In mid-May, the Department of Government Efficiency — which was established by an executive order, does not have the statutory authority of a government department or agency, is not funded by Congress and claims to not be subject to legislative oversight — tried to embed a team in the Government Accounting Office. The GAO helps Congress audit government spending to identify waste, fraud and mismanagement.

Officials of the GAO, a legislative branch agency currently investigating more than three dozen allegations that the Trump administration illegally withheld congressionally authorized funds, refused. The GAO “is not subject to executive orders,” a spokeswoman added.

Faced with the same demand, officials of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said no as well, citing a statute stipulating that it “will not be an agency or establishment of the United States government.”

Nonetheless, a staff member of DOGE reportedly declared that his “department” intended to investigate “every institute or agency that has congressional monies appropriated to it,” including private nonprofits.

The distribution of power into three separate, coequal branches of the federal government is a foundational principle of American democracy. The Constitution authorizes Congress “to lay and collect taxes, duties,” including tariffs, and approve government spending. Congressional authority in these areas was reinforced in 1974 by a law prohibiting the executive branch from impounding funds. The Constitution says the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed” and that the judiciary........

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