Trump, Allies Plan Expansion of Powers in White House Return: Report

Former President Donald Trump is planning on expanding presidential powers if he wins a return to the White House in the 2024 elections, centralizing power in the Oval Office and reshaping the executive branch, according to a New York Times report out Monday.

The former president aims to end the independence of the Justice Department, which has been in place since the Watergate scandal under President Nixon, and have the White House control it.

Some other agencies that would also be shifted under the presidential ruling include the broadcast regulator Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, which is responsible for antitrust regulation and consumer protection.

Trump would also reshape the staff of intelligence agencies, removing those he believes are “the sick political class that hates our country," according to the Times.

The report also says that targeted reforms would include erasing the employment protections of civil workers, and a practice called "impounding" funds, which allows the president to ban Congress from using funds on programs he does not like.

Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly told the Times that the possible changes would be"chaotic."

"It just simply would be chaotic, because he’d continually be trying to exceed his authority but the sycophants would go along with it," Kelly said. "It would be a nonstop gunfight with the Congress and the courts.”