| The Not Above the Law Coalition Highlights Five Abuses of Power Since Government Funding Lapsed |
| WASHINGTON — Less than a week into the government shutdown, Trump is utilizing the budget standoff to carry out an unprecedented power grab. The tactics are clear: federalize troops over governors’ objections, manipulate federal workers’ emails for partisan attacks, threaten mass firings, declare “war” on cartels to justify extrajudicial killings, and openly entertain invoking the Insurrection Act in an attempt to override court orders. Trump is seizing on the distraction of this critical inflection point to behave more shamelessly than ever. He admitted as much on Truth Social: “Republicans must use this opportunity…to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud.” But of course, his opportunistic abuses of power have done nothing to reduce waste or fraud. Here are just a few of the Trump administration’s abuses of power this week: 1. Trump deploys troops against governors’ wishes, defies federal court orders Trump has federalized 300 Illinois National Guard members over Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s objections and attempted to deploy troops to Portland – defying state leaders and a federal judge who blocked the move twice in one weekend. On Monday, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to override judicial authority. Governor Pritzker warned that Trump is “following a playbook: Cause chaos, create fear and confusion.” 2. Trump declares “war” on drug cartels to justify killing suspects without legal process Trump quietly informed Congress this week that he’s “determined” the U.S. is in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels – retroactively justifying military strikes that killed 17 people aboard boats in the Caribbean Sea last month. Congress never authorized military force against cartels – a constitutional requirement for declaring war. Legal experts say Trump’s move is “shredding” the laws of war. 3. Trump weaponizes shutdown to unlawfully cancel $8 billion in blue state projects Budget Director and Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought canceled $8 billion in clean energy funding for projects in 16 blue states, plus $18 billion in New York infrastructure projects. The energy cuts are also impacting 28 Republican House districts, including six of the party’s most vulnerable members facing reelection. 4. Trump threatens mass firings in unprecedented shutdown abuse The White House directed federal agencies to prepare for mass permanent layoffs – not temporary furloughs – during the shutdown, a step no previous administration has taken. Vice President JD Vance and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt both confirmed the administration is coordinating these permanent layoffs. Two major federal worker unions filed emergency lawsuits arguing the threatened mass firings violate the Antideficiency Act. 5. Trump forces federal workers to spread partisan messages Education Department employees discovered last week that the out-of-office auto-replies on their email accounts had been altered without their knowledge to include partisan messages blaming Democrats for the shutdown. On behalf of AFGE, Public Citizen and Democracy Forward sued, arguing that the partisan messages violate the First Amendment rights of the employees. In addition, the administration made multiple government websites – from HUD to the Department of Agriculture – into partisan billboards blaming the “Radical Left,” or Democrats.” Public Citizen filed 11 complaints with the Office of Special Counsel arguing these actions violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits using federal resources for partisan political activity. |
© 2025 Not Above the Law Coalition.