The Claremont Institute Unmasks America’s Government by the Unelected

The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life 

has released a new analysis by Claremont Senior Fellow and Dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College, Dr. Ronald J. Pestritto, detailing the progress the Trump administration has made thus far in restoring constitutional checks and balances over the unaccountable federal bureaucracy.

Dr. Pestritto carefully traces the origin of the bureaucratic leviathan to the Progressive Era’s assault on the Founders' vision. He then explores how, after Congress gave away much of its Article I powers through the New Deal, federal courts enabled the administrative state's growth across nearly a century, and assesses the current administration's systematic campaign to roll it back.

“Congress has, by law, long ago abdicated the bulk of its Article I powers in creating, empowering, and funding the administrative state,” wrote Dr. Pestritto.

President Trump’s victory in 2024 brought with it the hopes of fighting back against the endless spiral towards unaccountable bureaucratic rule. So far, Dr. Pestritto concludes, the Trump administration has launched the most systematic effort since the New Deal to recapture executive power from the unelected class.

Significant obstacles do remain, Dr. Pestritto cautions. Federal courts continue to obstruct presidential initiatives through preliminary injunctions granted by district judges sympathetic to the administrative state. Ultimately, he emphasizes, genuine restoration depends on Congress reasserting its Article I powers.

The Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life released this analysis as part of its special edition Provocations series commemorating America's 250th anniversary, designed to guide current and future administrations in the project of restoring the principles of constitutional self-government that animated the American Founding.

About The Claremont Institute

The Claremont Institute is dedicated to restoring the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. Through scholarship, public policy, and educational initiatives, The Claremont Institute seeks to recover America’s founding principles and advance a government based on the enduring truths of the Declaration of Independence.

The mission of the Claremont Institute Center for the American Way of Life is to refute woke doctrines, reclaim America's institutions, and form a new Right.