The Levers Trump Isn't Using

"But if you view the year through the lens of the president's powers, all of that action comes to seem more circumscribed. By neglecting some of the most significant formal and informal tools at his disposal, Trump has largely failed to advance durable policy change, at least on domestic matters. He has dominated a lot of news cycles, but at the expense of shaping the future-for good or ill."

"In the first year of his second presidency, Trump seemed determined to avoid doing much of this work, and to instead use the weight and leverage of the executive branch as a cudgel to batter opponents and drive changes in their behavior. He has worked around the formal powers of the presidency more than through them, and his goal often seems to have been not so much to govern as to show force."

"The American presidency is a framework of duties and powers. The president is formally required to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," for instance. He is also empowered and expected to propose measures to Congress and promote a legislative agenda. He is the driving force behind the nation's foreign and defense policy. And we have come to expect the chief executive to promote his priorities within the law through regulation and rule making,"

During the first year of his second presidency, Trump favored confrontational use of executive authority over formal presidential duties, regulations, and legislative engagement. He often bypassed institutional mechanisms and used the executive branch as leverage to coerce opponents. That strategy produced high-profile actions and concessions from some institutions but limited durable domestic policy achievements. Relying on forceful displays and news-cycle dominance reduced emphasis on rulemaking, legislative proposals, and coalition-building. The approach appealed to aggrieved constituencies yet proved reactive and shortsighted, undermining long-term governance and imposing significant costs on institutional norms and policy durability.

Read at The Atlantic