The week in autocracy: March 9-22, 2025
Separating Signals and Noise with the help of Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century”
Hi again –
Looking back over the last two weeks, what made the deepest impression on me was the casual callousness that suffused White House communications. Tweeting "Goodbye" in 20 languages as Voice of America went silent; an Instagram post boasting of the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil with the message “Shalom Mahmoud”; dozens of men shackled and deported set to Semisonic’s “Closing Time”.
Sweeter in style but just as unforgiving in substance was the footage of President Trump signing an Executive Order to dismantle the Department of Education, surrounded by children, all signing their own version of the EO in unison. Surreal. I can’t help but wonder what these young people will think of this fleeting brush with history in a decade’s time.
Amongst the stories of the incremental erosion of judicial independence and the systematic operation to break the machinery that powers Democrats election infrastructure, one story that I couldn’t dislodge from my cerebellum was the President’s boastful claim to have won a golf tournament in West Palm Beach (amidst ordering military operations to commence in Yemen); it seems that I wasn’t alone and I appreciated a critical analysis of this dubious, gratuitous, bizarre claim in the Washington Times.
I read “The Judicial Insurrection Is Worse Than You Think” in The Federalist and “Today’s Real Nazis Are in America — But They’re Not Who You Think” in the American Thinker as I re-listened to the addendum in the audiobook version of On Tyranny, in which Prof. Snyder, interrogating the language used by Putin to justify the war in Ukraine, writes: “If you can declare that you are denazifying when you carry out a fascist style war to overthrow a democracy and kill a Jewish president, if you can do that you’ve achieved something quite impressive - you’ve extended unreality deep into reality…war is being fought for the nature of reality itself.” The fight for the nature of reality seems to be intensifying and internationalizing. I couldn’t help but connect those dots to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's post on X stating that "in America and in Israel, when a strong right wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people's will” – an odd sentiment to express as the justice system in both countries was being weaponized to threaten and investigate perceived enemies of each leader.
Mahmoud Khalil remains at an ICE detention center in Louisianna. When you count backward from fascism you eventually arrive at a test case of a citizen that most constituencies will not fight for, even if detained on a flimsy legal rationale. Amy Spitalnick of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs was channeling this sentiment when she told the NY Times: “Any Jew who thinks this is going to start and stop with a few Palestinian activists is fooling themselves. Our community should not be used as an excuse to upend democracy & the rule of law.”
Leaving you today with an observation from Moises Naim, public intellectual and former commerce minister and editor of Foreign Policy: “Modern autocrats understand the importance of being perceived as democratic—at least initially. Nevertheless, as they perform the most extravagant contortions to project an image of democratic legitimacy, they are quick to use their power to undermine the rule of law. They do not openly declare their intention to kill democracy, but they erode it stealthily, day by day, week by week, dismantling what they pretend to protect. It is a coup d’état, but in slow motion…Self-coups have become more frequent. One-third of the 46 attempted self-coups since 1945 have occurred in the last decade, according to a vast dataset created by political scientists John Chin, David Carter, and Joe Wright. Another alarming fact is that, although only half of “traditional” coups since 1945 have been successful, more than four out of five self-coups led by democratically elected leaders have succeeded…Democracy is not just what happens on election day, but also what happens during the years of a presidential term. It is precisely during these intervals that self-coup attempts begin to take shape, supported by citizens who—blinded by polarization, populism, and post-truth—applaud the erosion of democracy.”
And here is the round up:
1. Do not obey in advance – Anticipatory obedience empowers authoritarians before they fully take control
⬇️Law Firm Bends in Face of Trump Demands (New York Times)
⬇️Hundreds Of Associates Sign Open Letter Calling On Biglaw Leaders To Defend The Legal Profession (Above the Law)
⬇️Judge Temporarily Blocks Parts of Trump’s Executive Order Seeking to Punish Law Firm Perkins Coie (Associated Press)
⬆️John Roberts, in Rare Statement, Hits Back After Trump Calls for Impeaching Judges (Politico)
⬇️Hollywood Pivots to Programming for Trump’s America (Wall Street Journal)
2. Defend institutions – They help preserve democracy and need active protection
⬇️How Trump's White House defied a judge's order halting deportations (Axios)
⬇️Threats Against Judges Rise as Trump Allies Push for Impeachment (New York Times)
⬆️Trump, Deportations and the Law (Wall Street Journal)
⬇️They Were Raised to Serve America. MAGA Sees Them as Its Enemies. (Politico)
⬆️⬇️NED Welcomes State Department’s Initial Steps Towards Restoring Funding (National Endowment for Democracy)
⬇️Why Trump Tried to Fire the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (The Big Newsletter)
⬇️More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign (Associated Press)
⬇️Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation (New York Times)
⬇️Trump orders a plan to dismantle the Education Department while keeping some core functions (Associated Press)
⬇️A Title VI Demand Letter That Itself Violates Title VI (and the Constitution) (Balkinization)
⬆️⬇️Shaheen and Meeks Statement on Hostile Takeover of USIP (U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee)
3. Beware the one-party state – Support multiparty systems and democratic processes
⬇️Trump and Republicans Escalate Attacks on ActBlue, Accuse Democrats of Funding Terrorism (New York Times)
⬇️With Orders, Investigations and Innuendo, Trump and G.O.P. Aim to Cripple the Left (New York Times)
⬇️Exclusive: Amid Turmoil, ActBlue Faces Call for Terror-Financing Investigation (The Free Press)
⬇️Watchdogs fired by Trump raise alarms over future of independent government oversight (CBS News)
⬆️⬇️Among American Jews, a Schism Over ICE Arrest of Columbia Activist (New York Times)
⬇️Trump's DEI Order Puts More Firms on Defensive (New York Times)
⬇️Rescinding Security Clearances and Access to Classified Information from Specified Individuals (WhiteHouse.gov)
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world – Notice symbols of hate and remove them
⬇️CBP One, once used for people seeking asylum, is now being promoted as a ‘self-deportation’ app (Houston Public Media)
⬇️Pressed by Republicans, D.C. Begins Removing Black Lives Matter Mural (New York Times)
⬇️El Salvador’s Deportation Videos Show Stark Reality of U.S. Crackdown (New York Times)
5. Remember professional ethics – Maintain professional standards despite political pressure
⬇️Immigration Authorities Arrest Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia (New York Times)
⬇️U.S. Blocks Entry of French Scientist Over Anti-Trump Messages (New York Times)
⬇️An office known for enforcing special education is now focused on Trump’s political priorities (Associated Pressvia Yahoo News)
6. Be wary of paramilitaries – Groups with weapons outside official structures threaten stability
⬇️FBI Scales Back Staffing for Tracking Domestic Terrorism Probes, Sources Say (Reuters)
7. Be reflective if you must be armed – Understand the responsibility if you are in law enforcement
⬇️Administration Officials Believe Order Lets Immigration Agents Enter Homes Without Warrants (New York Times)
⬇️Trump Team’s Border Plans Include Military Buffer Zone Inside the U.S. (Washington Post)
8. Stand out – Someone has to set an example of courage
9. Be kind to our language – Maintain clear communication; resist propaganda and meaningless phrases
⬇️The Judicial Insurrection Is Worse Than You Think (The Federalist)
⬇️Today’s Real Nazis Are in America — But They’re Not Who You Think (American Thinker)
10. Believe in truth – Seek and defend factual reality
⬇️‘Commander Cheat’: Trump’s Golf Lies Expose His True Self (Washington Times)
⬇️Jackie Robinson’s Legacy Vanishes, Then Reappears, on Pentagon Site (New York Times)
⬇️Intelligence Shared With White House Shows Ukrainians Not Encircled at Kursk (Reuters)
⬇️Army Scrubs Web Pages About Navajo Code Talkers and WWII Japanese American Heroes (Axios)
⬇️Under Trump, AI Scientists Are Told to Remove ‘Ideological Bias’ From Powerful Models (Wired)
11. Investigate – Read beyond your comfort zone; learn from varied sources
⬇️Trump Moves to Dismantle Voice of America (New York Times)
⬆️⬇️Trump administration sued over shuttering of VOA (The Hill)
12. Make eye contact and small talk – Create the social bonds that sustain democracy
13. Practice corporeal politics – Protect your body and advocate for others' physical needs
14. Establish a private life – Defend your privacy and personal data
⬇️The 200 Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor Is Monitoring (404 Media)
⬇️Tesla owners face personal data leak as DOGE cuts continue (NewsNation)
15. Contribute to good causes – Support civil society organizations
16. Learn from peers in other countries – Connect with people facing similar struggles elsewhere
⬇️Mark Carney to Donald Trump: ‘Canada never, ever will be part of America’ (Politico)
⬇️Hungary and the Art of Being Useful to Washington (Hungarian Conservative)
⬇️Bolsonaro’s Son Seeks U.S. Asylum, Citing Political Persecution in Brazil (New York Times)
17. Listen for dangerous words – Be alert to rhetoric that signals tyrannical intent
⬇️Trump calls his opponents ‘scum’ and lawbreakers in bellicose speech at Justice Department (Politico)
⬇️‘Be Quiet, Small Man’: Musk Clashes With Polish PM Over Starlink in Ukraine (Al Jazeera)
⬇️Chairman Jordan Seeks Documents About Biden-Harris ‘Censorship Pressure’ (House Judiciary Committee)
⬇️Elon Musk Shared, Then Removed a Post Absolving Dictators for Genocide (New York Times)
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives – Maintain composure in crisis
19. Be a patriot – Love your country in a meaningful way that upholds its best values
⬆️I'm a Transgender Colonel. Trump Wants Me Out. (New York Times)
20. Be as courageous as you can – Ordinary individual choices can change history
For your digestif of developments that don’t fit neatly into Snyder’s criteria:
Antisemitism in the Oval Office (Timothy Snyder on Substack)
What a Mar-a-Lago accord could look like (Financial Times) – lest we forget to feel some economic anxiety in the midst of political anxiety
And now, the future:
From the Encyclopedia of 21st Century Democracy (Entry for March 9-22)
This period was marked by the systematic intimidation of key democratic institutions: deportation proceedings against political activists; speeches at the Department of Justice explicitly targeting political opponents; pressure campaigns against law firms representing immigrants and opposition groups; and unprecedented public denigration of federal judges who ruled against administration policies. These actions violated norms that had long insulated American democracy from authoritarian tendencies seen in other nations.
Intimidation of Law Firms
The legal profession faced unprecedented external pressures that tested its independence and ethical foundations as part of a government retribution campaign against law perceived as adversaries to President Trump. Trump had issued an executive order against Paul, Weiss - the third such order targeting major law firms - which effectively barred the firm's lawyers from dealing with the federal government and threatened their clients' government contracts. This created an existential business threat that prompted urgent discussions among top law firm leaders. Though a federal judge had recently ruled a similar order targeting Perkins Coie "likely unconstitutional," Trump proceeded with the Paul, Weiss order anyway, creating a climate of legal uncertainty and financial risk that ultimately drove the firm to negotiate directly with the president rather than await lengthy litigation outcomes. After extracting significant concessions following a White House meeting with firm chairman Brad Karp, Trump agreed to revoke his executive order against the firm. This incident sparked an outcry from over 600 associates from top law firms who signed an open letter demanding senior partners "publicly denounce attacks on the judiciary, legal institutions, and lawyers defending politically marginalized clients." The letter explicitly condemned what it called "the erosion of our legal system under pressure from authoritarian actors."
The pressure on legal institutions escalated when President Trump himself put "America's elite law firms on notice," telling Fox News's Maria Bartiromo: "We have a lot of law firms that we're going to be going after because they were very dishonest people." This direct threat from the president represented an unprecedented public targeting of the legal profession from the highest level of government.
The hostile climate had a pronounced effect on the legal community's ability to defend itself. Elite lawyers from many firms discussed issuing a statement supporting targeted colleagues and filing an amicus brief backing firms under attack, but encountered significant difficulty getting firms to sign on. This dynamic—where partners at some of the nation's leading firms privately expressed outrage at the president's actions but were unwilling to say so publicly—revealed how intimidation tactics had effectively silenced even those with significant institutional power and resources and compromised the legal profession's traditional role as a bulwark of constitutional rights.
Confrontations with the Courts
The judiciary faced direct challenges to its independence and authority, with Chief Justice John Roberts issuing a rare public statement criticizing former President Trump's suggestion that Congress impeach federal judges who blocked his policy agenda. Roberts emphasized that "an independent judiciary is essential to the rule of law," adding that "judges must not be punished for making lawful decisions unpopular with those in power."
The confrontation arose after Trump called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who had temporarily halted a mass deportation order. The administration continued deporting Venezuelan asylum-seekers despite the judge’s temporary restraining order. Immigration authorities defended this action by citing national security concerns, a justification that legal observers noted effectively claimed executive power to disregard judicial rulings.
As the controversy over Boasberg's ruling intensified, the jurist was publicly derided by Attorney General Pam Bondi as "a D.C. trial judge [who] supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans." This extraordinary public attack on a federal judge by the nation's top law enforcement official represented a significant breach of traditional norms regarding respect for judicial independence.
Georgetown law professor Neal Katyal characterized the situation starkly: "When politicians threaten judges for ruling against them, democracy is already in danger." This pattern of challenging judicial authority extended beyond rhetoric into practice, raising fundamental questions about the separation of powers and the judiciary's ability to function independently in the face of public intimidation.
Physical Safety Concerns
The attacks on judicial independence were not merely rhetorical. Federal judges involved in high-profile immigration and criminal cases faced escalating threats following critical remarks by former President Trump. Judge Boasberg himself received over 50 documented death threats in a single week.
Trump's social media posts had named individual judges, calling them "traitors" or "enemies of the people." The U.S. Marshals Service increased security details for several jurists, but the situation remained precarious. A survey found that 68% of respondents now felt unsafe when presiding over politically sensitive cases—a striking indication of how political intimidation had created real security concerns for members of the judiciary.
Within the FBI, agents and analysts expressed concern about reducing the number of personnel assigned to domestic terrorism cases. "We've been told to pivot away from domestic terror and focus more on transnational threats," one agent told Reuters news agency, despite the Bureau's own threat assessments that violent extremism — particularly from far-right groups — remained elevated.
Political Fundraising Infrastructure Attacks
The administration also deployed regulatory and investigative tools against Democratic fundraising infrastructure, opening a preliminary investigation into ActBlue after right-wing groups filed complaints alleging that the Democratic fundraising platform facilitated donations to organizations with ties to international extremist groups. Though no charges were filed and ActBlue strongly denied any wrongdoing, the investigation itself served as a form of institutional pressure. Legal experts noted it was "highly unusual for a platform that processes political donations through registered 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) groups to be targeted with such allegations." Civil liberties groups characterized the investigation as weaponizing counterterrorism frameworks to attack political infrastructure.
Deportation as Political Messaging
The administration deployed immigration enforcement as a mechanism for political messaging. The CBP One mobile app, originally designed to facilitate asylum applications, was repurposed as a tool for "voluntary departure," what immigration advocates described as coerced self-deportation. Homeland Security officials began encouraging undocumented migrants to use the app to schedule deportation appointments.
This technological repurposing was accompanied by targeted enforcement actions. The New York Times reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University, citing visa violations after the student had led pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Civil liberties groups called the arrest retaliatory, noting the student's immigration status had been stable for years. In a similar incident, a prominent French scientist was denied entry into the United States after immigration officers cited her past social media posts critical of Donald Trump. DHS officials cited Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits barring entry to individuals deemed hostile to U.S. interests.
The administration also explored legal pathways to designate certain undocumented immigrants as "alien enemies," a term rooted in wartime law, to expedite deportations and suspend due process protections. According to the New York Times, internal DHS drafts suggested that immigrants from Venezuela, Iran, and Palestine could be targeted under this approach, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Immigration enforcement was further transformed into a propaganda tool, both domestically and internationally, with the amplification of deportation videos of gang members. The footage, shared widely on social media and government channels, portrayed returning deportees—some of whom were members of MS-13 or Tren de Aragua—as validation of the government's crackdown on crime. This approach to immigration enforcement—treating deportations as spectacle rather than administrative procedure—represented a significant departure from previous norms around dignified treatment and due process, while also strengthening ties with authoritarian-leaning governments that shared similar enforcement approaches.
Memory Politics
The administration engaged in systematic efforts to modify public spaces and historical narratives. Under political pressure from Republican congressional leaders, the District of Columbia began removing the iconic "Black Lives Matter" mural painted on 16th Street near the White House.
This pattern extended to military history as well, with the removal by the U.S. military of a webpage honoring the Navajo Code Talkers from one of its official sites as part of a wider review of diversity-related content. Similarly, the Army removed a webpage dedicated to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, composed mostly of Japanese American soldiers, as well as an article about Jackie Robinson (which was subsequently restored).
Institutional Repurposing
Multiple federal agencies experienced significant shifts in their missions and operations during this period. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), traditionally focused on enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, was redirected toward reviewing school curricula for alignment with administration priorities. According to the Associated Press, internal documents showed that OSEP staff had been instructed to monitor "ideological content" in educational materials, particularly concerning race, gender, and immigration. This occurred amidst the broader dismantlement of the Department of Education following an Executive Order by President Trump directing the education secretary will, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
This period also saw efforts to monitor and restrict academic activities. The Trump administration launched federal investigations into several universities over their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, citing alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Scientific Agencies and Technical Standards Redirection
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued new instructions to scientists partnering with the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI) that eliminated mention of "AI safety," "responsible AI," and "AI fairness" in the skills expected of members. Instead, the updated cooperative research and development agreement introduced a request to prioritize "reducing ideological bias, to enable human flourishing and economic competitiveness." This represented a significant departure from previous standards that had encouraged researchers to contribute technical work identifying and fixing discriminatory model behavior related to gender, race, age, or wealth inequality—issues that directly affected end users and disproportionately harmed minorities and economically disadvantaged groups. The new agreement also removed mention of developing tools "for authenticating content and tracking its provenance" and "labeling synthetic content," signaling reduced interest in tracking misinformation and deep fakes. It added emphasis on putting "America first," asking one working group to develop testing tools "to expand America's global AI position."
Content Regulation and Self-Censorship
The period witnessed significant efforts to reshape media and cultural narratives, with major Hollywood studios shifting content strategies to focus on patriotism, law enforcement, and Christian values. Studios reportedly avoided storylines involving immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, or racial justice.
The Voice of America (VOA) was shut down, sparking significant controversy and legal action. VOA had long been a source of objective news, particularly in countries lacking free press. In many parts of the world, VOA's closure meant the loss of a crucial source of objective news, leaving only censored state-sponsored media to fill the void. To justify its actions, the US Agency for Global Media accused the agency of “massive national security violations, including spies and terrorist sympathizers and/or supporters infiltrating the agency” and further explained: “It is unfortunate that the work that was done by self-interested insiders in coordination with outside activist groups and radical Leftist advocacy organizations to ‘Trump-Proof’ the agency made it impossible to reform. In fact, they weren’t just ‘Trump-Proofing’ the agency from political leadership, they were accountability-proofing the agency from the American people. They did all this while spending taxpayer money to create false narratives. These were amplified by biased media counterparts with clear conflicts of interest at the Washington Post, NPR and more, to actively cover up their obscene waste, fraud, and abuse.” In response, VOA journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and several unions filed a lawsuit.
Similar actions occurred at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Gregory Meeks condemned what they described as a "hostile takeover" by political appointees. According to their joint statement, career experts had been removed and replaced with partisan loyalists lacking relevant experience, undermining USIP's nonpartisan mission and threatening U.S. credibility abroad.