President Trump and his administration are increasingly bypassing Congress during the ongoing government shutdown, highlighting a growing trend of a more assertive executive branch in Trump’s second term.

Amidst the shutdown, the administration has taken steps such as canceling or suspending previously approved projects in Democratic-leaning states, threatening to withhold back pay from workers on furlough, and conducting additional strikes on Venezuelan drug boats with minimal disclosure to lawmakers. Additionally, funds have been redirected from tariffs that were implemented without congressional consent.

In recent developments, the White House has laid off thousands of employees and hinted at the potential elimination of certain programs during the shutdown period.

Earlier in his presidency, Trump employed a “pocket rescission” to independently retract billions in previously sanctioned spending and imposed broad tariffs, drawing criticism from some legislators who believe he is overreaching his executive powers.

Throughout this process, Republican majorities in Congress have largely supported Trump, granting him the freedom to advance his agenda with minimal opposition.

“This is a trend that’s been true with both Democratic and Republican presidents and congressional majorities, and this administration … is willing to take it to the next degree,” said Casey Burgat, director of the legislative affairs program at George Washington University.

“Presidents are mostly as powerful as their Congress allows them to be, and right now we have a Congress that seems willing to let this president escalate what we’ve seen across administrations,” Burgat said.

Tariffs

Trump has pressed ahead with imposing widespread tariffs on imports, despite protests from some in Congress that he is exceeding his presidential authority.

The White House has argued that Trump has the constitutional authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump has imposed tariffs on dozens of countries, as well as specific goods, by citing national security concerns.

But critics have argued that tariffs amount to a tax on American consumers and that the president’s use of them violates Congress’s role to levy taxes and control spending.

Tariffs have been a rare area where senators have attempted to rein in Trump’s actions. An August Senate vote to scrap Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs on dozens of countries narrowly failed.

Now it’s up to the Supreme Court to determine whether the tariffs can proceed, or if they will be unwound. Trump told reporters Wednesday that he may attend arguments in the case at the Supreme Court.

“If we don’t have the use of tariffs, we have no national security. This country will have no financial security. … That’s why I think I’m gonna go to the Supreme Court to watch it,” Trump said.

Reappropriating and clawing back funds

Trump has trampled over Congress’s traditional power of the purse in other ways beyond tariffs, including in recent days as the government shutdown threatened pay for military members and funding for certain programs.

The administration has announced it is canceling green energy projects and freezing previously approved funds for transportation projects in Democrat-led cities and states. The stated rationale is that those projects no longer comply with executive orders Trump issued around diversity initiatives, nor do they align with his agenda.

Trump just before the shutdown deployed a rarely used measure known as a pocket rescission to unilaterally cut roughly $5 billion in congressionally approved funding. The cuts, which sparked bipartisan criticism, mostly targeted State Department funding for programs officials said did not align with Trump’s agenda.

More recently, Trump has sought to move around funding to pay for other things, raising questions about his authority to repurpose congressionally approved money without approval from lawmakers.

The White House said Trump would use money brought in from tariffs, which were imposed without congressional approval or input, to cover a funding shortfall for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC.

The president also signed an order directing the Pentagon to use funds for other purposes, namely research and development funding, to pay members of the military who otherwise would have missed a paycheck because of the government shutdown.

“The Democrats shut down the federal government and are holding the American people hostage to give illegal aliens taxpayer benefits,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social platform X. “So President Trump took action by using tariff revenue to fund the women, infants, and children program and his Commander in Chief authority to ensure our troops get paid.”

Venezuelan boat strikes

Trump has also brushed off questions about congressional approval when it comes to military strikes.

Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have announced five strikes against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months, with the latest coming this past Tuesday. The strikes have killed 27 people in total, according to administration officials. 

Earlier this month, the president informed Congress that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with drug cartels characterized as terrorist groups by the administration. 

Democrats have objected to the strikes, arguing Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally carry out the strikes under his Article II authority. A resolution to halt the strikes, led by Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), failed in a 48-51 vote earlier this month. 

“They are given information that they were loaded up with drugs,” Trump said Wednesday when asked about congressional pushback. “And that’s the thing that matters. When they’re loaded up with drugs, they’re fair game.”

Trump on Wednesday also explained why he has not allowed the Coast Guard to stop suspected drug boats, which it has the authority to do.

“It never worked when you did it in a very politically correct manner,” Trump said. “The boats get hit and you see that fentanyl all over the ocean.”

Presidents have for years been expanding their war powers, carrying out strikes without first gaining congressional approval. But the Venezuela strikes have raised additional legal questions about whether they violate international law, and whether it opens up a slippery slope for future military action on the seas.

Layoffs, back pay and eliminating programs

Trump has utilized the shutdown as an impetus to dramatically shrink the size of the federal government, with officials suggesting the final total of those dismissed could top 10,000.

While laying off federal employees is not something that requires congressional approval, the administration has still ignored calls from some in Congress to refrain from doing so. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the lawmakers who warned that the widespread layoffs could negatively impact services their constituents rely on.

The White House has also floated that furloughed workers may not get back pay for time away from the job during the shutdown. While many lawmakers have noted that would violate a law passed at the end of the last shutdown in 2019, some top Republicans have suggested the administration may have an argument.

Trump has also threatened to eliminate government programs that he determines Democrats like. The president said he would release a list of “Democratic programs” that would be targeted, while promising “Republican programs” would be unaffected.

“The Democrats are getting killed in the shutdown, because we’re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we’re opposed to,” Trump said Tuesday. “And they’re never going to come back, in many cases.”

Lawmakers have contended that shuttering certain government agencies, such as the Education Department or the U.S. Agency for International Development, require congressional approval. But that has not stopped Trump from pushing forward with efforts to gut those agencies anyway.