OPINION: The American leviathan begins to lose control

“That government is best which governs least.” Henry David Thoreau

Wednesday morning, Nov. 6, 2024. Could this be the day that the American leviathan begins to lose control? The administrative sate, otherwise known as: “The unelected bureaucrats that control the way the federal government operates, and make sure that we obey the rules.” Sometimes we refer to this as “leviathan.”

Leviathan is the mythical beast that seeks to devour everyone and everything. The administrative state includes all of the employees of the federal government charged with the task of making sure that we, the people, obey and follow all the laws established by Congress to control our daily lives.

Many of these rules are written that exceed the real authority granted by Congress. When Congress passes and the president signs legislation that creates a federal agency, the rule making begins. The unelected employees of the agency begin to create rules to enforce the legislation. There is no real oversight to this process, unless the president intervenes.

Unfortunately, the president often wants the unelected agency to overlook the intention of the law creating the agency. Without legislative supervision the rules are often ineffective, or exceed the intention of Congress, or the authority granted by the constitution.

The United States Constitution is clear. All laws must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, then signed by the president. Many times, we see the employees of the agencies established by Congress exceed or ignore the provisions of the legislation establishing the agency.

Unelected federal bureaucrats are able to write rules used to implement and enforce the provisions of the laws creating federal agencies and programs. Very often the president oversees the selection of agency leaders and guides them in the direction the president wants them to govern.

Today we have hundreds of thousands of federal employees working in hundreds of agencies and bureaus. These federal employees have created hundreds of thousands of pages of rules and regulations. The size and complexity of these unelected organizations defies understanding and control. This is the definition of the monster, Leviathan.

Leviathan has been growing in size, complexity and power almost uninterrupted for generations. Often federal agencies write rules and regulations that would be impossible to pass through Congress. The agencies work quietly behind the scenes to accomplish control that Congress would never be able to pass through the legislative process.

As the monster, Leviathan, grows and prospers, the needs of Leviathan become more important than serving the public. Leviathan, supposedly the servant of the public, becomes self-centered. Like any parasite, Leviathan grows beyond all expectation in order to preserve and protect itself. The goal of Leviathan is not to serve the public. The goal is self-preservation and growth.

The Supreme Court has begun to review the actions of the administrative state. The court has been placing controls on the administrative state. Several opinions have reduced the power of some of the administrative state agencies.

With the election of an avowed opponent of the administrative state to the office of the presidency, we can hope to see more action to control the administrative state.

The government has been established for the benefit of the citizens of this nation. Our nation fought a revolutionary war to rid itself of arbitrary rules and laws. We are a nation established for the benefit of the citizens, not some un-elected self-centered authority.

The role of government is to serve and protect the citizens, through our elected officials. The incoming, elected president and Congress have a mandate from the citizens to reduce the burden of government and make it more responsive to the people.

Mike Lang, Chairman, Union County Republican Central Committee