This Week in Democracy – Week 7: 'The American President Is Not a King'
Courts hand Trump and Musk some of their biggest setbacks so far, while the president himself goes after prominent journalists and universities.
Welcome to the seventh installment of our special series, ‘This Week in Democracy,’ in which Zeteo documents the day-by-day assault on the US Constitution, laws, and democratic norms by the Trump-Vance-Musk administration. (Can you believe it’s only been seven weeks?!)
The past few days have been… yet another rollercoaster. The tariffs chaos, a Trump congressional address full of lies and threats, and the lackluster protest by many Democrats (not to mention 10 House Dems who then voted to censure one of their own for speaking out against Trump during said address) might have you feeling down.
But there were also some – albeit very small – glimmers of hope in the form of courts, including the Supreme Court, handing the Trump-Vance-Musk administration some setbacks.
Still, a lot happened that harms US democratic and constitutional order, academic freedom, free speech, and our free society. Let’s jump in:
Saturday, March 1
Secretary of State Marco Rubio bypassed Congress and invoked “emergency authorities” to send $4 billion in arms, including 2,000-pound bombs, to Israel (following in the footsteps of the Biden administration, we should add).
Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the US, rescinding a Clinton-era mandate that required government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.
On Twitter, shadow president Elon Musk said he agrees that the US should leave NATO and the UN.
A federal judge ruled that the head of the Office of the Special Counsel, who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, must be able to continue in his role through the duration of his term. The judge called the Trump administration’s effort to fire the official “unlawful.”
Sunday, March 2
CNN reported that the US Cyber Command has suspended operations and plans for offensive cyber operations against Russia – an order the Pentagon denies was issued.
On Truth Social, Trump announced his administration was creating a “crypto reserve” – a move that Jacob Silverman wrote for Zeteo would be “brazen corruption.”
On Twitter, the Treasury Department announced it wouldn’t enforce a Biden-era rule for small businesses meant to stop money laundering and the formation of shell companies in the US.
Monday, March 3
Trump signed an executive order doubling tariffs on China from 10% to 20%.
On Truth Social, Trump made the baseless claim that paid protesters were attending Republican town halls, calling them “troublemakers.”
Trump paused the delivery of more than $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine following the previous week’s explosive Oval Office meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Republican Senator Rick Scott claimed that Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “sure seemed” like she had broken the law by informing undocumented immigrants of their rights, adding that “if she’s done something wrong, I hope [border czar] Tom Homan does his job and, you know, prosecutes her to the full extent of the law.”
The Senate confirmed former WWE CEO Linda McMahon as education secretary. McMahon and her husband, Vince, were sued in 2024 for allegedly failing to act on credible allegations that a WWE employee sexually abused “ring boys” in the organization in the 1980s. A federal judge temporarily paused the lawsuit in December due to another case that could affect it. The McMahons deny the allegations.
The American Bar Association released a statement calling out the intimidation by Trump and his allies and “increasing physical threats to judges,” writing that “we cannot have a judicial system where the government seeks to remove judges simply because they do not rule as the government desires.”
Tuesday, March 4
Trump gave a televised address to Congress that was riddled with lies about immigration, the economy, poll numbers, social security fraud, the cost of tariffs, and more.
He also said his government was “reclaiming” the Panama Canal and threatened that Greenland would become part of the US “one way or the other.”
Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas, who said last month he plans to file articles of impeachment against Trump, was removed from the House chamber after he disrupted the president’s address.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect. Additionally, Trump threatened to “immediately increase” reciprocal tariffs on Canada.
On Truth Social, Trump said his government would halt federal funding to any college, school, or university that allows what he called “illegal protests.” He also said American student “agitators” would be permanently expelled and/or arrested, while international students would be sent back to their home countries. He also called for “no masks” at protests.
On Twitter, Musk posted that pardoning Derek Chauvin, the police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020, was “something to think about.”
National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson urged House Republicans to avoid in-person town halls after facing a slew of protests from constituents.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting an investigation into Biden’s “mental capacity in his final days in office,” arguing that if “staffers were exploiting his mental decline,” his final executive orders, pardons, and other actions are “null and void.”
A federal judge extended a nationwide preliminary injunction on Trump’s executive order to end federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
Wednesday, March 5
By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court surprisingly rejected the Trump administration’s effort to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid.
On Truth Social, Trump told Palestinians in Gaza, “you are DEAD” if Hamas doesn’t immediately release the remaining hostages.
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer, a Republican, threatened to have Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley removed from a congressional hearing on “sanctuary cities” as she tried to enter an article into the record with the headline “Data from Texas show that US-born Americans commit more rape and murder than immigrants.”
Also at the congressional hearing, New York City Mayor Eric Adams refused to answer questions about whether he ever spoke to anyone from the Trump administration about his criminal case.
Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said she would refer the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City to the Justice Department for criminal investigations, accusing them of “concealing or harboring” undocumented immigrants.
The US Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the Trump administration to reinstate approximately 6,000 probationary employees who had been fired from the Department of Agriculture.
A federal judge filed a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing drastic cuts to medical research funding.
The Trump administration is reopening a migrant family detention center in Texas, reversing a Biden-era policy that stopped holding undocumented immigrant families in detention centers.
Thursday, March 6
The House voted to censure Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump’s address to Congress. Ten Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the resolution. The House Freedom Caucus also said it would file a resolution to remove Green from his committee assignments.
Axios reported that the Trump administration will use artificial intelligence to review and revoke visas of international students and other foreign nationals who appear to be “pro-Hamas.” It's unclear what will constitute as “pro-Hamas.” According to Axios, the government will be reviewing news reports from pro-Palestinian or “anti-Israel” demonstrations to identify students.
Trump signed a memo urging agencies to utilize a rarely-enforced rule that requires those who sue the administration to pay a fee upfront – a move legal experts told CNN could have a chilling effect on individuals, groups, and other parties from filing cases against the government.
Trump signed an executive order suspending security clearances for employees from a law firm that once worked for Hillary Clinton, while also urging agency heads to terminate contracts with the law firm - an order the firm itself described as “patently unlawful.”
ABC News reported that the White House reversed course on signing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
A federal judge extended an order preventing the freezing of billions in congressionally-approved funds, saying the Trump administration “put itself above Congress” by ordering the freeze.
Trump put tariffs on Canada and Mexico for products covered by the USMCA on hold until April 2.
Three Democratic senators introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act, which would prevent the Federal Communications Commission from revoking broadcast licenses from news organizations based on the viewpoints they broadcast. The measure has little chance of passing while Republicans control both houses of Congress.
Reuters reported that Trump could introduce a new travel ban – akin to his first-term Muslim travel ban – as soon as next week that would bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, among other countries, from entering the US.
Reuters also reported that Trump is weighing whether to revoke temporary legal status for approximately 240,000 Ukrainians currently in the US, which would put them at risk of deportation.
A federal judge declined to block the Trump administration from conducting mass firings of contractors from USAID.
A federal judge ordered the release of some frozen foreign aid payments to the USAID by Monday evening.
A federal judge ruled that Trump’s firing of the former chair of the National Labor Relations Board was unlawful, writing, “An American president is not a king – not even an ‘elected’ one.”
The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo to federal agencies instructing them to convert top HR positions, which are typically apolitical, to presidential appointments in an effort to block DEI policies.
Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile that AI and Crypto czar David Sacks said will be made up of tokens “forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.”
The Social Security Administration banned employees from viewing news websites from work-issued devices. Some employees told Wired and other news outlets they use news websites as part of their job duties.
The Washington Post reported that DOGE representatives have been trying to access “a powerful database of nearly all U.S. workers’ earnings kept by the health department’s child support office.”
Trump called for MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace and Rachel Maddow to be “forced to resign.”
Friday, March 7
The Trump administration cut off $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, claiming the school failed to combat antisemitism. These cuts are “only the beginning,” said Leo Terrell, the former Fox pundit who now heads the DOJ’s antisemitism task force.
Trump threatened new tariffs on Canada, including matching their 250% tariff on dairy.
On Truth Social, Trump said he is “strongly considering” new sanctions and tariffs on Russia “until a ceasefire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached.”
Also on Truth Social, Trump repeated baseless claims about white farmers having their land confiscated in South Africa, offering asylum to those farmers “seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety” and also promising “a rapid pathway to [US] citizenship.”
The Department of Justice placed two Manhattan prosecutors who worked on the NY Mayor Eric Adams corruption case on administrative leave.
A federal judge declined to block Department of Government Efficiency employees from accessing a sensitive federal payment system at the Treasury Department.
The Washington Post reported that the US has temporarily suspended satellite imagery services to Ukraine.
Missed the first few weeks? Catch up here.
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Thanks for the roundup as it's difficult to keep track of all the harm being done and, seeing it all in one place sends a dire warning. Sigh, I miss being able to wake up each morning and not worry about any illegal, unconstitutional and out right mean actions taken by the President.
He’s apparently not following court orders: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/us/trump-unfreezing-federal-grants-judge-ruling.html