Americans, however polarized, do share some commonalities. We take pride in our democratic republic. We believe governmental power should be derived from the people. We detest dictatorships, oligarchies, and authoritarianism as they don’t align with our ideals. We understand the importance of checks and balances imposed on our elected officials. We value equality, free speech, and individualism. That being said, we as a populace have elected a president whose actions continually show that he doesn’t stand for any of the aforementioned. This has become increasingly apparent through his sustained abuse of executive power over the last two months.
To begin, Trump’s recent activity seems to exhibit authoritarian groundwork. After a contentious campaign season, he was able to win through inciting fear and making populist promises. There’s no doubt that the wealthiest Americans aided in this reclamation. According to the Washington Post, Elon Musk spent approximately 288 million dollars backing Trump. Not to mention that the world’s three wealthiest men—Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos—attended his inauguration. Their proximity to the president during this event was also notable. They sat directly in front of his own picks for cabinet. As Elizabeth Warren puts it, “That says it all.” The idea that those who carry out the day-to-day administration of the federal government come second to the affluent.
Now in office, Trump has begun to purge crucial bureaucratic institutions and organizational frameworks. He has dismantled the Department of Education, an establishment dedicated to improving education and enforcing civil rights laws in schools. He restricted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose goal was to ensure national health security. He has rescinded Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies that promoted representation and counteracted discrimination. And he has deconstructed the Agency for International Development, which provided assistance to strategically important countries with humanitarian needs.
Trump is eliminating checks on his position and actively weaponizing the bureaucracy. Hidden behind the guise of eliminating unnecessary costs, he is centralizing executive control. To his credit, he has also added the Department of Government Efficiency. Who did he place in charge, you may ask? Mr. Musk. Trump is appointing his friends without any consideration for their competence. Now if the bureaucracy won’t hold him accountable, who will? The press? Sadly, the answer is no. Trump is now regulating which news outlets can and cannot cover White House press briefings, breaking a lengthy United States tradition. This act appears quite contrary to the free speech clause of our First Amendment.
The implications of his choices go beyond the most obvious consequences. Trump has already used his privilege of the executive order 81 times, 26 of those coming on his very first day in office. This is more than any other president. Trump is attempting to navigate around government safeguards and is settinging a precedent that it’s acceptable for our nation’s highest official to give themselves increased authority. Trump is abusing executive power by removing critical institutions, censoring the media, and decreasing an ordinary citizen’s role in government, ultimately threatening our beloved democracy.
