The Guardrails are Coming Down; Presidential Power Run Amok
The Steady State | by Charles A. Ray
Photo by Frames for Your Heart on Unsplash)
The guardrails against executive overreach are coming down.
During Donald Trump’s first term in office (2017-2021), several guardrails prevented him from acting on some of his worst impulses. His vice president and cabinet secretaries blocked him from doing several things that were controversial at the time, but those pale in comparison to what he’s done since the start of his second term just over a year ago. A Democratic-controlled House of Representatives also constrained his actions, as did an unbiased court system and a relatively free press. Fortified with support from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a solid Trump-supporting majority on the Supreme Court, Republican control of the House and Senate, and more knowledge of how Washington works, he has managed to dismantle most of those guardrails in his second administration.
There are no longer any adults in the room in his cabinet. He has installed staunch, toadying loyalists at the head and in senior positions in every branch and agency, all of whom contort themselves like pretzels to do his bidding, even when it violates the Constitution. He has also defenestrated the career government bureaucracy, replacing many competent career civil servants and diplomats with loyalists or simply leaving positions vacant. In some cases, such as at USAID, he’s eliminated entire agencies or functions. There is no one left in the executive branch to tell him no, no matter what crazy idea he comes up with in the middle of the night, posting on social media while others sleep.
The judicial system has not completely bowed before him and his imperial ambitions, with even Republican-appointed judges ruling against him in some cases. He and his administration have, in many cases, ignored court rulings, so far without penalty.
Public approval, which had usually hovered around the 40 percent mark, has turned against him in the wake of overly aggressive and cruel ICE tactics in his mass deportation campaign, including the murder of American citizens by ICE and CBP agents.
While Trump’s capture of the executive branch, his domination of Congress, and his efforts to influence the judiciary are troubling, his attempt to neuter the media is, in some respects, even more unsettling. The media significantly shapes public opinion, and if he succeeds in eliminating it as a check on his excesses, he will also be able to influence public opinion, effectively eliminating the last guardrails impeding his march toward autocracy.
He has been relentless (in both administrations) in his attacks on the media. During his first administration, he repeatedly labeled stories critical of him as ‘fake news’ and called the media ‘enemies of the people.’ Since the start of his second term, he has ramped up his assault on the media. His actions have included efforts to dismantle the Voice of America (VOA), restricting administration access to media supportive of his agenda, and threatening legal action against outlets and media personalities. This has led to ABC settling a defamation case he brought against them before he was inaugurated, major newspapers like The Washington Post limiting editorial views, major outlets removing on-air personalities who are critical of Trump, such as CBS taking Stephen Colbert off the air, and Trump-friendly leadership changes, such as CBS News naming Bari Weiss editor-in-chief, ensuring more pro-Trump coverage on CBS—or, at least, less anti-Trump coverage.
The most troubling of the administration’s attacks on the media have been two recent events, which signal an expansion of its anti-free press campaign. The first was when the FBI seized computers and other devices from a Washington Post reporter and searched her home, car, and person in connection with the investigation of a contractor who leaked classified government information to her. This was a departure from precedent and from the 1980 Privacy Protection Act, which limits searches of reporters. The second was the arrest of former CNN personality Don Lemon and an independent journalist, Georgia Fort, who reported on an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota. Despite two federal judges denying arrest warrants for the two, Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained a grand jury indictment, accusing the two of being involved in planning the demonstration, which interfered with the First Amendment rights of worshipers at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where an ICE official is the pastor.
While a federal judge has ruled that the FBI cannot use information seized from the Post reporter, and the case against Lemon and Fort is weak, the actions send chills through the entire news reporting community and signal that anyone who displeases this administration is subject to its coercive powers. These are the actions of an authoritarian government, and, regrettably, a sign of things to come.
Charles A. Ray served 20 years in the U.S. Army, including two tours in Vietnam. He retired as a senior US diplomat, serving 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with assignments as ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe, and was the first American consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He also served in senior positions with the Department of Defense and is a member of The Steady State.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.