WASHINGTON — Like many Americans, Richard Bidon says he would like to see the U.S. government “return to its original design” — a system of checks and balances developed nearly 240 years ago to prevent any branch, especially the presidency, from would become too powerful.
But that’s especially when the Republicans are in power.
Bidon, an 84-year-old Democrat who lives near Los Angeles, said that if President Joe Biden is re-elected, he does not want to have to get approval from a possible Republican-controlled Congress to enact policies to combat climate change. to delay. He wants presidents to have the power to change policy unilaterally – as long as they are from the right party.
“If there is a Democrat present, I support” a strong presidency, Bidon said. “If Republicans get involved, I don’t really support it. It’s kind of a lame thing.”
A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Opinion Research shows Bidon’s view is common. Although Americans say they don’t want a president to have too much power, that view changes if their party’s candidate wins the presidency. It’s a view held by members of both parties, though it’s especially common among Republicans.
Overall, only about two in 10 Americans say it would be “a good thing” if the next president could change policy without waiting for Congress or the courts. But nearly six in 10 Republicans say it would be good if a future President Donald Trump were to take unilateral action, while about four in 10 Democrats say the same if Biden is re-elected.
The sentiment comes amid escalating polarization and is a sign of the public’s willingness to push the boundaries of the political framework that has kept the U.S. a stable democracy for more than two centuries. In the poll, only 9% of Americans say the nation’s system of checks and balances is working extremely or very well. It also follows Trump’s promises to “act as dictator” on the first day of a new administration to secure the border and expand oil and gas drilling.
Bob Connor, a former carpenter now on disability in Versailles, Missouri, wants that kind of decisive action at the border. He has given up hope that Congress will take action.
“From what I’ve seen, the Republicans are trying to get some things done, the Democrats are trying to get some other things done — they’re not getting in the middle,” Connor, 56, said. everywhere.”
He blames the influx of migrants on Biden unilaterally repealing some of Trump’s own unilateral border security policies upon taking office.
“I’m not a Trump fanatic, but what he says needs to be done is correct,” Connor said.
Joe Titus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Austin, Texas, believes Republicans have destroyed Congress’s ability to act in its traditional legislative role and says Biden will have to step into the gap.
“There’s a so-called ‘majority’ in Congress, and they’re a bunch of idiots,” Titus, a retired Air Force mechanic, said of the Republican Party-controlled House of Representatives. “This is not the way this thing is set up.”
The current Congress is setting dubious records as the least productive Congress in the country’s history, with fewer than three dozen bills sent to Biden’s desk last year. At Trump’s urging, House Republicans have halted aid to Ukraine and a bipartisan immigration bill.
Titus said he generally opposes expanded presidential power but would support Biden by funding more immigration judges on his own and sending additional aid to Ukraine.
“I think there are certain things that the public wants that the other side is blocking,” Titus said.
The presidency has steadily gained power in recent years as deadlocks in Congress have become increasingly common. The country’s president increasingly seeks to solve problems through administrative policies or executive orders. The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule later this year on a case that could significantly weaken the ability of federal agencies — and therefore a presidential administration — to issue regulations.
Meanwhile, conservatives are planning a takeover of the federal bureaucracy if they win the White House in November, a move that could boost the administration’s ability to make sweeping policy changes on its own.
The AP-NORC poll found that voters’ views on which institutions have too much power were colored by their own partisanship. Only 16% of Democrats, whose party currently controls the White House, say the presidency has too much power, while nearly half of Republicans believe this is the case. In contrast, about six-in-ten Democrats believe the U.S. Supreme Court, with its six-to-three conservative majority, has too much power.
With Congress evenly divided between the two parties — the Republican Party has a slim majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats a slim majority in the Senate — Americans have similar views of their power, regardless of party. About 4 in 10 from both major parties say they have too much power.
“I think Congress had too much power when the presidency and Congress were both controlled by Democrats, but now that Republicans are in the majority, there is an equal balance,” said John V. Mohr, a 62-year-old cleaning woman in Wilmington, North. Carolina.
In contrast, he complained that Biden is “sitting there writing executive orders left and right,” including his proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility, which fell on Easter Sunday this year.
The abstract idea of a president with virtually unchecked power remains unpopular.
Steven Otney, a retired truck driver in Rock Hill, South Carolina, said major policies must pass Congress and gain approval from the courts. But he also said it depends on the subject. He wants the next president, if he is Trump, to see swift action on certain issues.
“Some things need to be done immediately, like completing the border wall,” said Otney, a Republican.
He said it’s just common sense.
“If Trump came in there and said, ‘I want to bomb Iran,’ no, that’s insane,” Otney said. “If it is reasonable, and in any case not stupid things. Something to help the American people, not hurt us.”
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The survey of 1,282 adults was conducted March 21-25, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents.
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Riccardi reported from Denver.
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