Blog

As the authors of a book that argues that a combination of government and markets has built a country truest to its fundamental political values, we see plans to radically downsize government as a contradiction of the historical evidence. As our book relates, the country has established a web of laws that interact with markets to build up our infrastructure, protect people, and help the most vulnerable among us.

Since our last update (March 18), we have seen some small changes regarding CRA resolutions. There have been no new resolutions signed into law (only two so far), and there are now seven resolutions that have passed one chamber. This means that in addition to the six resolutions that had already cleared one chamber (you can see our previous update for a detailed description of those resolutions), there have been votes on four other resolutions.

On February 25, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued an interim final rule (IFR) rescinding the CEQ regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On March 27, we submitted a comment, along with 25 other professors, identifying the severe challenges this rescission will create for critical infrastructure projects and other important federal activities.

\In How Government Built America, Sidney A. Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain offer a sweeping account of the role of government in building the United States. Readers will encounter a tour de force of U.S. history that includes topics as diverse as the regulation of early taverns; founding-era debates over bureaucracy; Andrew Jackson’s spoils system; the post office; the Civil War; monopolies and the Gilded Age; immigration, tenements, and slums; populism and muckrakers; Keynesianism and the New Deal; nuclear power development and the space race; the civil rights movement; the Vietnam War; Rachel Carson and Earth Day; Ralph Nader and consumer protection; the War on Poverty; Alfred Kahn, President Jimmy Carter and deregulation; Reaganomics; the Affordable Care Act; governmental outsourcing; the judiciary’s evolving role in government; January 6; COVID-19 and Anthony Fauci; and climate change and the Inflation Reduction Act.

We thank Shelley Welton for her generous comments about our book and for the two issues she raises about our argument that American history is a story of how the mix of government and markets has been based on respect for equality, liberty, fairness, and the common good. We appreciate the opportunity to engage in a dialogue on those issues.

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the questionable leadership of Elon Musk, has quickly become the signature initiative of the second Trump administration. Since Inauguration Day, personnel associated with DOGE have fanned out to virtually every executive branch agency, systematically dismantling them from within by hacking their IT infrastructure, firing thousands of staff, and even attempting to shut down entire agencies. To help congressional leaders, concerned policymakers, and citizens understand the various ways that DOGE’s actions may be unlawful, the Center has established the Unmasking DOGE tool that catalogues the numerous legal infirmities that underlie both DOGE as an institution and the specific actions it is seeking to carry out.

Since our last update (March 10), we have crossed two important milestones regarding Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions: President Trump signed the first two resolutions into law, and the overall number of CRA resolutions introduced in Congress reached 60.

Government has always been an essential part of American history, and this remains true today. Yet, as President Trump prepares, once again, to do his best to dismantle the administrative state, American history reveals why these efforts will ultimately fail. To appreciate that history, and what it means as the country moves into the Trump administration, we summarize key findings of our book.

While President Trump finds “tariff” one of the most beautiful words in the English language, I myself prefer “anti-backsliding.” Back in January, Trump told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to roll back efficiency standards on everything from light bulbs to shower heads. Some news outlets viewed this as an accomplished task, with headlines like “Trump Rolls Back Energy Standard.” But, as it turned out, not only was it not a done deal, it was also legally impossible. The reason: an anti-backsliding provision.