NEWS.COM.AU: The US is in utter chaos after Donald Trump issued his most controversial decree yet, just weeks into his second presidency.
It doesn’t need another January 6 insurrection.
It doesn’t need loyal militias on the streets.
All it takes for the world’s greatest democracy to fall is to fire those who believe in doing their job.
It’s just one month into Donald Trump’s second term as the 47th President of the United States, and he has issued his most controversial decree yet. He insists that only he and his Attorney-General can interpret the law for government institutions.
All the while, “special government employee” Elon Musk and his team of young acolytes are firing civil servants at all levels of government and seizing control of crucial personal records systems.
Political analysts are alarmed.
“As researchers on authoritarian politics, it is no surprise to us that a leader bent on expanding his own power, such as Trump, would see the bureaucracy as a key target,” argue political scientists Erica Frantz, Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Joe Wright.
It’s a heavily-worn chapter of the millennia-old “authoritarian handbook”. » | Jamie Seidel | Monday, February 24, 2025
Showing posts with label American democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American democracy. Show all posts
Monday, March 03, 2025
Trump Presidency Will Leave America ‘Impoverished, Bumbling and Stumbling’ | Timothy Snyder
Oct 12, 2024 | “Without the rule of law, you’re looking at a bumbling, stumbling, impoverished, unpredictable United States.”
Historian Timothy Snyder tells Jane Mulkerrins what he thinks a Trump presidency will look like.
Historian Timothy Snyder tells Jane Mulkerrins what he thinks a Trump presidency will look like.
Trump and Musk’s Dismantling of Government Is Shaking the Foundations of US Democracy
AP: WASHINGTON (AP) — When Elon Musk debuted the Department of Government Efficiency recently at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson enthusiastically predicted the coming Trump administration would bring “a lot of change around here.”
Three weeks in, the change the Trump administration has brought is a disruption of the federal government on an unprecedented scale, dismantling longstanding programs, sparking widespread public outcry and challenging the very role of Congress to create the nation’s laws and pay its bills.
Government workers are being pushed to resign. Entire agencies are being shuttered. Federal funding to states and nonprofits was temporarily frozen. And the most sensitive Treasury Department information of countless Americans was opened to Musk’s DOGE team in an unprecedented breach of privacy and protocol.
“This is an erosion of our democracy,” said Brian Riedl, a longtime economic adviser to conservative Republicans, now at the Manhattan Institute think tank.
President Donald Trump has tapped Musk, the world’s richest man, to take on inner workings of the world’s oldest democracy, and so far the results are stunning, if not alarming and unlawful, being challenged in dozens of court cases nationwide. » | Lisa Mascaro | Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Three weeks in, the change the Trump administration has brought is a disruption of the federal government on an unprecedented scale, dismantling longstanding programs, sparking widespread public outcry and challenging the very role of Congress to create the nation’s laws and pay its bills.
Government workers are being pushed to resign. Entire agencies are being shuttered. Federal funding to states and nonprofits was temporarily frozen. And the most sensitive Treasury Department information of countless Americans was opened to Musk’s DOGE team in an unprecedented breach of privacy and protocol.
“This is an erosion of our democracy,” said Brian Riedl, a longtime economic adviser to conservative Republicans, now at the Manhattan Institute think tank.
President Donald Trump has tapped Musk, the world’s richest man, to take on inner workings of the world’s oldest democracy, and so far the results are stunning, if not alarming and unlawful, being challenged in dozens of court cases nationwide. » | Lisa Mascaro | Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Trump’s Moves Test the Limits of Presidential Power and the Resilience of US Democracy
AP: During his first six weeks in office, President Donald Trump has embarked on a dizzying teardown of the federal government and attacks on long-standing institutions in an attempt to increase his own authority.
He has pardoned those who attacked the U.S. Capitol to overturn his 2020 election loss, placed loyalists atop the FBI and military, and purged the Department of Justice, which dropped investigations against Trump allies. He declared control over independent agencies such as the Federal Election Commission, punished media outlets for coverage he dislikes and his allies suggested he could defy court orders.
Those who monitor democracy across the globe had warned that a second Trump term could endanger America’s 240-year experiment with democracy. His opening weeks in office have done nothing to dispel those concerns.
“Trump is using the classic elected authoritarian playbook,” said Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College, who joined more than 800 other political scientists in signing a letter warning that Trump is undermining the rule of law and the basic constitutional principle of checks and balances. “It’s almost embarrassing how crude it is.”
Nyhan said some of Trump’s moves echo those made by others who won democratic elections and then moved to centralize control, such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Those who have resisted authoritarians in other countries say they are alarmed by what is happening in the United States. » | Nicholas Riccardi | Saturday, March 1, 2025
He has pardoned those who attacked the U.S. Capitol to overturn his 2020 election loss, placed loyalists atop the FBI and military, and purged the Department of Justice, which dropped investigations against Trump allies. He declared control over independent agencies such as the Federal Election Commission, punished media outlets for coverage he dislikes and his allies suggested he could defy court orders.
Those who monitor democracy across the globe had warned that a second Trump term could endanger America’s 240-year experiment with democracy. His opening weeks in office have done nothing to dispel those concerns.
“Trump is using the classic elected authoritarian playbook,” said Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College, who joined more than 800 other political scientists in signing a letter warning that Trump is undermining the rule of law and the basic constitutional principle of checks and balances. “It’s almost embarrassing how crude it is.”
Nyhan said some of Trump’s moves echo those made by others who won democratic elections and then moved to centralize control, such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Those who have resisted authoritarians in other countries say they are alarmed by what is happening in the United States. » | Nicholas Riccardi | Saturday, March 1, 2025
Historian Timothy Snyder on the Future of American Democracy & the Rule of Law
Friday, February 07, 2025
It’s Time to Prepare for the Fall of American Democracy
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Steve Schmidt Breaks Down How the New York Times Failed Democracy | The Warning
Steve, I wish you would run for president. – © Mark Alexander
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Tucker Carlson Is Undermining Faith in American Democracy for Profit | #politics
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