The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument Against Its Ever–Expanding Power

Presidential power grows like a cancer while throttling the Constitution, according to this trenchant debut on the subject of modern-day Oval Office overreach. University of Virginia law professor Prakash chronicles the metastasis of presidential prerogatives over the past 50 years to encompass the almost untrammeled ability to declare war, make foreign policy, stop enforcing laws, and informally make new laws, all without constitutionally mandated congressional consent. He blames many culprits, including a spineless Congress that off-loads tough policy decisions to the executive branch’s regulatory bureaucracy and presidential orders, federal courts that take presidential violations of the Constitution as a guide to what the Constitution condones, and an army of executive branch lawyers ready with specious arguments for presidential aggrandizements. Most of all, he pillories liberal theorists of “the living Constitution” who want to change constitutional interpretations to fit changing circumstances without the bother of formal amendment—then denounce presidents who do exactly that in order to fulfill their conservative agenda. Prakash’s lucid, meticulous argument cuts many ways, reasoning that liberals who criticize George W. Bush’s surveillance initiatives and Donald J. Trump’s wall building because they lack congressional authorization should also oppose Barack Obama’s imposition of the Iran nuclear deal without Senate ratification. The result is a persuasive case against presidential usurpations—and for a more respectful reading of the Constitution. [em](Apr.) [/em]