Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee said Monday the American people believe they have lost control of their government — but he was talking about the growth of the administrative state and not the actions of a president gone rogue.
With many elected Republicans ducking public appearances in the aftermath of fallout from President Trump’s interaction with fired FBI Director James Comey, Lee spoke at a Federalist Society event in Washington, D.C., and bemoaned the growth of the federal government.
“Many Americans now feel and this shows up in polls all the time that they are not in control of their own government and we all know that’s a very dangerous place to be,” he said. “The perception is dangerous, the reality underlying that perception, or the lack of that perception in many circles is really alarming,” Lee said. “The administrative state is designed to be insulated from politics. … This vast, unaccountable morass of programs, agencies, and commissions are things that all tend to be captured by the powerful and well-connected, and all dedicated to the regulation of the minutiae of everyday life.”
Lee kicked off the right-leaning Federalist Society’s “Executive Branch Review Conference” on the relationship between Congress and the executive branch. The relationship between Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress was forever altered after reports that the president may have made private comments urging Comey to drop an investigation of his close associate’s connections to Russian officials. Lee avoided making any mention of Trump, Comey or the ongoing political turmoil facing his fellow lawmakers.
