Trump is breaking the law--and he wants you to know that [View all]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/17/2310197/-Trump-is-breaking-the-law-and-he-wants-you-to-know-that

If the U.S. president is functionally a king, as Trump believes, then that president doesn’t need to justify their actions even if the law requires it. Take Trump’s firings of 17 inspectors general. Trump does have the power to remove those agency watchdogs as long as he notifies both houses of Congress at least 30 days before doing so, and provides “substantive rationale” and “case-specific” reasons for the removal.

Instead, Trump fired the inspectors general five days into his second term, effective immediately and without explanation or prior notice to Congress. He declared, wrongly, that this move was “a very common thing to do.” Perennial Trump lapdog Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina brushed off the violation, saying, “Just tell them you need to follow the law next time.”

All Trump needed to do here was give notice to Congress and wait 30 days. By ignoring that requirement and providing no real explanation, Trump is making clear that he doesn’t care what the law says. Waiting and providing an explanation would have acknowledged Congress' authority, and Trump wants everyone to know that he isn’t going to do so.

It’s the same with his removal of various heads of independent agencies. Generally, those individuals can be fired only for cause, because Congress created those agencies to have a level of independence from presidents. But Trump didn’t even pretend to follow the law when he attempted to remove National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox. At the time, he said she was being removed because “heads of agencies within the Executive Branch must share the objectives of [his] administration.”