The first 100 days have been an ongoing coup, as Donald Trump seeks to overturn the Constitution and Democratic norms (he calls it seeking to “reshape America”), to expand the powers of the presidency by use of his executive orders.
The Constitution prohibits the president from doing the following (I thank Robert Hubbell for this list, found on Substack on Wednesday):
- Withholding funds appropriated by Congress
- Closing or suspending the work of an agency, department or program established by Congress
- Violating laws enacted by Congress to protect civil servants from arbitrary or politically motivated termination
- Punishing private institutions, such as law firms, universities and broadcast networks, based on political speech
- Violating court orders
- Ordering politically motivated investigations and prosecutions by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS or the Federal Trade Commission
- Denying due process (habeas corpus) to migrants and citizens alike
- Imposing tariffs without congressional oversight or review
- Reneging on obligations and ignoring treaties in place
This list does not capture the cruelty and inhumanity in the way these constitutional violations have been effectuated.
Citizens of Delaware, are you aware of what is going on?
Julia Sperry
Hockessin
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
