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The Executive Branch Must Act Within Its Authority

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Published in The Post Newspaper January 25, 2025 Over the past century, elected officials have saddled Americans with an unconscionable level of debt, $35 trillion at the latest count. With the debt's interest spinning out of control, its reduction must be a major focus. To begin with, Trump wants Congress to eliminate waste and other non-Constitutional expenses immediately. His successful business sense seems to be kicking in. But another issue also drives spending, fixing the economic mess that exists and the disregard for sound economic principles. Fixing this problem may require taking on "selected" additional debt in the short term while spending it wisely and reducing the overall debt in the long run. No more can we treat things as business as usual. One reduction might be eliminating wasteful foreign aid. Our former Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) used to ask, why are we borrowing money to pay to foreign nations – many of whom are not our friends? A better approach might be selling things to our friends such as military hardware and providing training. The key word here is "selling," not "giving." This might provide jobs at home and promote domestic productivity. We contend that federal spending on programs should be linked to programs with constitutional authority. One example of non-productive non-constitutional spending is national public radio. There is no mention in the constitution of government-owned media. Why are American taxpayers paying for it? Private broadcasting, with a variety of opinions and programming, bypasses taxpayer pockets. Then there is the issue of education. The tenth amendment reads "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Nowhere in the Constitution is education mentioned. Consequently, the Department of Education should be eliminated along with its unconstitutional mandates. Return this responsibility to the States. These are just a few examples of the types of spending that could be addressed. Meanwhile, within the Commerce Department exists an agency that licenses exports of "dual-use" goods that can have both a commercial and military use. This agency has a vital national security role to play, keeping sensitive U.S. products and technology from bad actors. This agency also plays a critical role in working with the Defense Department to help ensure the USA maintains its defense industrial base. This is a national security issue that is supported by a constitutional mandate. Commerce also houses the Census Bureau which fulfills another constitutional mandate. However, remember its decisions in the 2020 census which quietly manipulated numbers resulting in several "blue" states keeping members of Congress that some contend should have been allocated to other states? The role of the Census Bureau is valid, but oversight and changes are in order to bring its processes in line with the founder's intent. So, should we eliminate the debt ceiling for a period of time? Perhaps, if there are serious cuts to spending included with it. In the meantime, we need to address, and stop, the Congress' insatiable hunger for spending. Bill Sargent worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1973-1995 focusing much of his time on international trade and national security related programs.
	About the Authors and Columnists 2025 Bill Sargent and Mark Mansius have written over 300 guest columns and editorials over the last ten years for numerous publications and continue to do so. Bill lives in Galveston, Texas and Mark in St. Georges, Utah. Both Bill and Mark ran against each other in the 2012 Republican Primary for Texas Congressional District 14. Since then they have become close friends and colleagues.
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