Dec. 23, 2025
The unitary executive needs a legislative counterweight
As the Supreme Court moves to expand presidential power by subordinating independent agencies to executive prerogatives, a proposed statute would restore congressional authority by creating expert advisory agencies that develop bipartisan legislation for fast-track congressional votes.
Ashutosh Bhagwat
Boochever and Bird Distinguished Professor of Law
UC Davis School of Law
Ashutosh is Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law. He served as a law clerk for Justice Kennedy during the October 1991 term of the Supreme Court.
In recent years, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court have been adopting a controversial legal theory called "the unitary executive," which posits that the president alone must control all activities of the executive branch. Supporters of this theory root it in the foundational constitutional values of political accountability; a value grounded in the acknowledgeme...
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