A President Or An Autocrat In The Making?

Just days after taking the presidential oath of office and swearing to “faithfully execute” his office and “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution, Donald Trump has shown that he is an autocrat in the making, not a President sworn to uphold the Constitution.

Trump’s apparent strategy in the opening days of his second term is to flood the zone with executive orders, controversial and unqualified nominees, unprecedented actions, and other distractions, making it hard for opponents to effectively oppose these efforts.

Many battles lie ahead to protect our democracy and our Constitution. Our judicial branch will play a critical role in these fights.

Here are some examples that demonstrate Trump is an autocrat in the making.

Autocrats Ignore Their Nation’s Constitution

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is crystal clear – a person born in the United States is a citizen of the United States. On Day One, however, Trump ignored the Constitution and issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship.

A lawsuit quickly followed in which Judge John Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, granted a temporary injunction finding the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional” and writing “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one.”

Autocrats Eliminate Accountability

Inspectors General provide independent oversight of government agencies to deter and prevent fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and other violations of law. Trump’s firing of 18 Inspectors General on Friday night appears designed to test his ability to eliminate accountability for his Administration.

The firings also resulted in Trump testing the extent to which he can simply ignore laws he doesn’t like – in this case, the legal requirement that to fire an Inspector General, 30 days advance notice must be given to Congress, along with a detailed explanation of the reasons for the firing.

Autocrats Undermine Other Arms Of Government

Trump is also testing how much power he can misappropriate from Congress. So far, congressional Republicans are acting like lemmings willing to send congressional authority over the cliff.

One of the most important powers given to Congress is the power of the purse.

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as Lawfare explains, “limits the executive branch’s authority to decline to spend or commit to spending funds that Congress has appropriated.” It was enacted after President Richard Nixon challenged spending decisions made by Congress.

In imposing a wide-ranging federal spending freeze this week, without apparent authority to do so, Trump and Russell Vought, his nominated OMB Director, began an effort to seize Congress’s power of the purse.

A federal judge paused the freeze and a second federal judge indicated he would also do so, after the Administration withdrew the memo authorizing the freeze, but also said the policy underlying the freeze was still in effect.

Trump’s apparent longer-term goal is to get the Supreme Court to declare the Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional, which would allow Trump to take for himself much of the power of the purse assigned to Congress by the Constitution.

Autocrats Like To Write Their Own History

Trump has been trying for four years to rewrite the history of the 2020 presidential election and of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that he incited. Trump won’t succeed.

His latest attempt was his Day One pardon of some 1,500 convicted criminals involved in the Jan. 6 attack, including those convicted for violently attacking police officers.

Trump appointed Ed Martin to serve as interim US Attorney for DC and Martin is undertaking an internal review of the office’s handling of Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Martin reportedly was a “Stop the Steal” organizer, reportedly spread false claims about the Jan. 6 attack, and was a defense attorney for three Jan. 6 defendants, including a Proud Boys leader who pled guilty to attacking the police. Those conflicts of interest should disqualify Martin from this job.

Autocrats Engage In Retribution

In a vicious act of retribution, Trump has taken away security protection for individuals who reportedly are facing threats of assassination from Iran. They include his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Trump also has removed the federal security protection of Dr. Anthony Fauci, a hero in the fights against AIDS and covid, and a target of the right wing.

And Pete Hegseth, Trump’s new supplicant at the Defense Department, has removed the security clearance and security detail of Gen. Mark Milley (Ret.), the former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – a Trump appointee – and ordered an inquiry into Milley, with no known basis.

This is all Trump vengeance.

There are tough battles ahead. But our democracy and our Constitution will survive Trump.

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