Trump and the (not so new) battle over government oversight
Ask Don Ritchie about the furor over President Donald Trump’s recent targeting of five internal watchdogs from prominent government agencies, and the former Senate historian cites James Madison’s argument for a government with checks and balances.
“If men were angels” there would be no need for government, the Founding Father posed, and if angels ruled, there would be no need for controls on government. Since neither is the case, Madison concluded: “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
But obliging the government to control itself has gotten harder, particularly when it comes to oversight of presidents and their administrations, say Mr. Ritchie and others inside and outside government.
Polarized partisanship accounts for much of the problem. Parties in Congress walk in lockstep with – or against – the president. In
Congressional responseWatergate legacyTransfer of powerConservative values
