Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Does a dysfunctional Congress allow for expanded executive powers?

The NYT reports on two recent Obama picks - one for Department of Energy and one for the Environmental Protection Agency - are likely to face resistance in Congress to any proposals they will pursue once in office. But each is expected to go forward with an agenda - including focusing on climate change - using powers already granted to each agency by Congress. |
McCarthy, a tough-talking native of Boston and an experienced clean air regulator, to take charge at the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ernest J. Moniz, a physicist and strong advocate of natural gas and nuclear power as cleaner alternatives to coal, to run the Department of Energy.

The appointments, which require Senate confirmation, send an unmistakable signal that the president intends to mount a multifaceted campaign in his second term to tackle climate change by using all the executive branch tools at his disposal.

When we discussed the executve branch in 2305 we outlined a variety of factors that have led to an increase in executve powers. Perhaps we should Congressional gridlock to the mix.