CNN anchor Jake Tapper pulled a quote from The Wall Street Journal article ‘Trump, Feeling Emboldened, Pushes Agenda Into Higher Gear,’ and amplified it on social media: “Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an ‘iron fist,’… Steve Bannon, the influential Trump ally, likened Congress to the Duma, the Russian assembly that is largely ceremonial.”
Veteran conservative Gregg Nunziata, who formerly served as general counsel and domestic policy adviser to then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, responded to Tapper: “Look, the finer points of originalism are interesting, but any serious legal conservatism must grapple with an off the rails presidency and an off duty Congress.”
[NOTE: Many supporters of the second Trump administration believe in an interpretation of governmental power called the unitary executive theory, which — as the Center for American Progress asserts — is “designed to sharply diminish Congress’ imperative role to act as a check and balance.” Trump policy chief Stephen Miller recently asserted that in the case of deploying troops the president has “plenary authority,” which Cornell Law School defines as “complete power over a particular area with no limitations.”]
Look, the finer points of originalism are interesting, but any serious legal conservatism must grapple with an off the rails presidency and an off duty Congress. https://t.co/TXiGuVvnda
— Gregg Nunziata (@greggnunziata) October 13, 2025
Like Nunziata, whose policy stances are very far from left wing, Democrats are also responding to the GOP congressional acquiescence when it comes to submitting to executive branch usurpation of constitutional powers granted to Congress on issues such as tariffs, war-making, and appropriations — which can be altered by the President through rescissions.
Democratic influencer Christopher Webb wrote in response: “The White House is laughing at Republicans in Congress, because they know they’re dog walking them.” Webb added: “They see Congress as theirs to control, and Republican leadership keeps proving them right… They’re Trump’s puppets, and everyone knows it.”
Another replied: “Congress has abdicated its oversight role and has humiliated itself, repeatedly. This is a dangerous situation, and not how democracies are intended to work.”
Note: President Trump has ordered several lethal bombings of fishing boats in the Caribbean which he claimed carried drugs and Venezuelan drug dealers and were headed to the United States, an attack on foreign citizens of a country with whom the United States is not at war. The move marks a stark departure from traditional interdiction of ships. Many say the killing of suspected drug traffickers without due process contradicts “the right to life under international human rights law”, yet the U.S. Senate rejected a measure to stop Trump from unilaterally striking Venezuelan boats, in a vote along party lines.