Ezra Klein

And in absolutely wrecking 401ks and prices and the ability of small businesses to import, he is handing his opponents an incredible midterm opportunity. And then Democrats take the House. Senate is unlikely for them, but it's not completely impossible in a wave. And they're not going to have the power to impeach him. They would not have the numbers in the Senate to attain conviction.

And in absolutely wrecking 401ks and prices and the ability of small businesses to import, he is handing his opponents an incredible midterm opportunity. And then Democrats take the House. Senate is unlikely for them, but it's not completely impossible in a wave. And they're not going to have the power to impeach him. They would not have the numbers in the Senate to attain conviction.

But they would all of a sudden have a lot of power. They could take money from all kinds of areas of the government. They could hold all kinds of members of the government in contempt. There is all of a sudden then not power to end this, but a huge amount of leverage. And that's, I think, the actual pathway that is open now.

But they would all of a sudden have a lot of power. They could take money from all kinds of areas of the government. They could hold all kinds of members of the government in contempt. There is all of a sudden then not power to end this, but a huge amount of leverage. And that's, I think, the actual pathway that is open now.

They could also take a lot of things that Trump administration wants to keep away from them. So, again, imagining the admittedly unlikely scenario of unified democratic control of the House and the Senate. Democrats could simply decide we're going to carve out more exemptions on the filibuster and they could take the tariff power away from Donald Trump.

They could also take a lot of things that Trump administration wants to keep away from them. So, again, imagining the admittedly unlikely scenario of unified democratic control of the House and the Senate. Democrats could simply decide we're going to carve out more exemptions on the filibuster and they could take the tariff power away from Donald Trump.

They could take the tariff power back for Congress, which is originally where it sits. And all of a sudden, Donald Trump doesn't have his favorite tool of international economics. So everything then becomes a negotiation, right? There are a huge number of powers Trump is using right now that are working off of – old pieces of legislation that were not built for today.

They could take the tariff power back for Congress, which is originally where it sits. And all of a sudden, Donald Trump doesn't have his favorite tool of international economics. So everything then becomes a negotiation, right? There are a huge number of powers Trump is using right now that are working off of – old pieces of legislation that were not built for today.

Now, Congress does not like going back and revisiting old pieces of legislation ill-built for today because they have trouble legislating on anything. You don't get a lot of political victories for going back and closing all loopholes and authorities, but they could. And in a world that becomes a showdown between the branches, it's not impeachment or nothing, right?

Now, Congress does not like going back and revisiting old pieces of legislation ill-built for today because they have trouble legislating on anything. You don't get a lot of political victories for going back and closing all loopholes and authorities, but they could. And in a world that becomes a showdown between the branches, it's not impeachment or nothing, right?

It is leverage over functionally everything. I mean, the president of the United States does not have a magic wand that puts tariffs on other countries. It has to be enforced and done through U.S. law. That is power given to him by Congress. The things that Doge has been doing, the efforts they're making over spending, that is all power that Congress is functionally granting them.

It is leverage over functionally everything. I mean, the president of the United States does not have a magic wand that puts tariffs on other countries. It has to be enforced and done through U.S. law. That is power given to him by Congress. The things that Doge has been doing, the efforts they're making over spending, that is all power that Congress is functionally granting them.

They can take it all back.

They can take it all back.

I remember a political scientist I really respect said to me during Trump's first term, there is no design of a political system that works well for electing terrible people. That to design a political system under the theory that you elect terrible people is to make the system unmanageable because you are by nature tying their hands because they're terrible.

I remember a political scientist I really respect said to me during Trump's first term, there is no design of a political system that works well for electing terrible people. That to design a political system under the theory that you elect terrible people is to make the system unmanageable because you are by nature tying their hands because they're terrible.

But then if you elect leaders who have tyrannical impulses into a system that assumes a fundamental level of good faith on the part of the executive, then you've given the an ill-motivated person a terrible amount of power.

But then if you elect leaders who have tyrannical impulses into a system that assumes a fundamental level of good faith on the part of the executive, then you've given the an ill-motivated person a terrible amount of power.

We've been talking here about things that we know the administration is doing. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is something that has worried me from the beginning here is things that we don't know the administration is doing. When we go back to the early days and nominations, the nominations of Kash Patel and then Dan Bongino to the FBI, a place he used to work, were astonishing to me.

We've been talking here about things that we know the administration is doing. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is something that has worried me from the beginning here is things that we don't know the administration is doing. When we go back to the early days and nominations, the nominations of Kash Patel and then Dan Bongino to the FBI, a place he used to work, were astonishing to me.