Trump, alongside his ally Elon Musk, is aggressively targeting federal agencies, and bureaucrats, and reversing spending authorized by Congress.
At the onset of Donald Trump’s first term, his political strategist Steve Bannon introduced the concept of the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” Now, after eight years, this theory is materializing, indicating a potential transformation of American governance into a powerful presidency, unprecedented by the founders.
Their actions are disrupting the global order and dismantling trade agreements. They are adhering to a strategy crafted by movement hardliners who are eager to capitalize on a brief period of power to enact irreversible changes, frustrated by the shortcomings and distractions of Trump’s initial term.
Trump’s rapid-fire actions are once again creating confusion, leaving other government branches, opponents, and voters struggling to comprehend and counteract his moves.
Trump and Musk’s Federal Overhaul
The scope of Trump’s power play is staggering, and there may be much more happening behind the scenes that the public cannot see. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has claimed to have dismantled USAID, an agency that feeds some of the world’s poorest and has saved millions of lives. As a result, USAID employees have been ordered home from overseas.
Meanwhile, Musk and his teams have penetrated the federal system, gaining access to sensitive Treasury payment systems and seemingly possessing the ability to oust top managers and exclude employees. The White House has also halted the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency tasked with protecting consumers from financial abuses. Trump has indicated that he wants his incoming Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, to orchestrate the dismantling of her own department.
In an effort purportedly aimed at de-weaponizing the Justice Department and FBI, the bureau provided Trump aides with information on 5,000 employees who worked on January 6, 2021, cases. Trump informed his new Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, that he demands “impartiality.” However, an Oval Office meeting made it clear that his version of the term entails complete alignment with his views.
As Trump’s retribution agenda accelerates, his chosen FBI enforcer, Kash Patel, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, despite not yet having assumed his role.
Trump’s Radical Second Term Agenda
Millions of Americans voted for a candidate who argued that the federal government was not responding to their needs – after a grueling chapter of history marked by financial crises, the hollowing out of the manufacturing base, foreign wars and punishingly high inflation.
Trump’s aides dismiss a tide of panic and condemnation about his lightning-fast start to his second term. They argue he’s doing exactly what Americans wanted.
Trump’s brazen approach, however, seems to go much further than Leavitt’s characterization. And he doesn’t get much benefit of the doubt as a twice-impeached president who tried to wreck democracy to stay in power in 2021.
And many constitutional experts are worried that Trump, and Musk especially, are simply creating authority for themselves that does not exist.
From his first moments back in office, Trump has challenged the limits of presidential power that prevailed for decades. With a sweep of his pen, he sought to outlaw birthright citizenship despite the plain language of the Constitution making clear it’s a quintessential American right. (A second federal judge on Wednesday blocked his executive order, which will likely be appealed.)
But that Trump Day One order was just one example of him claiming massive authority that he probably does not possess. And it hints at the threat that his unfettered governance poses in the long term. Presidents can work with Congress to pass new laws, or to campaign for federal lawmakers and the states to amend the Constitution on issues like birthright citizenship — but they can’t just ignore the statues and write new laws they like.
Trump often denied that he had read or knew anything about Project 2025, the blueprint for a Republican transition and presidency shepherd by the Heritage Foundation. But his belligerent use of power early in his second term closely follows many of the recommendations in the plan.
In the Project 2025 section focused on the presidency, Russ Vought, who is about to be confirmed to head Trump’s budget office, contends that it’s time to reclaim the presidency’s “enormous power” from departments, agencies, staff, administrative bodies, and non-governmental organizations close to the government. Vought’s argument hinges on the belief that unelected bureaucrats within the permanent civil service hinder a GOP president’s agenda—a sentiment shared by many conservatives who think this occurred during Trump’s first term. This perspective clarifies Trump’s current actions.
Trump’s Overwhelming Power Play
Some observers have framed the shock-and-awe start of Trump’s return to power as a deliberate strategy to overwhelm the circuits of his opponents and to make it impossible to comprehend the scale of his ambition.
It’s working. Especially since Democrats, in the minority in both chambers of Congress, can at best only delay the administration’s forward march. And Republicans seem ready to cave to anything Trump wants.
On Wednesday, House GOP Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed claims that Musk and Trump were infringing on Congress’ power over spending decisions. “We view this as an active, engaged, and committed executive branch authority fulfilling its proper role,” he stated. “This is not an encroachment of authority or a power grab.”
But Trump’s intentions run deeper than bewildering Congress and the media. They are also outracing the courts.
It is already inevitable the administration will face multiple lawsuits all the way up to the Supreme Court over its stunningly broad interpretation of executive authority. Even if Trump succeeds in winning only a fraction of the cases before the conservative majority he built, he will bolster the office of the presidency. And in the interim, he will have transformed the government.
