From Jonathan Bernstein:
Donald Trump couldn’t do a better job of teaching everyone how the presidency works, according to classic political scientist Richard Neustadt. Today’s lesson: the costs of acting alone.
All presidents are frustrated by the limitations of the office. As canny observers have noticed, Trump tends to deal with that by gravitating toward things that he can do all by himself, so we get pardons, stripping people of security clearances and holding summits. Richard Nixon, when he couldn’t get things done he wanted, went around the system to try to do those things (such as, say, spying on political opponents when the FBI refused to do it). Trump, facing the same obstacles, instead retreats to those things that the system does allow him to do without anyone’s permission or cooperation. And when he doesn’t do that, he attempts to order those around him to do what he wants even if they have the ability to say no.
So we have two new stories. One is Trump’s decision to strip former CIA director John Brennan of his security clearance (and floating plans to strip clearances from other former government officials who have criticized him). Trump was able to do that basically just by giving the order.