Trump 100 days: Congress

Congress is proving to be almost no match for this White House.

Trump is testing, challenging and even bullying the Congress in unparalleled ways -– slashing government agencies, deporting legal migrants, investigating perceived enemies and churning the economy -- and all but daring lawmakers to object.

With unified Republican control of the White House and Congress, the GOP has a rare opportunity to muscle through an ambitious partisan agenda.

But Trump has shown he does not necessarily want or need Congress to accomplish his goals.

The president has issued almost 10 times as many executive orders as the first five presidents combined, bypassing Congress. DOGE is slashing programs, jobs and entire agencies, including the Department of Education, that by law receive funding under the purview of Congress, which holds the power under the Constitution to allocate money to the agencies.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the second in the line of presidential succession, portrays himself as the “quarterback” for the “coach” – Trump — who is calling the plays. In the Senate, Republican senators confirmed some of his more contentious nominees over nominal objections.

Democrats are warning of the creep of authoritarianism into American. democracy. “Our Founding Fathers were very aware that a strong executive could essentially crowd out democracy and become an autocrat,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Behind the scenes, many Republicans are trying to push back, for local imperatives such as agriculture and trade, but so far, most are acquiescing to the president.