Thank God for the Deep State: Presidential Demagoguery and the “Unitary Executive”

Abstract

The idea of a unitary executive is based on a mistaken understanding of the origins and purpose of the federal bureaucracy in the American regime. Strictly speaking, there is no “executive branch” in our system—if by “executive branch” we mean a network of governmental departments that have their origins in, and that are strictly subordinate to, a unitary executive president. This mistake has manifested itself in two recent books examining the relationship between Donald Trump, the unitary executive, and the federal bureaucracy. Though each book offers a valuable critique of the Trump presidency, both books overlook the constitutional advantages of a relatively autonomous bureaucracy, one that is strictly answerable neither to Congress nor to the president. Drawing on classic work by Herbert Storing, I suggest that the federal bureaucracy advances authentic constitutional ends by, among other things, restraining and refining the excesses of a demagogic president.