Government Subsidized Politico Calls Article II of the Constitution "Fringe"

The, until recently, government-subsidized Politico is out with a banger calling Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, “fringe.”

Here is what it says:

“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”

Let’s diagram that, shall we.

┌──shall be vested───┐

│ │

Power (subject) in President (object of prep.)

│ │

┌───┴───┐ ┌───┴───┐

The (article) a (article) United States of America (modifier)

│ │

executive (adjective) President (head noun)

The sentence's subject is power, and it “shall be vested” in “a President,” which is both the object of the prepositional phrase and a singular head noun.

Here is what Politico says about Donald Trump’s assertion of the “unitary executive” theory.

The theory was long considered fringe, and many mainstream legal scholars still believe it is illegal, given that Congress set the agencies up specifically to act independently, or semi-independently, from the president. These include the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which enact regulations and can impose hefty fines on businesses that violate the rules.

Progressive legal scholars and their friends in the media have long called the unitary executive theory “fringe” as a way to discredit what has long been mainstream thought among conservative legal scholars.

Just read the damn sentence that starts Article II of the Constitution.

The unitary executive theory is so fringe that Ronald Reagan believed in it and advanced judges who accepted it. Justices Scalia, Alito, and others have long been proponents of the theory. Read the Scalia dissent in Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988). Yes, the unitary executive theory is so fringe that Justice Scalia embraced it in 1988. Many of Scalia’s law clerks have gone on to put points on the board for the unitary executive theory. *cough* Amy Coney Barrett *cough*

In 2020, Chief Justice John Roberts paved the way to overrule Humphries Executor, which is the last legal precedent standing between the status quo and the unitary executive theory.

We should not be shocked at the partisan ignorance of a government-subsidized publication to claim a mainstream conservative legal idea is “fringe.” After all, Politico and other outlets assured Americans that Colorado could keep Donald Trump off the ballot because of the 14th Amendment. Nine out of nine Supreme Court Justices disagreed.

Increasingly, the mainstream American political press has become fringe and thinks that, in its progressive bubble, everyone agrees. People reading Politico will be dumber when it comes to understanding the Supreme Court in the next few years.

If Congress wants to create completely independent agencies, it is welcome to amend the American Constitution, which recognizes only three branches of government. Otherwise, it needs to decide if agencies are executive, legislative, or judicial in function. If Congress keeps putting agencies under Article II, the President necessarily must be in charge.

And, of course, the President has put Russ Vought in charge of the OMB, which means these agencies answer to Mr. Vought now.

The Constitutional structure is not hard. The left just does not like it unless they are in charge.