Just How Much Should We Be Freaking Out?

I’ve said here and on the main site that we need to pick our battles during this Trump administration, and I aim to stick to that. Over the past week, he’s signed a flood of executive orders designed to “flood the zone,” making it nearly impossible for opposition to mount against any one policy. While I’m trying to let the dust settle before taking aim, I wish the Democratic Party—aside from AOC and maybe Chris Murphy—showed more urgency. Pick a couple of the most alarming executive orders and start swinging, not just in Congress or on CNN, but where people actually pay attention: on podcasts, on Substacks, on social media.

On Monday, Jon Stewart argued that everything Trump has done so far has been permissible under the system we’ve created. The American public built this system, elected Donald Trump and a Republican Congress, and expects him to carry out his agenda. Yes, pardoning 1,500 January 6th defendants was spectacularly awful and dangerous, but the Constitution gives the President that power, whether we like it or not. His executive orders on immigration? Widely popular, even if those of us on the left find them inexcusably cruel.

Trump is making deeply unpopular decisions, and we have to call them out—but he hasn’t yet crossed a constitutional red line. Yet.

That’s not to say he hasn’t tried. His recent attempt to end birthright citizenship was a blatant violation of the 14th Amendment, and a federal judge struck it down immediately. It’s highly unlikely he’ll be able to revive it.

Likewise, his executive order pausing grants, loans, and critical program funding was unconstitutional. The left raised hell about it—at least in my circles—but outside of AOC, Democratic politicians were largely silent. Hakeem Jeffries, for instance, fell back on an appeal to God. A federal judge blocked the order for now, but not before the administration created another day of chaos.

Then there was the illegal firing of inspectors general. I have no idea where that stands—last I saw, the IGs were saying, “You can’t do that,” and even Senator Grassley (R) was demanding answers.

The chaos continued with a vague, legally dubious offer to two million federal employees: resign and receive eight months’ severance. This likely violates federal law and collective bargaining agreements. But again, legality doesn’t seem to be the point. The administration thrives on turmoil, using it as cover for cruel raids that have even ensnared legal citizens.

These are the actions of a wannabe dictator, and not a single Republican is doing a damn thing about it. But there’s a difference between testing boundaries and triggering a full-blown constitutional crisis—and we may be approaching that line.

Federal judges have paused Trump’s executive orders on birthright citizenship and OMB funding. The real crisis comes if Trump ignores those rulings. That’s when we go from freaking out to freaking the f*** out. Because right now, I don’t see anyone willing—or able—to force him to stay within his powers. The Supreme Court has already ruled that Trump is immune from prosecution for actions taken as President. If he decides to ignore federal court rulings—to ignore the law—there will be no consequences.

The only way to hold him accountable now is impeachment, which means he’d have to do something awful enough to turn 20 Republican senators against him. Is refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress enough? I have no idea, but I doubt it. Not unless public opinion shifts—and with Trump’s grip on the media, that won’t be easy. We can scream all we want on Bluesky. It won’t make much of a difference.

So, should we be worried? Yes. Not just because the President is pushing his powers to the limit, but because no one is standing in his way if he pushes beyond them. We can file lawsuits, we can win lawsuits—but none of it will matter if Trump refuses to abide by the rulings. That’s a constitutional crisis. Hakeem Jeffries may want to keep praying it doesn’t come to that, but in the meantime, the entire Democratic Party should be flooding the airwaves — meeting us where we are — and warning Americans before it’s too late.