I continue to be confused as to how one dimwit can make so many consequential decisions for all of us. And we just have to sit here like idiots and can't seem to do anything about it.
So the executive branch has assumed a lot of functions that by right belong to the legislative branch. That's not great, but it has mostly worked out, because the executive branch is made up mostly of bureaucratic civil servants who really just want to do their jobs.
There were always appointed political functionaries at the top of the departments, who in theory had a ton of power but in practice frequently deferred to the subject matter experts within the department.
But that was always tenuous, and now that has broken. Which means that a single dimwit can override all of the experts. They always could, but were generally smart enough not to.