Since he took office, President Trump has ruthlessly attempted to unilaterally dismantle dozens of statutorily created agencies without congressional authorization. His administration abruptly laid off or furloughed thousands of workers, froze vital community programming and humanitarian aid, and paused, dismantled, or unlawfully ended countless health, safety, research, environmental, and cultural projects. This fundamental reorganization of the federal government was all undertaken without congressional authorization.

Several unions, nonprofits, and local governments challenged the administration’s actions in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In May 2025, CAC filed an amicus brief urging the court to grant the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order. Our brief made two principal points.

First, Congress has the sole authority to create, restructure, and abolish federal departments and agencies. The Constitution provides that “[a]ll legislative Powers,” including power over the existence of executive offices, “shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” It also grants Congress the exclusive power to “carr[y] into Execution” not only the “foregoing Powers” but also “all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”  The Supreme Court has held that these provisions authorize Congress to pass laws creating executive departments, agencies, and offices. Congress also has the power to restructure or abolish agencies as it finds necessary, and it has exercised this power since its earliest days.

Second, historical practice demonstrates that when Congress wants to give the President authority to reorganize the executive branch, it does so through legislation. From 1932 to 1984, Congress gave the President reorganization authority by passing and renewing a series of laws known as the Reorganization Acts. The history of these laws demonstrates that when Congress believes that delegating its reorganization power to the President will promote efficiency in government, it knows how to make such a delegation while, at the same time, limiting the scope of that delegation to protect against presidential overreach.

In May 2025, the District Court issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to unilaterally reorganize the federal government without congressional authorization. Quoting our brief, the court cited the “long history of Congress exercising its ‘power to restructure and abolish federal agencies as it finds necessary’” and concluded that the President had neither constitutional nor statutory authority to engage in such large-scale reorganizations without the cooperation of Congress. The government moved for an emergency stay of the temporary restraining order in the Ninth Circuit, and CAC filed an amicus brief in opposition to the stay.