DEMOCRACY WATCHWhat the Courts Can Do if Trump Defies Them | DOGE’s Race to the Bottom | The Path to American Authoritarianism

Trump Targets a Growing List of Those He Sees as Disloyal  (Luke Broadwater, New York Times)
In his first month in office, the president has carried out a campaign of retribution that has little analogue in history.

The Path to American Authoritarianism  (Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way, Foreign Affairs)
What comes after democratic breakdown.

Why Federal Courts Are Unlikely to Save Democracy from Trump’s and Musk’s Attacks  (Maya Sen, The Conversation)
As a scholar of the federal courts, I expect the courts will be of limited help in navigating through the complicated new political landscape.
This doesn’t mean the courts are useless, nor that people shouldn’t sue to challenge actions they deem illegal or unconstitutional. The courts – and the Supreme Court in particular – exist in part to arbitrate power disputes between Congress and the presidency. As Chief Justice John Marshall said in his landmark 1803 Marbury v. Madison ruling, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.”
But the courts alone will not be sufficient. The courts are like an antibiotic on a cut, helping healing and staving off further infection. They cannot keep a grievously wounded patient alive. For this, a robust political strategy is necessary. It is in all Americans’ hands collectively to make sure that the constitutional structure is not just enforced, but also sustained.

Musk’s DOGE Seeks Access to Personal Taxpayer Data, Raising Alarm at IRS  (Jacob Bogage, Washington Post)
The unusual request would put sensitive data about millions of American taxpayers in the hands of Trump political appointees.

As Musk Reshapes the Government, Some Ask: Where Are the Guardrails?  (Lisa Rein, Washington Post)
The White House has taken advantage of rules with weak enforcement and loopholes — or simply declared it can outweigh other laws.

Acting Archivist, Inspector General for National Archives Forced Out  (Maegan Vazquez, Washington Post)
The agency, regarded as nonpolitical, has been the target of President Donald Trump’s ire since its attempts to recover documents from Mar-a-Lago.

This Is What the Courts Can Do if Trump Defies Them  (Trevor W. Morrison and Richard H. Pildes, New York Times)
Are we heading toward a full-blown constitutional crisis? For the first time in decades, the country is wrestling with this question. It was provoked by members of the Trump administration, including Russell Vought, the influential director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, who have hinted or walked right up to the edge of saying outright that officials should refuse to obey a court order against certain actions of the administration. President Trump has said he would obey court orders — though on Saturday he posted on social media, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”
Some have argued that if the administration is defiant there is little the courts can do. But while the courts do not have a standing army, there are actually several escalating measures they can take to counter a defiant executive branch.

All the President’s Sock Puppets  (Daniel Richman, New York Times)
Every occupying force knows the tactic: If you want to cow a large population, pick one of its most respected citizens and demand he debase himself and pledge fealty. If he refuses, execute him and move on to the next one. This is how the Trump Justice Department thinks it will bring U.S. attorneys’ offices around the country under its control, starting last week with the Southern District of New York. Firing or demanding the resignation of a previous administration’s top prosecutors has become standard. After all, elections matter, and a new president should be free to set new priorities.
But the Trump Justice Department’s twisted loyalty game is something new, dangerous and self-defeating. And this round probably won’t be the last.

DOGE’s Race to the Bottom  (Brian Barrett, Wired)
Elon Musk’s takeover of US government agencies has happened at remarkable speeds. That’s the point.

Musk Accused Reuters of “Social Deception.” The Deception Was His.  (Will Oremus and Drew Harwell, Washington Post)
Trump’s DOGE chief mischaracterizes a contract as he marshals “deep state” conspiracy theories to justify cuts to federal agencies.