Trump’s early, extraordinary steps pose a direct challenge to a fundamental underpinning of the Constitution: the power of the purse.

Donald Trump 2.0 is, so far, very much the same as his first go around. But eight years after he was last sworn into office, the new Republican president is emboldened, far more experienced and surrounded by a very different team.

The White House is considering challenging the constitutionality of a 50-year-old law limiting the president’s control over federal spending, easing the firing of civil servants, curbing pay and reining in independent agencies,