This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. Since the inauguration, we've experienced a dizzying onslaught of actions from the Oval Office. So we're devoting this president's day to understanding the scope of President Donald Trump's power, as he continues to break laws, use billionaire Elon Musk to dismantle the government and circumvent Congress.

Since taking office, President Trump has issued dozens of executive orders, memos, and proclamations

to change policies and immigration law.

He's expanded on the record of his first term and is acting on the promises he made during

his campaign, actions that will redefine the United States,

like taking away birthright citizenship,

urging millions of federal workers to resign,

and dismantling efforts to prevent foreign influence in our elections.

Legal scholars and experts agree that we are in a constitutional crisis.

We explore what that is and what power Congress and the

American people have against President Trump's executive authority. Our guest today, Charlie Savage,

has studied and written about presidential power for two decades. His 2007 book,

Takeover, The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy

is about the Bush-Cheney administration's efforts to expand the president's power.

Savage is also a constitutional scholar and wrote in 2015 Power Wars, an investigative account

of national security and legal policymaking under President Obama.

Savage is a staff writer for the New York Times, where he writes about national security and

legal policy.

We recorded this conversation with Savage last week.

Charlie Savage, welcome back to Fresh Air.

Thank you for having me.

Okay, Charlie, so today will be kind of like a civics lesson

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