Congress passed a law shutting down TikTok, and President Trump flouted it. Congress required advance notification for firing inspectors general, and the Trump administration ignored it. Congress approved trillions of dollars in spending on a multitude of federal programs, and Mr. Trump froze it.
The new administration is quickly demonstrating that it does not intend to be bound by the legal niceties or traditional checks and balances of its relationship with Congress. That has infuriated Democrats but drawn shrugs and approval from Republicans who say Mr. Trump is delivering what he promised even if it comes at the expense of Congress’s authority and constitutional status as a coequal branch of government.
“President Trump clearly ran for office to be a disrupter, and he’s going to continue to do that,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 Republican.
Mr. Trump is also clearly embarking on a test of what he can cow a Congress under total Republican control into swallowing. Early indications are that it will be a lot….
The lack of pushback from congressional Republicans is a stark acknowledgment that Mr. Trump is large and in charge, controlling their political futures while executing an agenda that they believe Republican voters demanded. It is a distinct break from the past, when lawmakers of both parties would vigorously defend Congress’s power — particularly the spending power granted in Article I of the Constitution — no matter who was in the White House….