.S. currencies.

Even if Trump’s underlying position has merit — and it very well might — what arguably matters most in a situation like this isn’t about pennies, as much as it’s about the president unilaterally making a policy declaration outside of his authority.

In other words, presidential power-grabs matter, even if they’re in pursuit of worthwhile policy goals.

A New York magazine report added, “Like so many other things Trump has said or tried to do since retaking office, it’s not clear if he can legally [order the Treasury to stop making pennies]. It would probably require an act of Congress to fully discontinue the coin, since Congress dictates America’s currency specifications. But as with so many other things, Trump may just try to do it anyway.”