Separation of Powers

Everyone is familiar with the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.  This is probably the first thing one learns in civics in the United States.  Congress writes the laws, the President enforces the laws, and the Supreme Court adjudicates the laws.  Simple, right?

The Presidency has taken upon itself some legislative functions.  Of course, the Congress is complicit in this, as it must be.  The Constitution invests only the Congress with the authority to legislate but the Congress time and again delegates this power to newly-minted Executive agencies that then regulate.  This is outsourced legislation.  To members of Congress, this is great.  Senator Bob can claim credit for creating this or that agency and thus showing his concern for this or that issue but also deny any responsibility if the regulations prove onerous or expensive.  At that point, the President needs to address the issue.  Perhaps there will be meaningless hearings that accomplish nothing but look serious and responsible.

The President cannot delegate his veto pen to his chief of staff.  He cannot delegate Commander in Chief to his Defense Secretary.  The Constitution allocates these to the President and he cannot then divest himself of them.  The Supreme Court cannot outsource its role as Court of Final Appeal to a law clerk.  By the same token, the Congress cannot outsource legislation.  Laws written by persons who have not been given the Consent of the Governed should be null and void.  We the People did not vote for Bureaucrat Bill.  When Bureaucrat Bill writes a law, We the People cannot vote him out if we are unhappy with his legislation.

If Congress had to pass all laws - as was intended - we'd have a lot fewer laws.  Laws would not run hundreds or thousands of pages which the legislators didn't have time to read.  There would not be passages that allocated 'rule making' or 'regulation' to this or that cabinet Secretary.

Separation of Powers existed to preserve the liberty of We the People.  The legislator who passes the law doesn't then enforce it.  The policeman who makes the arrest is not also the judge at the trial.  The judge who adjudicates the laws doesn't also legislate.  The conflict of interests is clear on this basic level.  But when the Congress grants legislative authority to the President, few see the parallel.  When judges create law through their rulings, too many are unfazed.  Separation of Powers protects liberty while their combination invites tyranny.