He Has The Power

Going to be a lot of dishonesty about it.

Let’s take these objections in turn. First, those who’ve called for executive action, and certainly those of us here at the Prospect, aren’t calling on Biden to trample the Constitution. Absolutely nothing in the Day One Agenda would violate constitutional authority. In fact, the agenda adheres directly to the Constitution’s Article II powers. A president’s job function is, by and large, to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Everything in our coverage refers to actual laws the president has the authority to implement. The only exceptions to that are in areas like foreign policy, where the president has additional, enumerated Article II powers.

Student debt cancellation, for example, is derived from the Higher Education Act of 1963. Lowering prescription drug prices comes from using provisions of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, or Section 1498 of the U.S. Code. Effectively legalizing marijuana is achieved through the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Biden can alter the measurement of poverty because it’s an administrative function, and several laws tie federal benefits to that poverty calculation. Biden can shape federal procurement policy thanks to the 1974 establishment of a dedicated White House office for that purpose, and requiring contractors to pay living wages or proper benefits can meaningfully improve the lives of millions of workers.

I could go on, but you get the point. It is not tyranny or dictatorship to ask a president to do their job and implement laws already passed.