Executive Actions — Week of Dec 1, 2025

Several government actions during the week of December 1 raised questions about the balance of power between the president, Congress, and the courts.

The most notable involved the United States Institute of Peace, an organization created by Congress. According to a floor speech by Representative Steve Cohen, President Trump issued an executive order to dismantle it, had its president physically removed, fired all employees, and then placed his name on the building — even after a federal court ruled he lacked the authority to do so. This might matter because when a president continues dismantling a congressionally created institution after a court says he can't, it could affect the judiciary's ability to serve as a check on executive power — one of the core mechanisms the Constitution provides to prevent any single branch from acting unilaterally. That said, the administration may view the court ruling as non-final and subject to appeal, which is a normal part of legal disputes between branches. Representative Cohen is also a political opponent, and his account may not capture the full legal picture. It is also possible the administration was acting in good faith based on legal advice interpreting the President's constitutional powers more broadly, or that these actions were part of a broader government reorganization effort.

Separately, the President notified Congress he would replace the Acting Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, explicitly stating that his notification was merely "a courtesy" and should not be read as accepting any congressional limits on his removal power. Inspectors general are supposed to be independent watchdogs who investigate waste and misconduct within agencies. However, the President did provide the required 30-day notice, and recent Supreme Court decisions — including Seila Law and Free Enterprise Fund — have expanded presidential removal authority in ways that may support this position. Legal experts remain divided on the question.

The Department of Defense also issued an interim rule eliminating the ability to change gender markers on military identification, skipping the usual public comment period. While agencies sometimes have legitimate reasons to fast-track rules, the nearly year-long gap between the underlying executive order and this rule makes the claimed urgency harder to justify.

Limitations: This analysis is AI-generated and based on publicly available federal documents. The USIP account comes from a single congressional speech by a political opponent of the administration. These assessments should be verified against court filings, official administration statements, and primary legal documents before drawing firm conclusions.