The foregoing tools—executive orders and prosecutorial discretion—are conventional, even banal, means of asserting sweeping executive power. Even if the Trump administration proves to be more chaotic than authoritarian, the president is likely to continue the drift towards their ever-greater use. But if Trump proves more competent, if he pursues executive power with great efficiency and intentionality, there are means available for empowering his pursuit.
The president commands the world’s most impressive military and intelligence systems. Franklin Roosevelt inaugurated a venerable tradition of using the surveillance state to spy on political opponents, a practice perfected by Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Reforms since the 1970s helped erect safeguards for civil liberties and limit the president’s legal authority. But the technical capacity of the U.S. government for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance has expanded dramatically since then.
Liberals routinely hyperventilated about what they suspected George W. Bush was doing with his vast powers; conservatives fretted the same under Obama. Those fears were almost certainly overblown, but rightly pointed to the potential for abuse inherent in a system with such awesome power. (Obama commissioned a Review Group to recommend reforms to ensure intelligence collection stays within the bounds of law).
Given the clear potential for abuse, the clear advantages in doing so, and the ample precedent set down by illustrious predecessors, it is simply rational to assume that any president will at least be tempted to use the national security state for personal and partisan purposes.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member