President Andrew Jackson, the face on America’s 20-dollar bill, received criticism during his time for his extensive use of the Presidential Veto and disregard for certain Supreme Court decisions. Jackson also holds responsibility for the Trail of Tears, an event associated with the displacement and death of tens of thousands of Native American individuals. His policies rarely fell in line with the political parties of his time, catching disgust from his fellow office-holders across the aisle and his popular support came from newly enfranchised, typically uneducated, lower-class, white men. America’s current administration seems to look into still water and see Jackson at the bottom, a murky reflection of the past. Despite the U.S.’s proclaimed adoration for social progress, public outcry over President Donald Trump’s first presidential decisions meets hostility from his supporters who, like Jackson’s, include a low margin of college-educated voters.
Jackson left the U.S. economy in veritable shambles as he downsized federal spending and similarly caused the social situation to grow tense. However, his infamous challenges to the U.S. Constitution’s restraints of power seem downright tame compared to the returning President’s actions. Though Jackson wielded the Presidential Veto liberally, Trump does not require reliance on it; with the Republican-dominated Congress and conservative Supreme Court, his eyed power lies in the Executive Order. These orders exist under Article II of the Constitution, which invests presidents with Executive power; this means presidents should use these orders to carry out laws passed by Congress or to respond to emergencies. For Trump, however, the Executive actions take on a law’s tone, with several clearly creating new legislative action. In his first month of the presidency, he has already issued 64 such actions, over four times the quantity signed by Jackson. While his supporters argue that he intends to return rights to the states or simply acts to enforce laws through his orders, the disregard with which he takes power for himself, at the expense of the American people, remains inexcusable.
With these sweeping acts of Executive legislation, Trump has acted in direct competition with the country’s governing document and the precedents set by his forbearers. Among Trump’s Executive orders, actions to freeze federal welfare spending, alter birthright citizenship and otherwise massively change the legal system each faces media ridicule and, eventually, crumble in federal court. Trump’s attempts, however, appear tyrannical as he tries to curb the wait for legislative action with an abuse of his Executive powers.
January 20, Inauguration Day, Trump issued Executive Order 14156: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. This order attempted to redefine the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants any person born in the U.S. citizenship. Under Trump’s action, any child born in the U.S. with undocumented parents would lose his or her historically protected right to citizenship. While certain individuals may argue that the action came from a well-intentioned place, Trump’s ignorance of, disregard for and clear contempt for the U.S.’s protected rights should disgust any person who cares about American democracy. The president’s unwillingness to uphold the Constitution causes people to worry about his oversteps during the next four years, a time when he may recklessly continue to push the line that limits his powers.
The title of the order leaves the politically aware to wonder what Trump believes the meaning and value of the country encapsulates. The emphasis on parental citizenship may suggest legality, but to others, Trump’s order appears not merely as a disregard for the U.S.’s established democracy, but a white supremacist ideal. After all, the convicted felon’s respect for the law remains under valid scrutiny. Luckily, three federal judges already ruled the order unconstitutional, so its lasting power will soon wane.
“He is trying to end birthright citizenship which is literally in the Constitution. [Presidents] should respect [the Constitution] as it is their job to enforce and uphold the laws written on it. [Trump] doesn’t care about it as he wants to basically rewrite it. I think that even though it is only a month into his presidency, it is a wake-up call for a lot of ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) Republicans who voted for him,” junior Caitlin Heeralal said.
January 27, the Trump administration issued an order halting nearly all federal spending. The order confused and terrified millions across the country and drew international eyes to the U.S. This Executive order attempted to stop practically all federally issued grants and loans other than Medicare and Social Security, meaning that programs such as food stamps and federally-funded cancer research would possibly end. Luckily, a judge blocked the action before its true effects — such as people’s plunge into poverty and job loss — could begin. Trump’s attacks on federal spending continue with the recent signing of Executive orders cutting federal jobs and his possibly defunding public education, the president acts with a sweeping hand. In these actions, Trump works with Elon Musk, head of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose hand does not sweep, but slices while he receives criticism for a gesture reflective of the Nazi salute. While the government may alter spending as it sees fit, the U.S. Constitution emphasizes that Congress and the president must work together on the budget. Ultimately, the document bestows the power of the purse to the House of Representatives, so Trump’s unilateral action draws accusations of fascism from every corner of the country, an impression not helped by his cabinet member’s gesture.
“I think the biggest issue based on what he has been doing is whether he’s going to try to eliminate programs that broadly help the American people, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is there to protect consumers, regulate banks, and he’s trying to shut that down. [In that case], who’s doing those things? Because we know, broadly, businesses will try to get away with as much as they can. That’s the point of having those institutions in place. A lot of times, there’s pushback [against grabs at additional power], and I think right now, the Democrats being the opposition party, their problem is that there are so many things coming down the pike every single day. Overnight he ordered the stop of production of pennies. Is that legal? Probably not, but at least temporary, he’ll be able to accomplish that until a federal court intervenes,” Advanced Placement (AP) United States Government and Politics teacher Scott Trepanier said.
Though Trump proclaims an antifederalist view of the U.S. Constitution, one which favors state powers, his actions reflect an entirely different perspective, one willing to trample over the Constitution and its promises to states for his own personal gain. His Executive order Protecting the American People Against Invasion works in tandem with his other immigration orders to create conditions for prospective migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and undocumented migrants within its bounds where cruel and unusual punishment may come into play. The U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment outlawed this type of punishment, though it does not clearly define it. Media outlets repeatedly have found Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers to refuse adequate medical care to detainees, to place immigrants in long-term solitary confinement despite not presenting harm to anyone and to otherwise encroach on this constitutionally protected right. Through Trump’s orders, growing populations will find themselves in these spaces while the president takes minimal action to speed up the documentation process, potentially deporting asylum-seekers without properly reviewing their cases. This action further conflicts with the Constitution’s requirement of due process for alleged criminals.
Though these Executive orders appear intensely unconstitutional, Trump’s far-right thoughts and controversial opinions on governmental power continue to threaten Americans and their long-standing traditions of forward movement. The president has moved to limit transgender Americans’ recognition under law, rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and brutally crack down on undocumented immigrants through invasive, at times violent, ICE raids. Ultimately, his orders’ ability to last depends upon the actions of federal courts which will, assuming their commitment to their stations, uphold the Constitution.
