House

McCarthy: ‘Right now, Trump has more power than Reagan’

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/09/26 6:30 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/09/26 6:30 PM ET

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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said President Trump “has more power” than former President Reagan.

McCarthy emphasized Trump’s executive strength during a talk at Harvard University’s Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass., where he spoke about his time in the House and the future of democracy in the U.S.

“Right now, Trump has more power than Reagan,” McCarthy said. “We haven’t seen a president like this in either party since [former President Franklin D.] Roosevelt, where he has come back into power so strong, he has a greater determination of whether a Republican wins reelection than any leader in Congress does. He raises the money.”

“Bills don’t pass –– he’s the whip and the Speaker, the president is right now, to go through that,” he continued. “And because of that, if you watch Article 1, Article 2, Article 3 –– remember, Article 1 is the power of the Congress. Well, that’s kind of been usurped right now, but that will come back. So it’s a much different play.”

Americans have called into question Trump’s use of presidential power following his return to the White House last year. This includes introducing tariffs on foreign trade partners, slashing jobs within the federal government, demolishing the White House East Wing to build a ballroom and prosecuting political enemies using the Department of Justice.

Quinnipiac University in December found that 54 percent of respondents believe Trump had gone too far with his presidential authority, compared with 37 percent who thought he was handling it about right.

Many lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have argued that when it comes to military actions in South America and the Middle East, the president needs congressional approval to declare war. Trump has defended the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the military campaign in Iran, prompting Democrats to vote for a check on the president’s war powers.

In fact, McCarthy’s remarks on presidential power came the day before House Republicans blocked a Democratic resolution to limit Trump’s ability to carry out military operations in Iran. Democratic attempts to rein in Trump’s war powers have been thwarted amid military offensives in Venezuela and Iran since the start of the year.

Congressional Democrats slammed Trump after he threatened that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if they did not produce a peace deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. They called for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment, as the threat raised concerns of the U.S. committing a potential war crime.

A deal was reached, though Iran shortly afterward accused the U.S. of violating components of the ceasefire and closed the Strait of Hormuz less than 24 hours after reopening it.

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