Robert Robb

The Arizona Republic Opinion

During the campaign, the left, and many on the right, expressed the fear that, if elected, Donald Trump wouldn’t abide by the constitutional limits on the powers of the presidency.

Now, the left is complaining that he is abiding by them.

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That began with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Barack Obama repeatedly, and correctly, said that he did not have the constitutional authority to grant legal status to "Dreamers," those brought here illegally when they were children, as a class. Then he did so anyway.

Trump rescinded this presidential overreach, but delayed the program’s termination for six months to give Congress, where the authority actually resides, time to act.

Despite the howls of protest, this was a well-crafted and well-considered action consistent with respecting the constitutional separation of powers while giving Congress the time to provide legal status for dreamers the right way.

The same thing happened, and is happening, regarding the cost-sharing subsidies in Obamacare.

There are two Obamacare subsidy programs based upon income. People making 400 percent or less of the federal poverty level can receive premium subsidies. And those making 250 percent or less of the FPL can receive an additional subsidy for their out-of-pocket costs.

The premium subsidies technically are tax credits administered through the tax code. So those are, in effect, permanently appropriated.

The cost-sharing subsidies, however, are different. They take the form of reimbursements directly to the insurance companies, and hence are subject to annual appropriations.

The Obama administration initially accepted this and asked for an appropriation to cover the cost. When that was not forthcoming, the administration started paying them anyway.

House Republicans sued and a district court judge agreed that the payments were not constitutionally authorized. But the judge stayed the injunction pending appeal. The Obama administration continued the payments while the court case has been put in legal limbo.

That was the situation Trump inherited. Initially, his administration also continued to make the payments. But, when it became clear that Congress wasn’t going to address health care comprehensively, which might or might not have included the cost-sharing subsidies, the administration announced the end of cost-sharing payments.

Again, howls of protest. But, again, there was no other action possible consistent with the constitutional separation of powers. Nothing is clearer in the Constitution than that spending by the national government cannot occur except through an act of the legislative branch.

And, once again, Trump’s action merely returns the issue to Congress, where it properly resides.

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These subsidies aren’t, as Trump and some on the right are characterizing them, a bailout for the insurance companies. Obamacare requires the insurers to provide the subsidies. Not reimbursing them for actions required by the federal government is acting in bad faith. If Republicans can’t come up with an Obamacare replacement, the cost-sharing subsidies should be funded. But the right way.

Besides, this and the other actions the Trump administration took last week don’t really do that much to undermine Obamacare. In addition to ceasing unconstitutional cost-sharing reimbursements, the administration announced administrative steps to allow more people to purchase health insurance that does not fully comply with the Obamacare mandates.

This might increase premiums on the Obamacare exchanges. But 85% of those purchasing exchange policies receive premium subsidies. So, the primary effect for them would be to increase their premium subsidy.

This is a healthy shift of the burden directly to taxpayers, rather than forcing people to purchase health insurance that is a lousy value-proposition for them. Obamacare is imploding from its own internal flaws. The Trump actions don’t amount to much of a push.

There is much to find fault with Trump as president. His superficial leadership is one of the reasons Republicans aren’t getting anything done. Governing by bombastic tweets isn’t working.

But, thus far, Trump is actually showing significantly more respect for the constitutional limits on presidential power than Obama did.

Robert Robb is a columnist at The Arizona Republic, where this piece first appeared. Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com.​​​​​