…#USIP & members of its fired board filed a lawsuit, naming #DOGE & its reps, #Trump & members of his Cabinet. The suit claims the #ExecutiveBranch had no authority to dismiss the leadership & staff of the institute because it was created by the #LegislativeBranch [#Congress], nor could it take over USIP’s privately owned HQ building. Briefs in the case are scheduled during April, with a hearing near the end of the month.

On Friday, several #DOGE employees arrived at the #UnitedStates Institute of #Peace [#USIP], accompanied by 2 #FBI agents, according to Gonzo Gallegos, the institute's communications director. They left after a brief discussion about the institute's status.

The institute is not part of the federal #ExecutiveBranch, but is instead an #independent, #nonprofit agency that was established by #Congress in 1984.

Trump and Musk’s Lawless Power Grab Is Scrambling the Legal Resistance

The administration’s assault on #government regulations was expected. But how do you fight a budding #dictator in court?
https://newrepublic.com/article/191846/trump-musk-doge-executive-power-government-regulations

"The #law & the #Trump administration’s policy, though, are quite distinct. The White House’s attempts to #purge the federal workforce, close down entire depts, & centralize power in the #ExecutiveBranch are patently lawless."

Judicial Branch Instructs Employees To Ignore Mass DOGE Email
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judicial-branch-instruct-employees-to-ignore-mass-doge-email

"Saturday #DOGE email marks another intrusion by the #ExecutiveBranch on... the #JudicialBranch... It’s an absurd situation, & an example of the reckless approach that #Trump & #Musk have taken as they carry out a demolition job targeting wide swaths of the #government...

judiciary is a separate branch, outside of the purview of [Trump] & his courtier Musk."

@amalia22

Congressional #Republicans **could** do something to stop Musk because they have control over the #LegislativeBranch of the govt, which is supposed to act as a check and balance on the #ExecutiveBranch. But they choose not to.

So the rest of us need to protest and call and post and make enough noise to persuade the #GOP that they really do need to stop Musk's takeover of the US government.

The directive applies to various #ExecutiveBranch agencies that #Congress established & empowered to regulate aspects of the #economy, structuring them to be run by officials the president would appoint to fixed terms but whose day-to-day actions he would not directly control.

Those agencies include the #SEC, the #FTC, the #FCC & the #NLRB [#labor relations].

#Trump suggests no laws violated if he ‘saves’ country

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump posted Saturday

The phrase is attributed to #NapoleonBonaparte, who declared himself French #emperor in the early 1800s.

Trump’s post drew quick criticism from Democrats, who argued it was another instance of the president likening his executive authority to #authoritarianism.

#law #SCOTUS #ExecutiveBranch #PresidentialPower #democracy #autocracy
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5148926-trump-post-saving-country/

#DOGE staffers developed a 3-part plan for #Trump’s anti-DEI campaign….“Phase 1” marked the 1st day of Trump’s presidency, when #Trump signed an #ExecutiveOrder stating all #DEI offices, positions & programs within the #ExecutiveBranch must be terminated within 60 days. The DOGE plan laid out how, on Inauguration Day, all #FederalAgencies should begin placing DEI workers on paid leave & shutting down DEI websites & social media accounts. Those changes transpired almost exactly as DOGE laid out.

#RussVought’s role in #Project2025 was to oversee executive orders & other #unilateral actions that #Trump could take during his first 6 months in office, w/the goal of tearing down & rebuilding #ExecutiveBranch institutions in a way that would enhance presidential #power.

In an interview with The NYT in 2023, Vought laid out an agenda of eliminating the #independence of certain #regulatory agencies that operate outside the direct control of the WH, such as the #FCC & the #SEC.

#ShadyVance Says He Will Keep Calling #Haitians #Immigrants he knows are legally in the country ‘#Illegal’.

The #immigrants are mainly in the #UnitedStates under #temporaryprotectedstatus, which the #executivebranch can grant to people whose #home #countries are in #crisis.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/19/us/politics/vance-haitian-immigrants-illegal.html

It would classify thousands more positions in the #FederalGovernment as #political instead of #neutral #career #CivilServants. And the recent #SCOTUS ruling that made #accountability difficult if a president’s *official acts* break the #law certainly helps w/amassing #power in the #ExecutiveBranch, too.

"The #courts will not save us": #Experts #warn #Trump #loyalists could enable #extreme #farright #agenda.

Trump #plans to #pack the #executivebranch with #loyalists after #career #officials #stymied first term #plans.

#Fascism

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/13/the-courts-will-not-save-us-experts-warn-loyalists-could-enable-extreme-far-right-agenda/