It seems like a lot longer, but it's only been slightly more than a week since Trump once again took over the reins of government. The recurring theme from the rare Trumpist that I hear from is how much he has done in a short period of time, sometimes comparing his "accomplishments" to Biden's supposed lack of them. But exactly what has he accomplished?
If you measure "accomplishment" by the number of pieces of paper that he has signed, then he can definitely be crowned the most accomplished president ever, accomplishment the likes of which the world has never seen. But is that what is happening?
Speed was not the priority for the people who wrote the Constitution. They purposely built in institutions that demanded consensus to move forward, different institutions that were to serve as checks and balances, or even roadblocks to the others. They were very clear about not empowering a king-like figure and specifically created a Congress that was entrusted with the responsibility to enact laws and a court system whose job was to interpret them. The president has not been granted the power to unilaterally enact laws. His powers, according to Article II of the Constitution, are:
- To be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces (although Congress has the exclusive power to declare war)
- To make treaties with foreign governments (with the concurrence of 2/3 of the Senate)
- Appoint Supreme Court Justices as well as various other officials
- Grant pardons
- Faithfully execute the law
It could be argued that some of his Executive Orders (EO's) involve executing laws that are on the books but not enforced, but most involve Trump taking unilateral action to carry out his own priorities, whether they are in the best interests of the nation or not. And "his own priorities" overwhelmingly involve retribution and revenge against those individuals and institutions that he believes have wronged him, without anything that can even charitably interpreted as being in the best interests of the people of the United States.
There's a lot of cheering from the Trumpists about the immediate ICE raids and deportations, and supposedly the first targets for deportation are the undocumented criminal gangs. Who could argue against ridding the nation of those kind of people? But when they raid workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods, who are they likely to round up? Not gang members, but mothers and fathers working hard to provide for their families, paying taxes and contributing to their communities. Many of those are actually here legally as part of various path-to-citizenship programs that have been unilaterally cancelled by Trump's EO's. So why are these places getting raided? Because they are here as part of a government sanctioned program, ICE knows where they are.
There are EO's firing Justice Department investigators who were part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions. There are EO's suspending anyone in government even remotely connected to DEI initiatives. There are EO's removing protective details from former government officials who have received credible death threats, who "coincidently" have spoken up in opposition to Trump. There are EO's cancelling all government hiring. There are EO's cancelling all government grants. There are EO's removing civil service protections from senior and policy officials in the federal workforce. There is an EO to unilaterally invalidate part of the Constitution. Of course, the most insidious action of all, pardoning those who took part in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Executive Orders have become more and more widespread over the last few administrations as Congressional gridlock has become the norm. But these actions by Trump indicate that he doesn't even want to pretend to wait for Congressional action, but is unilaterally pushing ahead. In fact, he threatens to end the careers of anyone in Congress who doesn't vote his way one hundred percent of the time. And the Republicans in Congress largely look like they are complying.
Our government is not slowly becoming a dictatorship, it already is.
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