$TRUMP & the Qatari plane: how to stop Trump from selling the presidency to the highest bidder

Democrats can roll back the imperial presidency and restore trust in the nation's highest office.

Last night, President Trump had dinner with the top holders of his meme coin, $TRUMP. This ongoing crypto stunt has allowed Trump to personally enrich himself by selling the presidency to the highest bidders, most of whom are foreigners. Accepting the Qatari plane as a gift was astoundingly poor judgment, but at least Americans know who benefits. Qatar. With $TRUMP, the crypto buyers can be anonymous. Americans do not even know who is buying the president.

(Guests arrive to a private dinner with President Trump and buyers of his cryptocurrency tokens at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., on Thursday.ELIZABETH FRANTZ/NYT)

The corruption of the presidency must end. Democrats should advance an Article II agenda that restores the presidency to its Constitutional role of administering the law, commanding the military, and steering foreign policy, all under congressional oversight and within the legal bounds set by the judiciary.

Here are some key parts of an agenda to roll back the imperial presidency:

• Codify the Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution to make strict and enforceable rules about corruption by the president, his family, or his officials

• Reform the War Powers Act of 1973 to require more time-bound and specific congressional approval for the deployment of force overseas

• Roll back provisions in the Insurrection Act and Alien & Sedition Acts that permit the president too much control over civil liberties under the guise of law enforcement

• Expire any emergency that the president declares after 30 days, whether domestic (for spending authority) or international (for tariff & sanctions authority), unless Congress approves an extension by affirmative vote

• Definitively reject presidential claims to (1) impoundment authority, in which the executive does not disburse funds appropriated by Congress; (2) unitary executive authority, in which the president can dismantle agencies unilaterally regardless of statute; and (3) official immunity, in which the president is not liable for actions taken in office

• Orient independent agencies, commissions, and endowments away from four-year presidential cycles and towards sustained congressional supervision

• Strengthen checks and balances within the executive branch by firewalling the independence of inspectors general, the Government Accountability Office, and the Justice Department

• Strengthen checks and balances outside the executive branch by expanding the oversight & investigations staffing & functions of Congress and by imparting to federal judges more tools to insulate themselves from political pressure and to compel compliance with court orders

• Reassert the Senate’s ‘advise and consent’ role in the conduct of foreign policy, which has been bypassed by avoiding treaties in lieu of agreements

• Fix the impeachment power with a commission dedicated to drafting definitions of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ that are then approved by Congress

With these and other reforms to the imperial presidency, Democrats could start restoring trust in the nation’s highest office.