Congressional Republicans Suddenly Lose Interest in Executive Overreach
GOP leaders denounced Barack Obama’s reliance on unilateral orders, but they’re fine with Trump’s actions—so far.
PHILADELPHIA—There were few things that infuriated congressional Republicans more during Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House than the words “a pen and a phone.” They were shorthand for the president’s aggressive use of executive authority to go around a recalcitrant Congress and achieve his priorities unilaterally, whether on immigration, climate change, or how his administration implemented the Affordable Care Act.
Republican leaders denounced Obama
