T****: A list of his erosion of democracy in AmeriKa

Posted on 03/23/2025 by szpinner

Trump’s Anti-Democracy Initiatives as Documented in Joyce Vance’s Democracy Index

The Democracy Index, a project created by Joyce Vance (former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, 2009-2017), tracks developments in Donald Trump’s second administration (“Trump 2.0”) based on facts and analysis. Published on The Contrarian Substack platform, this weekly index aims to help citizens navigate the flood of information by identifying the most critical threats to American democracy. Below is a list of anti-democratic initiatives documented in the Democracy Index through March 2025.

Attacks on Judicial Authority

Undermining Judicial Review

  • Vice President JD Vance suggested that federal judges could not “control the executive’s legitimate power”

  • Vance explicitly stated that Trump should defy the courts, even the Supreme Court, if they stand in the way of his executive authority

  • Vance characterized defiance of court orders not as creating a constitutional crisis, but as “recognizing” one

Threatening Judicial Independence

  • Elon Musk proposed firing 1% of federal judges every year to eliminate “corruption,” despite constitutional guarantees of life tenure

  • The administration has faced multiple court orders blocking its executive actions, with judges “standing for the rule of law and against overreach”

  • The administration failed to comply with a court order from Chief Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island regarding federal spending

Executive Overreach
Unconstitutional Executive Orders

  • Multiple federal judges blocked an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship

  • Judge Brendan Hurson blocked an executive order shutting down access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19

  • Judge John Bates ordered federal agencies to restore website content removed due to Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology and extremism”

Dismantling Oversight Mechanisms
Targeting Anti-Corruption and National Security Structures

  • Dismantling of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force

  • Elimination of DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Unit

  • Dissolution of the KleptoCapture Task Force and Kleptocracy Teams

Enabling Foreign Influence

Weakening Protections Against Foreign Interference

  • The Index documented a “red carpet rollout for foreign influence”

  • Reduced enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)

  • Paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Politicizing Justice
Department of Justice Interference

  • Political interference in DOJ operations, described as “Thursday’s injustices inside the Department of Justice”7

  • The Eric Adams case dismissal that reportedly caused multiple prosecutors to resign in protest[appendix]

Autocratic Rhetoric and Behavior
Presidential Self-Aggrandizement

  • Trump referring to himself as “king”[appendix]

  • Trump embracing Napoleon’s quote about breaking laws to “save” the country[appendix]

  • Cabinet meetings displaying patterns of “obedience and sycophancy”[appendix]

Attacks on Free Press
First Amendment Threats

  • Documented “strikes against the free press and First Amendment”[appendix]

  • Part of a broader pattern of undermining democratic institutions6

Systematic Institutional Degradation
Broad Constitutional Threats

  • Each weekly Index catalogues “the various degradations our institutions and constitutional order have suffered under Donald Trump”6

  • The March 21, 2025 edition describes “the ravages Trump, Musk, and their gang are wreaking upon the country”6

  • The Index characterizes these challenges as “an ongoing struggle” to maintain democracy6

Conclusion

The Democracy Index serves as a critical resource tracking the erosion of democratic norms and institutions during Trump’s second term. Joyce Vance and her team at The Contrarian continue to document these developments weekly, helping citizens focus on substantive threats rather than distractions. As stated in the Index, the goal is to support people in being “engaged and conversant with their democracy, avoiding the kind of overload that all too often led to disengagement during Trump’s first administration”.

 
 
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