Week Fourteen

The U.S. president looked like an old man struggling to descend the steps outside Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome Saturday morning. He leaned his head over and looked down, watching each footstep like a person who needed assistance on the stairs leading to Saint Peter’s Square where the requiem Mass for Pope Francis would be celebrated.

It seems clear at the end of week fourteen Trump is not in charge of the government. If there is a power player in the administration, it is Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Budget and Management. Vought also played a primary role in creating Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, also known as Project 2025. It is as if they are implementing Project 2025 policies page by page.

It is also clear the administration is in a hurry to gather all power it can in the executive branch of government, under the president specifically. Some describe this as conformance with the unitary executive theory, according to which the president has sole authority over the executive branch of government. In our government today, the legislative and judicial branches continue to have a role to play, including funding the administration and its agencies, and adjudicating what is out of bounds. The president signs executive order after executive order pushing our form of democracy toward the guardrails designed by the founders. No one knows if the guardrails will hold. Some of us have faith.

The Congress returns from Easter recess today. If their work seems superficial in the coming days, the more consequential work of shaping the administration will continue behind the scenes in the lead up to the budget reconciliation vote expected in late May. With the closely divided House, there will be tremendous pressure for Republicans to hold to a conservative budget, one that formalizes some of the president’s executive orders. Everyone knows all it will take is a few Republican House members to vote no to scuttle the conservative dreamscape of government. Democrats cannot afford to let the reconciliation bill pass without a fight.

The playing field is prepared, the players are known. While Democrats are playing defense, they must stick together and find a few Republicans to join them. This alone makes it worth contacting our members of Congress to let them know that the power and money grab by the well to do will not stand.