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Yesterday, Brennan Center colleagues and I spoke online about the presidential lawbreaking spree that marked the first month of Donald Trump’s second term. More than 9,000 people watched. Three months ago, people were tuned out. A month ago, many were stunned. Now they are angry, engaged, and focused.
Dozens of attendees sent in questions. Over and over, they said yes, it’s important to understand what’s going on. It’s important to understand the unitary executive theory that presidents have few constraints on their power, the risks that a president will ignore court orders, and so on. Yes, it’s a power grab. But what can they as individuals do about it?
It’s important to understand the context. The move to upend the government is being slowed, at least, in dozens of courtrooms across the country. Trump’s approval rating is already the lowest for a new president ever, with the exception of his own first term. According to a recent Associated Press poll, only 12 percent of respondents thought it was a good thing that “the president relies on billionaires for advice about government policy.”
The laws of political physics, in other words, have not necessarily been repealed. Actions can produce reactions. And all of us as individuals can help.
First, use your platform to make the stakes clear as to what’s going on. Elon Musk and his DOGE teams are violating laws and the Constitution when they swoop into a federal agency, fire its staff, and shut down its operations. Only Congress can decide whether an agency exists, and presidents must spend the money that Congress has appropriated for their work. Presidents cannot command every inch of the executive branch like kings.
But if the unitary executive theory does not set hearts aflutter, the very human consequences of these demolitions just might. There are thousands of federal workers, suddenly fired, with stories to tell. Many of us know them, know the commitment they brought to their work, and know what the real-world consequences might be. Among the fired workers are those who ensure fair labor practices, deliver lifesaving aid to people abroad, and, yes, audit the government to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
The last time a president tried to cut public programs so abruptly came in the early 1980s. Ronald Reagan took office declaring that “government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem.” He imposed cuts (though not illegally, as Trump is doing today). He slashed $1.5 billion from school lunch programs, for example. Big numbers make eyes glaze over. But then to meet those new budget levels, the Agriculture Department declared ketchup a vegetable to be served in school cafeterias across the land. This went viral before there was such a thing, and the rule was withdrawn.
It isn’t always possible to know what will pierce the din. “Kids in cages” (first Trump term immigration policy), “death panels” (the false claim about the Affordable Care Act), or “no water bottles for people waiting in line to vote” (Georgia’s voting law) all encapsulated complex policy arguments.
Back in 1981, Walter Cronkite anchored the news and told us “that’s the way it is.” But honestly, many people didn’t watch the evening news then either. Today’s multiplicity of platforms offers ways to communicate undreamed of then. So remember: Today, you are Walter Cronkite. Raise your voice.
What’s the second thing you can do?
Don’t let Congress off the hook. Republicans and Democrats both need to step up. GOP lawmakers need to stand up for their institutional prerogative, if nothing else. Democrats need to shake off their stupor.
Members of Congress, after all, still listen to voters — often, they have no choice. In 2009, furious constituents at town hall meetings startled Democratic lawmakers and catalyzed the Tea Party movement. This time it’s Republican members of Congress on the hot seat. Atlanta is home to the Centers for Disease Control, one of the world’s great public health institutions, already being decimated by science crank Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his first days in office. Scientists and doctors have been fired in droves. Angry Georgians thronged a town hall of a Republican member of Congress. He has now issued statements urging the administration to slow down, to engage in an agency-by-agency review rather than wholesale firings.
All of which brings us to the third thing you can do: Protect the vote.
In our system, the ultimate check on abuse of authority comes from voters. There will be elections this year in some states and midterm congressional elections next year. We should all begin — now — to make sure that these elections are free and fair.
Election deniers now sit in the offices of attorney general and FBI director. The staff charged with protecting elections from cyberattacks have been fired. The federal cop is off the beat — and worse, we can expect renewed attacks on election officials and voting rights.
The SAVE Act, which will soon be brought to a vote in the House, would essentially require Americans to produce a passport or birth certificate to register (or re-register) to vote. It would upend the registration system in every state. It would, in other words, have a big impact on the elections in 2026 and 2028.
So please contact your representatives on Capitol Hill to urge them to oppose this bill. Make sure that your voter registration is up to date, too.
Share your stories and those of people you know. Keep telling Congress how you feel. And work to ensure that the electoral system is still strong. That won’t address every outrage or shape every policy. But in a moment like this, it’s a start.
A great leader once said it well: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” That was, of course, Robert F. Kennedy . . . Senior.
