PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: July 2, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican allies in Congress have repeatedly made clear that they are a threat to democracy. New reporting today further details how they plan to expand the powers of the presidency to punish political enemies and eliminate checks and balances in our government following yesterday’s Supreme Court decision.
In response, Congressional Integrity Project executive director, Kyle Herrig, issued the following statement:
“It’s clear that Trump and MAGA Republicans will abuse presidential and congressional powers to undermine our democracy and threaten the very rule of law. MAGA Republicans, led by convicted felon Donald Trump, are publicly planning to fire civil servants, pardon January 6th insurrectionists, weaponize the Department of Justice, and more. They have published their Project 2025 plans and the Supreme Court provided the green light. Every American should be clear eyed about MAGA Republicans’s anti-democratic and anti-American vision for the country.”
Background
Trump Promises “An Unabashedly Imperial Presidency.” “Trump promises an unabashedly imperial presidency — one that would turn the Justice Department against critics, deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally, slap 10% tariffs on thousands of products, and fire perhaps tens of thousands of government staff deemed insufficiently loyal. He’d stretch the powers of the presidency in ways not seen in our lifetime. He says this consistently and clearly — so it’s not conjecture. You might like this or loathe this. But it’s coming, fast and furious, if he’s elected. Thanks to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump could pursue his plans without fear of punishment or restraint.” [Axios, 7/2/24]
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- Trump Would Establish “Vast Camps” To Deport Millions, Pardon January 6 Insurrectionists, And Replace Tens Of Thousands Of Civil Servants With MAGA Loyalists. “To hear Trump and his allies tell it, this is how early 2025 would unfold if he wins: A re-elected Trump would quickly set up vast camps and deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally. He could invoke the Insurrection Act and use troops to lock down the southern border. In Washington, Trump would move to fire potentially tens of thousands of civil servants using a controversial interpretation of law and procedure. He’d replace many of them with pre-vetted loyalists. He’d centralize power over the Justice Department, historically an independent check on presidential power. He plans to nominate a trusted loyalist for attorney general, and has threatened to target and even imprison critics. He could demand the federal cases against him cease immediately. Many of the Jan. 6 convicts could be pardoned — a promise Trump has made at campaign rallies, where he hails them as patriots, not criminals. Investigations of the Bidens would begin.” [Axios, 7/2/24]
Trump Wants To Be A “Dictator On Day One.” “As Donald Trump faces growing scrutiny over his increasingly authoritarian and violent rhetoric, Fox News host Sean Hannity gave his longtime friend a chance to assure the American people that he wouldn’t abuse power or seek retribution if he wins a second term. But instead of offering a perfunctory answer brushing off the warnings, Trump stoked the fire. ‘Except for day one,’ the GOP front-runner said Tuesday night before a live audience in Davenport, Iowa. ‘I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.’” [Associated Press, 12/7/23]
Trump Plans “A Sweeping Expansion Of Presidential Power.” “Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands. Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control. Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.” [New York Times, 7/18/23]
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