Checks, Balances, and Audits
Here’s an approach that accepts the reality of the Administrative State while restoring the principle of checks and balances.
Our Constitution was designed to disperse power. The theory was that each branch of government would have its potential for abuses curbed by the other branches. This is the theory of checks and balances.
Our modern government has left the original model behind. We have what is sometimes called the Administrative State, in which power is exercised by independent agencies that are largely beyond the reach of the political process. Examples would include the Federal Reserve Board, the Internal Revenue Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Congressional Budget Office.
The impulse to create powerful independent agencies is strong. Under President Obama’s new healthcare law, the Independent Payment Advisory Board has the potential to become the most powerful agency of all. The Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation created bodies responsible for consumer financial protection and systemic risk regulation. As politicians grope with issues posed by new technology, we can expect the idea of independent agencies to surface in areas like biotechnology regulation, surveillance policy, and cybersecurity.
Even if opponents succeed in abolishing one or two of the newer independent agencies, the vast majority of them will continue to exist. What I want to propose here is an approach that accepts the reality of the Administrative State while restoring the principle of checks and balances.