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Why shouldn't Congress be able to delegate powers? Congress writes the laws and it seems appropriate that they should be able to write a law that allows a grou

Why shouldn't Congress be able to delegate powers? Congress writes the laws and it seems appropriate that they should be able to write a law that allows a group they delegate to write and enforce regulations on their behalf. Especially when the scope of such laws is so narrowly and explicitly defined. Do you really expect Congresspeople to have the educational background necessary to regulate agricultural products, automobile emissions, and how medical testing is conducted? Do you really want AoC or MTG deciding which medicine you can take? Remember the ACA/Obamacare debacle? Without agencies, the entire government becomes a series of "let's pass the bill to see what's in it" laws. The whole point of delegation is that experts make the important decisions, and Congress approves a leader for the department that is accountable to them for oversight. Requiring Congress to bring every decision an agency makes to the floor for a discussion and vote is akin to having the Board of Directors of a company approve and modify every PR it Github.

notch656c 4y ago
Unelected entities should not be writing "regulations" (that have the power of law). Particularly when they both write the "regulation" and enforce it with police powers, such as the ATF, creating a dangerous fusion of the separated powers.
salawat 4y ago
Yes, I do expect Congress to either build up that expertise, or hire their own staff yo do the footwork for them. The Library of Congress, in point of fact, was established to fulfill that very need. Congressional research. Also, until Gingrich in the 104th-ish Congress convinced them to shut it down in the 90's, the Legislative branch had their own independent Office of Technology Assessment research arm which to my understanding was a thorn in lobbyists side, because not only did they have a mandate to run down discrepancies (i.e. lobbyist said X, but our research/subpoenaing found Y is the case). It was nuked because "we should just listen to lobbyists more", and basically the replacement enacted was to take double OTA's yearly budget, and drop that onto the Library of Congress, I suppose with the implication the GOP believes that Congresspeople should do their own research. The level of follow thru on that is probably just what you'd expect. If OTA came back, I'd be one of the first to throw my hat in the ring as a researcher/go-for, just because I believe it is such an essential piece of a healthy legislative institution, and we have suffered greatly over the past decades for want of it.
- sagarm 4y ago
  The end result of Congress not being able to delegate to experts will be under regulation and lobbyists running rampant.
  - notch656c 4y ago
    .... as opposed to under regulation, lobbyists running rampant, AND tyrannical delegated "experts" as we have now.
- km3r 4y ago
  Delegation is essential. There simply isn't enough time to regulate all the various industries that need regulation. Unless you want congress to read even less of what they pass than they do today. Congress can always override regulations that go too far or not far enough.

notch656c 4y ago

Unelected entities should not be writing "regulations" (that have the power of law). Particularly when they both write the "regulation" and enforce it with police powers, such as the ATF, creating a dangerous fusion of the separated powers.

salawat 4y ago

Yes, I do expect Congress to either build up that expertise, or hire their own staff yo do the footwork for them. The Library of Congress, in point of fact, was established to fulfill that very need. Congressional research. Also, until Gingrich in the 104th-ish Congress convinced them to shut it down in the 90's, the Legislative branch had their own independent Office of Technology Assessment research arm which to my understanding was a thorn in lobbyists side, because not only did they have a mandate to run down discrepancies (i.e. lobbyist said X, but our research/subpoenaing found Y is the case). It was nuked because "we should just listen to lobbyists more", and basically the replacement enacted was to take double OTA's yearly budget, and drop that onto the Library of Congress, I suppose with the implication the GOP believes that Congresspeople should do their own research. The level of follow thru on that is probably just what you'd expect. If OTA came back, I'd be one of the first to throw my hat in the ring as a researcher/go-for, just because I believe it is such an essential piece of a healthy legislative institution, and we have suffered greatly over the past decades for want of it.

sagarm 4y ago
The end result of Congress not being able to delegate to experts will be under regulation and lobbyists running rampant.
- notch656c 4y ago
  .... as opposed to under regulation, lobbyists running rampant, AND tyrannical delegated "experts" as we have now.
km3r 4y ago
Delegation is essential. There simply isn't enough time to regulate all the various industries that need regulation. Unless you want congress to read even less of what they pass than they do today. Congress can always override regulations that go too far or not far enough.