ELECTIONS/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “American democracy operates on the principle of the consent of the governed. Regular elections for the Congress and the President and Vice President of the United States are designed to ensure that the officials responsible for making and executing the law are held accountable to the American people. The President chooses Federal agency heads who exercise executive authority and implement his regulatory agenda. The American people, in electing the President, thereby have a role in choosing the individuals who govern them.
However, some agencies have chosen to blur these lines of democratic accountability by allowing career officials to authorize, approve, and serve as the final word on regulations. This practice transfers the power to set rules governing Americans’ daily lives from the President, acting through his executive subordinates, to officials insulated from the accountability that national elections bring. This practice undermines the power of the American people to choose who governs them and I am directing steps to end it.”
-Donald Trump, “Executive Order on Ensuring Democratic Accountability in Agency Rulemaking,” whitehouse.gov, Jan. 18, 2021
[Note: Read the full Executive Order signed by Donald Trump.]