Trump’s Worthy Effort to Rein In ‘Independent’ Agencies

The Trump administration is making a bold and principled attempt to restore these wayward bodies to the control of the executive branch.

Despite all the progressive fire and brimstone descending on Elon Musk, his Department of Government Efficiency is making only a down payment on shrinking the administrative state. Firing thousands of federal employees may reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, but the frontal assault on unconstrained government will come if President Donald Trump succeeds in bringing the so-called independent regulatory agencies to heel.

These “alphabet” agencies exercise vast power over the American economy and society. The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, controls the stock and bond markets and dictates what information companies must disclose.