President Trump has called for the impeachment of a federal judge who sought fundamental details regarding his deportation initiatives, as fears grow over a potential constitutional crisis.
In another case, a judge determined that Trump’s moves to shut down a federal agency likely breached the Constitution and undermined Congress’s authority.
Once again, the president faced accusations of overstepping his executive bounds by dismissing two Democratic commissioners from an independent trade commission.
And this was just Tuesday.
As Mr. Trump embarks on his second term, he appears focused on asserting control over the judiciary, Congress, and, in various respects, American culture and society.
His broad interpretation of presidential powers has come to define his second term, with aggressive maneuvers aimed at consolidating executive authority to reshape governance, introduce new policies, and eliminate what he and his supporters perceive as a deeply rooted liberal bias.
“We’ve never witnessed a president so thoroughly attempting to appropriate and consolidate so much power from other branches, let alone in the initial two months of his presidency,” stated Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown University Law Center professor.
With Congress under Republican control, it has relinquished significant responsibilities to Mr. Trump, delegating parts of the legislative branch’s spending authority to the White House and allowing congressionally established agencies to be dissolved. The president has warned he will “lead the charge” against any Republican daring to contradict his agenda, and the party has complied with his wishes at every turn.
Mr. Trump has dismantled independent checks and balances, dismissed inspectors general, and appointed loyalists within the Justice Department to execute his punitive campaign. He has targeted private law firms associated with those he regards as adversaries and pressured previously reluctant business leaders to express public support, while imprinting his “MAGA” brand on the private sector by attempting to dictate hiring practices.
His ambition to reshape institutions has extended beyond government and policy; Mr. Trump has sought to exert his influence in the arts by assuming the chairmanship of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
However, Mr. Trump’s latest focus—the judiciary—has been labeled by constitutional scholars and historians as potentially the most alarming move yet.
The Trump administration disregarded an order from James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court in Washington, who aimed to halt the deportation of a group of migrants, most of whom had minimal or no due process. Officials claimed that the majority of the migrants were from Venezuela and linked to gangs but did not disclose their names or evidence of their alleged offenses.
Mr. Trump has called for Judge Boasberg’s impeachment, arguing on social media that “if a President doesn’t have the right to remove murderers and other criminals from our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge assumes the presidential role, then our Country is in grave danger and destined for failure!”
The White House did not respond to a comment request late Wednesday.
Mr. Trump has not been consistent in his criticism of the judicial system and its judges. Just last week, during a speech at the Department of Justice, he implied that the condemnation of Judge Aileen M. Cannon, the Florida judge who dismissed his classified documents case last summer, might not be lawful.
Yet he applies the same fairness principle to court cases as he does to presidential elections: they’re fair if he wins, but unfair if he loses.
In various instances, Mr. Trump has been involved in lawsuits dating back to the 1970s, initially as a private developer and later as a candidate and president. When losing cases, he has frequently criticized the judges as partisan activists or worse.
Conversely, when he prevails, he commends the judges in question.
Mr. Trump’s supporters argue that he is leveraging his power to fulfill the agenda he promised during the campaign, contending he is executing Article II of the Constitution, which delineates presidential powers.
“President Trump is accomplishing the unthinkable in Washington — he is delivering on what he pledged to the American people, and he is doing it swiftly,” remarked Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, a conservative advocacy organization.
Nevertheless, a few traditionally conservative voices have voiced apprehensions.
For instance, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board noted that while Trump campaigned on deporting gang members, it is still concerning to see U.S. officials seemingly disregard the law in the name of upholding it. The New York Post featured an opinion piece urging: “Trump, don’t heed the dangerous temptation to attack the rule of law.”
Both publications are part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, which has seen fluctuating alliances with Mr. Trump.
Experts indicate that the judiciary, established to provide checks and balances to the executive and legislative branches, has rarely faced such overt defiance. Some of Mr. Trump’s senior advisors have suggested he has the authority to disregard court orders.
“Judges aren’t permitted to dictate the executive’s legitimate authority,” asserted Vice President JD Vance last month.
“I don’t mind what the judges think — I don’t care what the left thinks,” declared Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, during a recent appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
Mr. Trump’s advocates frequently emphasize that he is acting on promises made during his campaign, where his policy platform, Agenda 47, outlined an agenda of maximalist executive power. He and his advisors assert that he was obstructed during his first term by investigations and an unyielding federal bureaucracy.
Some of his closest allies, including Russell T. Vought, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, have spent years preparing for the potentiality of a second Trump presidency, identifying areas of independence within the executive branch that could be commandeered.
Mr. Vought and other associates have advocated a doctrine known as the unitary executive, a legal theory asserting that all power in the executive branch derives from the president.
“The major challenge facing a conservative president is the imperative for assertive utilization of the significant powers of the executive branch to restore authority — including powers currently held by the executive branch — back to the American populace,” Mr. Vought articulated in a conservative guide for Republican presidential transition, Project 2025. He emphasized that it would require “boldness to influence or alter the bureaucracy to align with presidential directives.”
One of the numerous executive orders signed by Mr. Trump since assuming office, which mandated the takeover of “independent regulatory agencies,” reflected similar ambitions. “For the federal government to genuinely answer to the American people, those exercising substantial executive power must be overseen and held accountable by the people’s elected president,” the executive order asserts.
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former acting deputy Homeland Security secretary in the first Trump administration and a contributor to Project 2025, remarked that critics of Mr. Trump’s use of executive power “are primarily intent on undermining the presidency and this president in particular under the guise of ‘traditional wisdom’ lacking constitutional basis.”
Opponents of Mr. Trump’s approach to executive authority argue that the unitary executive theory does not justify that all of the president’s actions are lawful.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University who specializes in fascism and authoritarianism, emphasized some of Mr. Trump’s most concerning behaviors: the expansion of executive power, the politicization of other government branches, the dismantlement of oversight and accountability systems, and the targeting of individuals seeking to hold the president and his associates accountable.
“The ultimate beneficiary of the acts we’re witnessing, whether in the judiciary or other agencies, is Trump himself, as it represents an extension of his personal authority,” she stated. “The scale and speed of current events are alarming.”
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·