The Administrative State

The essential idea for the Constitution was to maximize individual liberty. It did this by enumerating a few specific limited powers to the federal government, leaving all others to the states and to the individuals. Also, fearing a government with too much power, the Constitution litterally separated those enumerated federal powers of making laws (legislative power), administering (executive power), and deciding if laws were propperly followed (judicial powers). The essential idea was for individuals to rule themselves instead of being ruled by a king or other authority.

These fundamental Constitutional principals began to erode during the early 20th century with the rise of 'scientific management' to increase efficiency and effectiveness and development of the Administrative State. “Chevron deference” referrs to the doctrine of judicial deference given to administrative action. The Chevron doctrine said that, if Congress has not directly addressed the question at the center of a legal dispute, then a court was required to uphold the agency’s interpretation of the statute, thus giving more power to government.

"... the ideas that gave rise to what is today called "the administrative state" are fundamentally at odds with those that gave rise to our Constitution. 

The rise of the administrative state that is such an integral feature of modern liberalism thus required the defeat of the separation of powers as a governing principle, at least as it was originally understood, and its replacement by a system that allows delegations of power, combination of functions, and the insulation of administration from the full measure of political and legal control.

The executive agencies, in other words, are no longer confined to carrying out specific rules enacted by Congress, but are often left to themselves to determine the rules before seeing to their enforcement.

The agency, on the basis of its expertise, and not Congress, on the basis of its electoral connection, is charged with determining the specific policy that best serves the "public interest." 

 "the destruction of this principle of separation of powers is perhaps the crowning jewel of the modern administrative revolution. Administrative agencies routinely combine all three governmental functions in the same body, and even in the same people within that body."

His example is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (Emphasis added. Click here for more) In short, the Administrative State makes and adjudicates policy, not just efficiently execute policy. See related YouTube clip here.

Effectively, the Administrative State has become a seperate branch of government combining the powers of all the other three branches. Some call it The Deep State. It has increasingly made the Constitution irrelevant; become divorced from any accountability to We, the People and represents a clear danger to individual liberty . “The threat to democracy — the existential threat to democracy — is the unelected bureaucracy of lifetime, tenured civil servants who believe they answer to no one; who believe they can do whatever they want without consequence; who believe they can set their own agenda, no matter what Americans vote for,” (source)

You Can’t Defend ‘Democracy’ and the Administrative State
"...the Intelligence Branch operates with unilateral authority above Congress (legislative branch), above the White House (executive branch), and even above the court system (judicial branch)." ( click here for more)

"That is the power of unelected bureaucrats.They can bring down entire administrations, groom presidents, and even get people elected…Unfortunately today, we see much of the same." (source)

"This network of extra-governmental institutions (like USAID) and NGOs is where the real power in America rests. The public can vote however they want but nothing changes because the apparatus and their influence remain regardless of who is elected." (source)

The CIA has been managing regime change the world over for a very long time. (See 'Operation Mockingbird' here) Is it now directly involved in U.S. politics at the most intimate level? Has the Deep State actually removed US Presidents?
The FBI and CIA Are Enemies of the American People

Further reading: Obama's Shadow: The Deep State and Its Real Faces

Is fascism rising again? (Click here for more)

Fortunately, awareness and resistance grows. The Chevron deference decision was recently reversed.

"[President] Trump’s EO 13957 was a dagger aimed directly at the heart of the beast. It might have worked...  The action was stopped dead due to the election results." ... "With Executive Order 12003 (“Protecting the Federal Workforce”), Biden saved the deep state’s bacon..." (see here)

An article about reversing Regulatory Capture in the healthcare industry is here.

Upon re-election President Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to radically shrink the Deep State. The battle over transparency begins.   (see here for more) "A distinguishing mark of Trump’s second term has been an optically concerted effort, at least initially, to take control of and then curb administrative state power, more so than any executive in living memory." (click here for more) The Deep State fights back. For an example, a federal district court denied the President the power to examine executive department agencies. (see here for more)

Another good article on this topic is here.

The Constitution can be amended. Click here for more.
The Constitution can also be ignored / nullified / re-interpreted :
Continue with Part 2 - Transition to Democracy here.
Continue with Part 3 - Transition to The Administrtive (Deep) State here.

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