executive branch

“We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president,” he said last year, adding: “I will wield that power very aggressively.”

The exercises demonstrated repeatedly that an authoritarian in control of the executive branch with little concern for legal limits holds a structural advantage over any lawful effort to restrain him.

However, Trump's extensive power as the head of the executive branch could offer him a way around this formality.

The newly elected leader of the incoming majority, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., likewise affirmed his commitment to the Senate’s traditional role of providing “advice and consent” to the executive branch.

Opponents argue against their routine use, and members of the Senate are historically protective of their role as a check on the executive branch.