WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump issued an executive order that would impede independent agencies’ authority to take legal and other actions apart from those demanded by the president.
The order, if upheld in court, would undercut the authority of these agencies, which are responsible for everything from protecting investors from scams to ensuring nuclear waste is safely managed. It could even prevent government experts from considering alternative actions or ideas.
Independent agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Transportation Safety Board, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission were established by Congress to ensure decision-making based on expert knowledge rather than politics. These agencies have frequently worked in a bipartisan manner to address difficult technical issues.
The following is a statement from Michael Wall, chief litigation officer at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“Every American depends on the decisions of independent agencies for their health, safety, and well-being—whether they are a bank depositor or airline traveler, utility customer or union member.
“With this unreasoned and overreaching pronouncement, the Trump administration is trying to neuter the ability of these agencies to protect the American people without undue interference. Congress decided, and the Supreme Court has upheld, that certain agencies function best if they operate with some independence.
“If a sustained cold snap results in a power blackout or retirees’ savings are lost to fraud, everyone will now need to ask: Did this happen because a power-hungry president stripped away these agencies’ authority to act in the public’s best interests?
“Taken together with its indiscriminate firing of federal workers and illegal refusal to honor existing federal contracts, this order shows the real designs of this administration. It’s trying to enfeeble the federal government so that its billionaire donors can pollute more, build more pipelines, or rip off investors with financial scams.
“The president is just one part of the American constitutional order. Congress needs to stop getting rolled by the president and do its job. That means stepping up to prevent the illegal firing of federal workers, pushing back on the refusal to spend the money it has budgeted, and stopping the sacking of the agencies it has authorized. And the courts will certainly be asked to weigh in on this power grab. They will need to do their job as well.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).
