The "Three Equal Branches" story is a lie

I'm so sick of hearing it - I had to write this. Congress, "Wake the hell up!" already.

I just saw a TikTok of Bernie Sanders rambling as he strolled through what looked like John Marshall Park this afternoon in D.C., saying, “The Founding Fathers, who were nobody’s fool….blah blah blah… created three equal branches of government with checks and balances.”

@bernieAre you ready for a boring history lesson?

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

And I had to hang my head in shame.

First, can we get some freaking nomenclature right? The Founding Fathers were the guys in Independence Hall in 1775 and 1776—the revolutionaries, the rebels, the ones debating whether to tell King George III to shove off. You know, people like George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Rutledge, William Livingston, Samuel Chase, and John Dickinson. They weren’t the only ones but the architects of independence. They gave us the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

The guys who designed the U.S. government—the ones who wrote the Constitution—are called the Framers (and they did it in the 1780s, not the 1770s, 1787 to be precise.) Like framing a house, they framed the government of the United States. And while there was some overlap, they weren’t all the same people.

For example, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson? Not there. Adams was too busy being America’s first ambassador to England, and Jefferson was off in France, wooing the aristocracy. Patrick Henry? Not there either. Turns out, Mr. “Give me liberty or give me death!” took one look at the Constitution and said, “Actually, I’ll just stay home, thanks.” He was an anti-Federalist and didn’t want to scrap the Articles of Confederation. John Hancock? Nope. Which is a shame because that signature deserved a second act.

So, for the love of history, can we stop conflating the Founders and the Framers? The Founders broke us away from England. The Framers built the government we’re arguing about today. It matters because if we invoke their wisdom, we should at least know which group we’re talking about.

This brings me to my point: this idea of “three equal branches of government” is a lie. A straight-up lie. Congress was always meant to be the most powerful branch of government.

And what kills me is hearing this blathering stupidity and lie from members of Congress—because, Bernie (and all the rest of you in Congress,) you’re supposed to be the most powerful branch of government. Wake the hell up already! If you would start acting that way, that’d be just great. We kinda need you (Congress) to start acting the way the Framers intended you to.

I may be too hard on Senator Sanders. But I’ve heard it from him, Amy Klobuchar, Adam Kinzinger, Adam Schiff, and many other members of Congress. We do not have three equal branches of Government.

All of you sit in the most powerful branch of government. You’re literally the elephant who weighs three tons tied to a tree with a one-inch rope, unwilling to break it because you don’t think you can.

Congress: The Most Powerful Branch (Or, At Least, It Was Supposed to Be)

Somehow, we've ended up in a world where the President and the Supreme Court feel like the real power players in Washington. The White House sets the agenda, and the Supreme Court swoops in to define the limits of everything from personal rights to executive authority. But that’s not how the Framers designed it. Congress—yes, the dysfunctional, grandstanding, often infuriating legislature—was supposed to be the dominant branch of government.

Why? There are three big reasons.

1. The Framers Were Legislators First

Look at the people who wrote the Constitution. Nearly all of them were legislators before they were Framers. They had been state representatives, members of colonial assemblies, or part of the Confederation Congress. Their experience told them the government should be as close to the people as possible, which meant a strong legislature.

They saw Congress as the guardian of ordered liberty—the people’s voice, the check against tyranny. Yes, they knew they needed an executive branch (someone had to run the show day to day), but they spent far more time debating how to limit its power than expanding it. The Articles of Confederation had practically no executive, and many delegates at the Constitutional Convention were terrified of creating an American monarchy.

That’s why the presidency was designed to be reactive, not proactive. The president executes laws Congress writes, wage wars Congress declares, and spends money Congress appropriates. That’s how it was supposed to work.

2. Article I: The Longest and Most Detailed Part of the Constitution

Count the words if you ever need proof that Congress was meant to be the most powerful branch.

• Article I (Congress): 2,268 words

• Article II (President): 1,025 words

• Article III (Judiciary): 375 words¹

This wasn’t an accident. The Framers spent the most time detailing Congress’s powers because they saw it as the backbone of the republic. They gave it the most enumerated powers, the most structural complexity (two houses, different election cycles, staggered terms), and the authority to keep the other branches in check.

Compare that to the presidency. Article II is vague on purpose—the Framers didn’t want an all-powerful executive, so they left most of its powers implicit and limited. Meanwhile, Article III barely outlines the courts, leaving Congress responsible for creating the entire federal judiciary.

3. Congress Holds the Core Powers of the Republic

The real muscle of the federal government is in Congress. Forget the flashy speeches from the White House or the high-profile Supreme Court rulings—the federal government moves when Congress decides it moves.

• Appropriations Power – Congress holds the power of the purse. The president can propose a budget, but he can’t spend a dime without congressional approval.

• War Powers – The president is the commander-in-chief, but Congress decides if the nation goes to war. Every major military conflict has required some kind of congressional authorization (even if presidents have pushed those limits).

• Control Over the Bureaucracy – The executive branch may run the federal government, but Congress creates it. It decides how many Cabinet departments exist, what agencies get funded, who can be fired, and under what conditions.

• Infrastructure & National Policy – The major decisions shaping the country begin in Congress, from highways to healthcare and education to environmental regulations.

The Constitution didn’t set up three co-equal branches. It established a dominant legislative branch, a constrained executive, and a dependent judiciary. But over time, Congress has allowed its power to slip away. The real question is: How did we let this happen?

How Congress Lost Its Way

There was a time when Congress was the most powerful branch of government, as the Framers intended. A time when the House and Senate were the battlegrounds of America’s biggest political fights, where laws were written, debated, and passed with the full weight of the people's representatives behind them.

That time is long gone.

Today, Congress is more of a spectator than a player in the actual functioning of government. The President governs through executive orders, the Supreme Court dictates national policy from the bench, and the legislative branch—the institution supposed to be the backbone of American democracy—has willingly surrendered its power.

How did this happen? Slowly, at first. Then all at once.

1. Congress Handed Away Its Power—Willingly

No one stole Congress’s authority. It gave it away.

Over the past century, Congress has systematically delegated many of its most important responsibilities to the executive branch. Instead of writing clear, detailed laws, it started passing vague, open-ended legislation that handed broad discretionary power to executive agencies. Congress no longer regulates—it tells agencies to regulate. It no longer makes wartime decisions—it defers to the President. It no longer jealously guards its lawmaking power—it offloads the hard work to the bureaucracy and then complains about the results.

Take the rise of executive orders. Once a rare tool, they have now become a primary way for presidents to bypass a gridlocked Congress. Why wait for lawmakers when you can just sign an order and move on? Congress barely objects anymore. It has normalized its own irrelevance.

2. The Power of the Purse Became an Empty Threat

The power of the purse was supposed to be Congress’s ultimate weapon. If the President wanted to do anything—go to war, expand a program, build a wall—he needed Congress to fund it. That was the grand check and balance. No money, no power.

But over time, presidents found ways around this. Take the Trump administration, which redirected billions in federal funds to build a border wall even after Congress refused to appropriate the money. Or the growing use of continuing resolutions to keep the government running on autopilot, allowing Congress to avoid making tough fiscal decisions altogether.

Even more troubling, recent administrations have openly defied congressional spending decisions—and Congress has done nothing. When President Trump froze billions in aid to Ukraine, in defiance of Congress, there was an outcry but no real consequences. The power of the purse only works if Congress enforces it.

It no longer does.

3. Fear and Convenience in Times of Crisis

The fastest way for Congress to give away power? A crisis.

In moments of national emergency, Congress has repeatedly ceded its authority to the executive branch in the name of swift action. After 9/11, Congress passed the Patriot Act and authorized open-ended military force, allowing the presidency to expand surveillance and wage war without meaningful oversight. During COVID-19, Congress authorized unprecedented emergency powers, effectively handing the White House control over vast parts of the economy and public health system.

Each time, Congress tells itself that these measures are temporary. But power, once given away, is rarely reclaimed.

Take the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a new executive agency, created under Elon Musk’s leadership, with the authority to dismantle government agencies and freeze federal funds without congressional approval. In any other era, Congress would have reacted with fury, defending its right to determine how the federal government is structured. Today? It shrugs.

WHY! (I mean this emphatically. WHY!)

Congress no longer fights to keep its power. It willingly abdicates it.

4. Partisanship Turned Congress into a Sideshow

However, perhaps the most significant reason Congress lost its way isn’t just about power but attention.

Over the past few decades, Congress has stopped being a place where laws are made and turned into a theater of partisan performance. The real business of governance has moved elsewhere—to the White House, courts, and unelected bureaucrats in federal agencies. Meanwhile, Congress has become a stage for performative outrage, where lawmakers spend more time fighting for TV airtime than passing legislation.

Legislative gridlock isn’t just a symptom of partisanship—it’s the point. Many members of Congress have no interest in governing. Their goal isn’t to legislate; it’s to generate soundbites, build a brand, and rally their base. As a result, actual policymaking has taken a backseat.

And when Congress can’t—or won’t—act, presidents step in. The courts step in. And Congress is reduced to complaining about the very power it gave away.

This has to end, especially now. President Trump represents a malevolence we have never seen in American politics. If you needed some level of proof of that, his social media “blurb” has all of the ominous tones of Napolean:

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law”
President Trump, Truth Social, February 15, 2025

How Congress Can Reclaim Its Power

If there was ever a time for Congress to reassert itself, it’s now.

Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has only accelerated a trend that’s been building for decades—the rise of the Unitary Executive. This doctrine argues the president has nearly unchecked authority over the executive branch and, by extension, much of the government itself. Trump’s vision of the presidency isn’t just about expanding executive power—it’s about obliterating any remaining checks on it.

The question is: Will Congress fight back, or will it continue to roll over?

It’s not too late for Congress to reclaim its authority, but it won’t happen by accident. It will require an intentional, aggressive effort to reestablish the legislature as the dominant branch of government. Here’s where Congress must start:

1. Reinforce the Power of the Purse

Presidents have become accustomed to ignoring Congress regarding spending, whether by reallocating funds without congressional approval, stretching executive emergency powers to their limits, or refusing to follow budget laws.

This has to stop.

Congress must start enforcing its spending decisions. That means:

• Strengthening the Impoundment Control Act, which was designed to prevent presidents from withholding or redirecting funds, has been toothless in practice.

• Using aggressive oversight—if a president diverts funds without approval, Congress must subpoena records, hold public hearings, and use the courts to stop it.

• Refusing to fund unauthorized executive actions—no more rubber-stamping budgets that contain hidden slush funds for presidential pet projects.

Congress controls the checkbook. It needs to start acting like it.

2. Reassert War Powers

For decades, presidents have treated the War Powers Resolution like a joke, sending troops into conflicts without proper congressional approval. And Congress has mostly let them.

You have a President threatening to use force against THREE US allies in an unprovoked manner: Canada, Greenland, and Panama. Congress needs to make clear it will not allow any of those actions.

The next time a president unilaterally decides to commit U.S. forces abroad, Congress needs to:

• Immediately force a vote—no more waiting for months while the executive branch drags its feet.

• Cut funding for unauthorized wars—if Congress didn’t approve it, it shouldn’t pay for it. Period.

• Reclaim its role in foreign policy—the president may be the commander-in-chief, but only Congress can declare war. It’s time to use it.

3. Rein in Executive Orders and Emergency Powers

The modern presidency has become a government by executive order, with presidents using their pens to enact policies that should require congressional approval. The Presidency is not empowered to legislate, period. Trump’s return to office has already seen sweeping claims of executive power, and without pushback, it will only get worse.

Congress must:

• Pass legislation limiting executive orders—at the very least, any major executive order should expire within a set period unless Congress explicitly approves it. If the President won’t sign it, then it needs to pass it over his veto. If he continues to enact executive orders, it must censure him. If he persists, then it needs to impeach and remove him.

• Reform emergency powers laws—the president can access over 120 statutory emergency powers that can be activated at will. Congress needs to put strict time limits on these powers and require renewal by a congressional vote.

• Challenge unconstitutional executive actions in court—stop waiting for outside groups to file lawsuits. Congress itself should be taking presidents to court for overreach. Additionally, it should hold hearings on these activities, and if unlawful conduct is found to be occurring, it should cut off funding for those activities, impeach the officers involved, and, if necessary, impeach and remove the President.

4. End Blanket Deference to the Presidency

For too long, Congress has acted as though the presidency is the only office that matters. Lawmakers defer to the White House on foreign policy, economic decisions, national security, and law enforcement.

This needs to end.

• No more rubber-stamping executive appointees—reject them if a president nominates someone unfit or corrupt. I know this will be hard for the current tranche of Republicans to accept, since they seem to have an endless appetite for the fecal Trumpian buffet, but it’s time to end this utter stupidity. Individuals like Patel, Gabbard, Kennedy, Bondi, and Hegseth are (or were), truly unqualified for their posts. They’re demonstrating it every day they’re in those positions. Congress has to stop this insanity. Advise and Consent means more than just rubber-stamping whatever the President wants. The President is not “entitled to the cabinet of his choice,” and the Senate plays a vital role because the President works for the “States” and for Congress, not the other way around.

• Aggressive oversight—every presidential action, especially those that bypass Congress, must be met with hearings, investigations, and accountability measures.

• Reassert control over the federal bureaucracy—Congress creates federal agencies, not the president. It should decide its structure, budget, and mission.

5. Stop Using Partisanship as an Excuse for Inaction

One of the biggest reasons Congress has allowed the executive branch to take over is because lawmakers care more about party loyalty than institutional power.

Republicans let Republican presidents do whatever they want. Democrats let Democratic presidents do whatever they want. Both sides act outraged when the other party’s president uses the same powers.

If Congress is ever going to restore its rightful place in government, it has to stop playing this game. It needs to act like an independent branch of government, not an extension of the White House. That means:

• Holding presidents accountable regardless of party—if it’s wrong when the other side does it, it’s wrong when your side does it.

• Working across the aisle to defend congressional authority—this isn’t about left vs. right. It’s about whether Congress will matter at all in 10 years.

The Stakes: A Presidential Monarchy or a Real Republic?

The Framers didn’t fight a revolution to replace King George III with President George I. They built a system where legislators—not a single executive—would control the country's direction.

If Congress refuses to reassert itself, the slow shift toward a presidential monarchy will only accelerate. Trump’s Unitary Executive vision is not a temporary phenomenon—it is part of a long trend of executive power grabs. If left unchecked, there may not be “another round” in the worst case; in the best case, the next President will continue to build on this march towards anocracy.

Congress can still stop this and reclaim its role as the most powerful branch of government. But that means it must stop talking about executive overreach and take action.

The choice is simple: Act now or become obsolete.

1. Readers of TLM will note that I’ve argued that three events seriously undermined the Constitution. Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion in Marbury v. Madison is the first of these three. I believe, with the strongest conviction, that if the Framers truly wanted a system where “Nine guys decide everything, on every issue, for everyone,” the Constitutional Convention would have looked significantly different than what occurred in 1787 and that the Federalist Papers would have taken on an entirely different meaning, tenor, and certainly would have been significantly shorter, than what transpired in our History. The reason why Article III is so small is because the Framers found the Supreme Court literally to be almost an afterthought. They never contemplated a body that would exist essentially as an unelected politburo.