Congress is freeing Trump of the limited legal requirements left on him by the Supreme Court
In Donald Trump’s second term, congressional leaders have given up much of their constitutionally endowed power, allowing the president to exercise authority with little fear of consequences.
Republican members of the House of Representatives stood while Democrats remained seated during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on February 24, 2026. Just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to halt airing taxpayer-funded television advertisements praising the president.
Despite this court deadline, two of the ads continued broadcasting past the designated time, including during programs such as "60 Minutes" and "ABC World News Tonight." These commercials violated a longstanding congressional prohibition against utilizing federal funds for unauthorized publicity and propaganda. However, Republican congressional leaders took little action to stop the president's ad spending.
This scenario highlights a broader trend during Trump's second presidency, where the administration asserted authority that either infringes on existing laws or falls under the jurisdiction of the legislative branch. Nevertheless, the responsibility for enforcing these limits has increasingly shifted to entities outside the legislative branch.
As a scholar of American presidency and deliberative democracy, I am particularly concerned about how presidents can bypass rules and democratic norms without facing consequences. This situation may lead citizens to perceive the law as selective, depending on who holds power, and ultimately erode confidence in the institutions tasked with holding leaders accountable.
Consequently, the public may begin to accept the lack of accountability as a norm in political life, further weakening the foundational expectations of democratic governance.
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