Impeach Trump, but limit future presidents too

Both the polls and the prediction markets suggest that in the upcoming midterm elections, Democrats will regain the majority in the House of Representatives if not in the Senate as well.

At that point, Democrats will face the question of whether to impeach President Trump once again. Not only should Trump be impeached to hold him accountable for his abuses of power, but Congress also must curb presidential power before another president follows Trump’s lead.

No president has ignored the rule of law as much as Trump. His administration has disregarded court orders , closed departments without congressional approval , engaged in aggressive and illegal immigration enforcement tactics, withheld funds legally authorized by Congress, imposed tariffs unlawfully , and, most recently, waged a war without congressional consent or even notification. No president in our history deserves impeachment and removal from office more than Trump.

Admittedly, even if impeached, Trump will not be removed from office. Even though some Senate Republicans will support removal in a Senate trial, as happened in the past, the likelihood that the two-thirds majority will be achieved is slim. Nevertheless, both the House and the Senate should send the message that presidents cannot act as Trump has without consequences.

But the Congress needs to go further. Powers granted to the executive need to be curtailed to avoid a repetition of the Trump presidency and the potential permanency of the expansion of presidential powers. Congress can do this in several ways.

One immediate need is to pass a constitutional amendment limiting the pardon power. The Framers of the Constitution could not have imagined a president would so abuse the pardon power as Trump has done. Trump has issued more pardons than any president since Harry Truman, although given his current pace of pardoning it is likely he will pass Truman’s record. It is not just the number, but who gets them.

Not only did Trump pardon hundreds of people who rioted on Jan. 6, but he has helped his political allies with pardons as well as those who donate large amounts of money to his causes. Limits need to be placed on self-pardons, pardons of relatives, and individuals who have committed certain crimes. Pardons should be relatively rare and not be part of a quid pro quo that benefits the president. And, definitely, no president should be able to pardon himself, an idea Trump has publicly toyed with .

Another is to limit the president’s war-making power. Congress did this once with the War Powers Act of 1974. Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon had waged war without congressional approval. The War Powers Act requires congressional consultation and approval. President Trump has ignored those provisions. Congress needs to put more teeth in the War Powers Act, such as an automatic cut-off of war-related funds without a vote of congressional approval.

Trump is claiming the War Powers Act restricts his ability to pursue his war aims against Iran. But that is exactly what it is designed to do. The nation should not go to war on the basis of one individual’s judgment. In a democratic society, such a crucial decision should be made by the people’s representatives, not the executive alone.

Yet another move is to rein in presidential tariff power. Constitutionally, the imposition of tariffs on goods from other countries is the responsibility of Congress. But Congress has granted presidents the power to impose tariffs under certain conditions. Trump has exploited those conditions illegally. Congress needs to impose more limits on those conditions, such as a requirement of congressional approval before a tariff can be imposed or a more explicit description of a real emergency when Congress could be bypassed.

These are just a few of the ways Congress could begin to reassert its Constitutional powers vis-à-vis the president. In the midst of the abuses of the Trump administration, now is a perfect time to take action. Unless such balancing is restored, future presidents will expand presidential power to the extent that Constitutional checks will become meaningless, and presidents will become virtual dictaertors.

Richard Davis is a professor emeritus of political science at BYU. He is the author of several books on American politics.