 Donald Trump didn't invent the Imperial Presidency, he inherited it. In many ways he's just sort of been the very loud, very vocal, extreme energy drink version of what's been untapped all along. The President exercises full spectrum dominance over many areas of American life and law. This is a person that can launch a catastrophic war, unleash fire and fury, start a trade war. The President has acquired powers domestically that include figuring out what your health insurance is going to cover. It's time that we start thinking about reigning in the powers that we've let slip to this institution. Like a lot of horrible things, the Imperial Presidency is a bipartisan creation. Early in the 20th century it was to the left, the progressives, that wanted a dominant and domineering presidency. Later in the 20th century it's the conservatives who see their political salvation in a strong executive branch. Crisis tends to give you executive power on steroids. World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, 9-11 and the financial collapse of 2008. All of these led to a concentration of power in the executive branch. Dick Cheney said that he and George W. Bush wanted to leave the presidency stronger than they found it and mission accomplished there. But even presidents who don't go into the presidency with any kind of ideological commitment to expanding executive power tend to do that. Congress tends not to resist much unless it's in the hands of a different party. There's a ratchet effect when it comes to presidential power. Each new executive power grab that a new president makes is rarely given back. That president's successor will come into the office with a new weapon in his or her arsenal. The powers that are forged in one presidency are going to be powers that are handed on to future presidents. Some of those people are going to be people that you really do not like and do not trust. I think it's a mistake to expect any kind of major presidential powers reform coming from the top. Nobody who's willing to do what it takes to gain the presidency is going to turn around and say, you know what, now that I'm here, I'd like a lot less power. If there is to be presidential powers reform and there certainly should be, it's going to have to be imposed. It's not impossible to put the presidency back in its box. We need Congress people that act as though they care about the institution itself and the powers it holds. And we've seen too little of that in recent decades.