Cameron Miranda
While it is difficult to definitively state which president broke the most constitutional laws, Donald Trump has been accused of violating the constitution and federal law on numerous occasions during his presidency. Legal scholars and historians have pointed to Trump's rapid-fire and controversial moves, such as banning birthright citizenship, firing inspectors general, freezing federal spending, and dismissing members of government agencies, as evidence of his disregard for the law. Some have even claimed that Trump's actions amount to a blitzkrieg on the law and the constitution. However, it is important to note that other presidents, such as Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon, have also been known to flout the constitution during their time in office.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Pardoning violent criminals | Hundreds pardoned on Inauguration Day |
| Firing public servants | Fraud-finding inspectors general, members of the NLRB and EEOC |
| Dissolving federal agencies | U.S. Agency for International Development |
| Taking taxpayer money from communities | Impoundment of congressionally-appropriated funds |
| Violating the Constitution | Executive order to end birthright citizenship; spending freeze |
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What You'll Learn
Trump's termination of inspectors general
President Donald Trump's termination of inspectors general has been a cause for concern for many. Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general, the independent watchdogs who conduct audits and investigations of the executive branch, during his first week in office. This move has been described as illegal and unconstitutional, with some arguing that it removes oversight of his administration and undermines the rule of law.
The Inspector General Act of 1978 states that "an Inspector General may be removed from office by the President." While Trump likely acted within the law by removing the inspectors general, he did not provide Congress with the legally required 30-day notice. A recent amendment to the Inspector General Act, the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022, requires a "substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons" for the removal. Trump did not provide this rationale to Congress, which some argue violates federal oversight laws.
The Trump administration has argued that the notice provision is unconstitutional, citing the president's "unrestricted removal power" over executive branch officials. However, this move has been criticised by members of Congress, who have suggested that it violated federal oversight laws and removed a critical check on the executive branch. The firing of inspectors general also comes amid allegations of unethical and illegal conduct by Trump's Cabinet during his first term, which triggered investigations into at least eight Trump appointees.
The ultimate impact of Trump's termination of inspectors general will depend on whether Congress stands up for the independence of inspectors general and ensures that these roles are filled with individuals who act independently and hold the administration accountable. Trump's decision appears to be part of an effort to replace independent inspectors general with loyalists who may be more inclined to overlook potential violations of the law by the president's appointees. This raises concerns about the potential for corruption and ethical violations within the administration.
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Trump's federal funding freeze
While it is challenging to ascertain which US president broke the most constitutional laws, President Donald Trump has been accused of violating the law and the US Constitution on numerous occasions. One notable example is Trump's attempt to freeze all federal grants and loans, amounting to approximately $1 trillion, across the government. This decision caused mass confusion, frustration, and uncertainty among Americans who rely on federally funded programmes for childcare, food assistance, and housing.
The freeze was intended to stop what Trump's administration deemed "Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies". However, it would have impacted essential services, including education and healthcare. The move faced significant backlash, with US Senator Mark R. Warner calling it an "unlawful directive" and a "cruel effort to strip Virginians of their most basic needs."
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., District Judge Loren AliKhan, extended a block on Trump's blanket freeze, issuing a preliminary injunction. AliKhan criticised the Trump administration's handling of the situation, stating that the freeze was "ill-conceived," "irrational," and "imprudent," leading to a nationwide crisis.
Trump's administration also faced accusations of violating the law and undermining the Constitution in other instances, such as the impoundment of congressionally-appropriated funds, the closure of the US Agency for International Development, and the firing of public servants and inspectors general without proper notice or rationale. These actions have led to concerns about the rule of law and the integrity of the US democratic system.
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Trump's birthright citizenship order
While it is difficult to ascertain which president broke the most constitutional laws, President Donald Trump's administration has been marred by numerous controversies and accusations of violating rules, laws, and the Constitution. One of the most notable instances is Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, which has faced significant legal challenges and widespread criticism.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14160, which aimed to deny citizenship to persons born to mothers who were unlawfully present in the United States and whose fathers were not US citizens or lawful permanent residents. The order also applied to cases where the mother's presence in the US was lawful but temporary, such as those on student, work, or tourist visas. Trump's order essentially directed agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of US-born children with at least one parent who was a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a "green card" holder.
The executive order on birthright citizenship has been widely criticized and deemed unconstitutional by legal experts and judges across the country. Every court that has considered the order's merits has declared it unconstitutional, including US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston, who ruled in favor of 18 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, swiftly challenging Trump's policy. The Supreme Court has long recognized that children born to individuals who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily are nonetheless birthright citizens, as argued by Shankar Duraiswamy, a lawyer for New Jersey.
The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals became the first federal appeals court to hold Trump's order as unconstitutional. However, the ultimate fate of the order will likely be determined by the US Supreme Court. Justice Department Attorney Eric McArthur argued that the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, extended citizenship to the children of newly freed enslaved Black people but not to the children of undocumented individuals. However, judges questioned the consistency of this argument with the Supreme Court's 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which has been understood as guaranteeing American citizenship to children born in the US to non-citizen parents.
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Andrew Johnson's violation of his presidential oath
While it is challenging to ascertain which president broke the most constitutional laws, Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached, and his impeachment was due to his violation of his presidential oath.
Johnson was accused of being "unmindful of the high duties of his office and of his oath of office". This accusation was levelled at Johnson because he conspired with Lorenzo Thomas, by force, to seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in the War Department. This was a violation of the Tenure of Office Act, passed on March 2, 1867, which aimed to prevent the president from removing certain officeholders without the consent of the Senate. Johnson had attempted to remove Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary for the Department of War, from his office.
The Constitution provides no standards for determining whether a president has violated their oath, which makes it difficult to ascertain whether Johnson broke the most constitutional laws of any president. However, Johnson's impeachment trial in 1868 set a precedent for defining impeachable offences as including "a violation of the Constitution, of law, of an official oath".
Johnson was narrowly acquitted in his impeachment trial, with the Senate falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority required to convict.
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Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal, or simply Watergate, was a series of interlocking political scandals involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began on June 17, 1972, when members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign were caught burglarizing and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex.
The burglars were caught trying to bug (electronically eavesdrop) on the Democratic National Committee headquarters in advance of the 1972 election. Four of the five burglars had previously worked for the CIA in activities against Fidel Castro in Cuba, and the fifth was James W. McCord, Jr., the security chief of the Committee to Re-elect the President.
Following the burglars' arrest, media and the Department of Justice found money connected with the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the fundraising arm of Nixon's campaign. Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward pursued leads from a source named "Deep Throat" (later identified as Mark Felt, FBI Associate Director) and uncovered a campaign of political espionage directed by White House officials and illegally funded by donors.
Nixon's efforts to conceal his administration's involvement led to an impeachment process and his resignation in August 1974. Nixon created a new conspiracy to cover up the initial cover-up, which began in late March 1973 and became fully formed in May and June 1973, operating until his presidency ended on August 9, 1974.
Nixon's administration was implicated in the scandal through the discovery of a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office. Nixon refused to grant investigators access to the tapes, leading to a constitutional crisis. In the ""Saturday Night Massacre" in October 1973, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, after which Richardson resigned, as did his deputy William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out the order. In April 1974, Cox's replacement Leon Jaworski reissued a subpoena for the tapes, but Nixon only released redacted transcripts.
In July 1974, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the tapes, and the House Judiciary Committee recommended that he be impeached for obstructing justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. In one of the tapes, known as "the smoking gun," he ordered aides to tell the FBI to halt its investigation. On the verge of being impeached, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, becoming the only U.S. president to do so. In all, 48 people were found guilty of Watergate-related crimes, but Nixon was pardoned by his vice president and successor, Gerald Ford.
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Frequently asked questions
While it is difficult to determine which president broke the most constitutional laws, Donald Trump has been described as the "most lawless and scofflaw president" in US history by Laurence Tribe, a leading constitutional scholar.
Trump has been accused of violating the constitution through a series of executive orders, including an order purporting to end birthright citizenship, which a federal judge blocked, claiming it was "blatantly unconstitutional". He has also been criticised for firing federal inspectors general without providing notice or a rationale to Congress and for freezing federal spending, which some claim was an attempt to ignore Congress's constitutional power of the purse.
Yes, Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for violating the Constitution and laws of the United States by issuing an order for the removal of Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of the Department of War, without the consent of the Senate. Additionally, Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon have also been accused of violating the constitution, with Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal being a notable example.
