"It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.”
-Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
“. . . the states are just an agent of the federal government.”
-Donald Trump, Speech to the NRCC, April 8, 2025
“Our President’s crazy, did you hear what he said?”
-Talking Heads, “Making Flippy Floppy,” 1983
As a lifelong conservative, free-market policy nerd, I know I’m idealistic. I’m looking for elected officials who understand the Constitution, have read Hayek, who know who Milton Friedman was, who are acquainted with the Federalist Papers, and who know a little history and philosophy.
Apparently, that’s unreasonable, but it’s nice to get as close as we can. We got close not too long ago.
It’s become common for some of the young “New Right” partisans, populists and Trump supporters to look askance at the legacy of Ronald Reagan, to tease Reaganites for being devotees of “zombie Reaganism,” insisting that different times call for different solutions. “You don’t understand what time it is,” they say. And they assert that Donald Trump is, somehow, more conservative and more successful than Reagan.
I’m thinking of the comparison between Reagan and Trump because, last night, speaking to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Trump argued that Congress should force states to comply with his agenda. “Because” he said, “the states are just agents of the federal government, of you.”
Now, this is wrong—very wrong. But it’s also a reminder that President Trump hasn’t the vaguest understanding of the American founding and of the Constitution.
Given how much power Congress has unfortunately and unconstitutionally delegated to the Executive Branch, having someone in the unified executive who hasn’t the slightest understanding of our constitutional design is going to lead to problems.
And Trump’s pronouncements, however wrong, become doctrine for his toadies. So now, Trumpism no longer respects federalism.
This is tragic because a return to federalism is the only solution to our problems. Part of why I’ve become a supporter of an Article V Convention of the States is the observation that the federal government is never going to limit its own power.
Reagan understood federalism. He couldn’t devolve power to the states with a Democrat-controlled Congress, but at least he understood. Today, with a Republican Congress, we have a president who doesn’t understand federalism.
So I’ll hear no more of this nonsense that Donald Trump is more conservative than Ronald Reagan.
Trump has done many good things, and he was a better choice than Kamala Harris. But ignorance about the basic design of our Constitution and our economy is no basis for the conservative movement going forward.
___________________________________________
-Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
“. . . the states are just an agent of the federal government.”
-Donald Trump, Speech to the NRCC, April 8, 2025
“Our President’s crazy, did you hear what he said?”
-Talking Heads, “Making Flippy Floppy,” 1983
As a lifelong conservative, free-market policy nerd, I know I’m idealistic. I’m looking for elected officials who understand the Constitution, have read Hayek, who know who Milton Friedman was, who are acquainted with the Federalist Papers, and who know a little history and philosophy.
Apparently, that’s unreasonable, but it’s nice to get as close as we can. We got close not too long ago.
It’s become common for some of the young “New Right” partisans, populists and Trump supporters to look askance at the legacy of Ronald Reagan, to tease Reaganites for being devotees of “zombie Reaganism,” insisting that different times call for different solutions. “You don’t understand what time it is,” they say. And they assert that Donald Trump is, somehow, more conservative and more successful than Reagan.
I’m thinking of the comparison between Reagan and Trump because, last night, speaking to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Trump argued that Congress should force states to comply with his agenda. “Because” he said, “the states are just agents of the federal government, of you.”
Now, this is wrong—very wrong. But it’s also a reminder that President Trump hasn’t the vaguest understanding of the American founding and of the Constitution.
Given how much power Congress has unfortunately and unconstitutionally delegated to the Executive Branch, having someone in the unified executive who hasn’t the slightest understanding of our constitutional design is going to lead to problems.
And Trump’s pronouncements, however wrong, become doctrine for his toadies. So now, Trumpism no longer respects federalism.
This is tragic because a return to federalism is the only solution to our problems. Part of why I’ve become a supporter of an Article V Convention of the States is the observation that the federal government is never going to limit its own power.
Reagan understood federalism. He couldn’t devolve power to the states with a Democrat-controlled Congress, but at least he understood. Today, with a Republican Congress, we have a president who doesn’t understand federalism.
So I’ll hear no more of this nonsense that Donald Trump is more conservative than Ronald Reagan.
Trump has done many good things, and he was a better choice than Kamala Harris. But ignorance about the basic design of our Constitution and our economy is no basis for the conservative movement going forward.
___________________________________________
Today's PolicyByte was written by Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation.