The President just signed the following Executive Order:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-accountability-for-all-agencies/
"Therefore, in order to improve the administration of the executive branch and to increase regulatory officials’ accountability to the American people, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to ensure Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch. Moreover, all executive departments and agencies, including so-called independent agencies, shall submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register."
This is a power grab unlike any other:
"For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President."
This is no doubt the collapse of the US democracy in real time. Everyone in America has
got front-row tickets to the end of the Empire.
What does the future hold for the US democracy and the American people.
The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves. One by one the institutions in America will wither and fade away. In its place will be the remains of a once great power and a people who will look back and wonder "what happened"
POTUS just seized absolute Executive Power. A very dark future for democracy in America.
byu/chota-kaka inFuturology
44 Comments
For those who think the US is not already a dictatorship, can you explain at what point you think the president would have the power of a dictator?
edit: I’m scared…
Of course the federal courts will strike it down, the question though is if the Supreme Court would strike it down and remain consistent on their supposed stances on federal overreach.
“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”- Sir John Bagot Glubb
The fact that the president uses the word “so-called” in an executive order really says something about the state of mind of this time.
>Everyone in America has got front-row tickets to the end of the Empire.
This is the *birth* of the Empire. It’s the death of the Republic.
Trumps arteries probably look like the Ganges so the question is who’s going to get to play with these new powers for the longest?
I expect a lawsuit soon. I mean everything he has done through executive order has been in some way blocked by the judicial. He is a wanna be dictator, let’s cross our fingers the mechanisms work.
Does anyone know what the heck is congress doing other than sitting pretty and collecting a paycheck?
“including so-called independent agencies”.
America’s ‘so-called democracy’.
ELI5: if the POTUS can do this with EOs, didn’t he kind of have this absolute power in the first place? Like… this feels like somebody crowning themselves to be king and everybody just goes along with it because, well, you cannot defy the king’s orders! Doesn’t this feel like a paradox… ?
“Has attempted to seize”
This is not a constitutional order. He does not have this power. Do not just let him have it by acquiescing to the statement.
I get that we’re in a bit of a constitutional crisis at the moment and “whose gonna enforce it” is the question of the day, but if you just capitulate because he said so it’s not exactly helping.
This is basically the plot of the 5th Harry Potter book.
My ancestors came to this country to escape monarchy, autocracies, and tyranny. Fight for democracy. It will win in the end regardless, but in the mean time we don’t have to fall for the many times failed ideologies that repeatedly have been tried and failed throughout history.
The saying as old as time; Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
This needs to end and at this point I see it only going one way. It is sure as shit isn’t gonna be peaceful.
Perhaps not the collapse of the empire, but the collapse of the republic.
The moment that a democratically elected president attacks democracy itself, he should no longer be protected by those who’s job it is to protect America. In fact, he should be marked as an enemy.
It’s pretty wild watching America die in real time and still having to go on with life normally. Better be sure to set my alarm for work! Wouldn’t want to miss a day.
It took Hitler only 40 days after starting to govern to fully and completely dismantle democracy in Germany. Remember this.
A long and deep rift has separated EU from US and the consequences will be dire… people in Europe are refusing to buy american (no more Teslas, Facebook, X or Tabasco, please) and this will take a full generation to sort out. Who will lose more? America, of course! Enough of Amerca’s bullshit… and Europe will stop buying american weapon: China will be a big trouble to US and Europe will play that game too. I thought I’d never buy a chinese EV, now I’m deciding which chinese EV I’ll buy!
America finally got back a king. Just took 249 years. You guys were so close to 250.
How long until we are reorganized into the United States Empire and he calls himself Emperor??
Now is a good moment to watch V for Vendetta again. We need more Luigis
So the Congress and the Supreme Court are just going to roll over and give their power away? I do not understand how these people think anymore.
Yup, very sad that we are watching the end of our once great nation and very scared for my kids and what they will have to endure.
In the flip side, I am somewhat happy to know that all who voted for him will start to feel it soon, just wish they would have woken up before it was too late.
I just hope the rest of the world knows there are many of us here that do not believe in what he is doing and have mercy on us when the time comes. We tried and failed to prevent this.
You do realize that presidents are not offered total control of anything and do not get to enact their total will on the basis of executive order. Many of the executive orders that he has made are being challenged in court and some have already been deemed unlawful and he has been forced to reverse his course. They want you to be afraid, too afraid to act. Challenge these bullies and they will crumble.
I live in Europe. Is this even possible for him to do? That simple? Aren’t there any other institutions to keep the president’s power in check? An institution governed by its own set of laws and inaccessible to the president?
In my country, the Constitution is protected by the Constitutional Court, which is composed of a number of judges. They are the only ones with the legal authority to decide whether a law (passed by Parliament) or an emergency ordinance (issued by the government) contradicts the Constitution and therefore block it.
The Supreme Court (a different court) and its core functions are outlined in the Constitution in my country, so Parliament or the government cannot alter its purpose because the Constitutional Court would block it.
Isn’t there something similar in the U.S.?
The Us is literally own by the nazis by now, I hope people will realize and act accordingly, we must resist
Isn’t POTUS the head of the executive branch? Who else would have control over it?
Isn’t he by default in charge of the executive branch? That’s sort of the way that is set up isn’t it?
He’s literally the head of the executive branch. Why would he not have control over agencies WITHIN the executive branch?
History in the making as the US evolves into an absolute dictatorship and aligns itself with Russia and N Korea. Fun. Great ready for a wild ride, boys and girls. 😂
> The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves.
This is ridiculous. First, you are using founding fathers when you mean framers. But the framers of the constitution absolutely expected every employee of the executive branch to report to the president. They made zero provisions for “independent” agencies under the executive branch, that concept came much later. They also never envisioned agencies within the executive branch to be able to make regulations that have the full force of the law without Congress or the president acting. That was very much a concept that flourished in the 20th century.
You can disagree with this, but this takes us back to closer to the intent of the framers. To say otherwise shows that you are parroting lines without understanding anything.
Unitary executive needs an act of Congress. The independent agencies were created by Congress and many of them are directly overseen by Congress. They are independent because there are a lot of things we don’t want politicized and we don’t want the President to have the power to corruptly enforce laws inconsistently as policy.
So. What do we do? How do we as citizens fight back?
My God go outside… Every day is chicken little with you people.
Isnt the president in charge of executive branch offices and departments anyways?
I dont read anywhere where he’s taking charge of congress and the supreme court, which he cant do. This is confusing. If anyone with law expertise can explain to a pleb, thank you in advance.
The Executive has gained control of the Executive Branch. Without the government of the Permanent Civil Service, how shall the grifts be maintained?
Congratulations, Trump voters. You just enabled a literal absolute dictatorship.
Oh, but he took down a trans flag. Guess that’s worth fucking the entire world over, huh?
Bye bye usa! Your glorious years were even shorter than the Romans.
Why aren’t the people taking back their country??
“Potus made an order to make sure independent agencies under executive authority have a unified interpretation of executive authority based on the executive authority vested him by the vesting clause of the consitution with current supreme court backing and precendence going back to the 80s”
Fixed it for you
One thing for all people to keep in mind, is that all of the president’s powers come from the constitution. If he says the constitution no longer applies, then he’s _also_ saying he no longer has any powers.
There are _legal_ prohibitions against _you_ doing certain things _to_ the president. He is undermining those prohibitions.
I hope all persons in the military are monitoring the situation, as his command over them is _also_ a function of the constitution being applicable. He’s undermining that too.
He is making very _personally_-dangerous moves which might cost him _everything_.
Sounds like we’re gonna have to physically remove him from office!
Are we going to the White House to throw him out? I’m in…
The people voted, and Trump won the presidency. The people voted and Republicans took the house and the Senate. That is democracy. What the Democrats are trying to do is dismantle democracy. How do you not see this? Take the L and blame your party for dropping the ball.
To know a republican is to know the German people in 1933. They both truly believe they are doing a righteous thing as they throw away their humanity based on lies, bigotry and misinformation.