How spending more money on Congress helps check the President’s executive power

In the past year, President Obama has been roundly criticized by the Republican Party over his use of executive actions. While Obama has claimed that he has taken such actions because of Congress’ inability to act, his critics argue that he is being excessive and maybe even unconstitutional. In new research, Alexander Bolton and Sharece Thrower find that presidents’ use of executive actions became more constrained after World War II – something that they attribute to the allocation of more resources that could be brought to bear on executive oversight.