Friend,
Welcome to our weekly “Trumptastrophe” email series that serves to remind us of the destructive policies, decisions, and actions we encountered during the Trump presidency and the threats that he and others in the MAGA movement still pose – and to keep those moments clear in our memory as we fight to defeat Republican extremists during the upcoming elections.
This week’s Trumptastrophe brings into focus President Trump’s unwillingness to tolerate anyone who would make him look bad or hold him accountable for his actions. Throughout Trump’s presidency he wasted no time in removing those who challenged his claims or authority. Now, as Trump and others involved in Project 2025 plan for a second term, one thing is clear: they will not tolerate anything less than pure, unrestrained loyalty to Trump and their extreme agenda:
On May 1, 2020, Trump fired the acting inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. The sacking of Christi Grimm seemed to be in retaliation for a report that the watchdog’s office released in April detailing shortages of COVID-19 test kits, masks, and other equipment.
The Washington Post characterized the report as a public critique of U.S. hospitals’ ability to handle the flood of COVID-19 patients, writing that the IG’s report “essentially counters assertions by President Trump that hospitals and state officials advocating for them are being greedy.” Trump had responded angrily to the report and was even more combative than usual in responding to reporters’ questions about it during one of his White House press briefings.
Grimm was one of several inspectors general whose firings were announced on Friday nights over a period of six weeks, with at least three of them “having done something to pretty obviously alienate Trump” by doing their jobs. “The unprecedented spate of removals has reinforced how Trump is rather obviously seeking to undermine independent oversight of his administration — and the timing of each of them only reinforces that,” reported the Post.
While the president does have the power to fire inspectors general, Congress created the positions with the expectation that they would act independently of politics, saying they should be chosen “without regard to political affiliation” and “solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability” in fields like financial management, law, and public administration, Vox reported.
Trump’s self-interested firing of Grimm and other inspectors general is a reminder of the dangers posed by a potential Trump return to the White House:
- Trump demands absolute loyalty. As the ACLU noted at the time, “The message from the president is painfully obvious: Act like a ‘Trump fan’—or else.” And that was before staff loyal to the Constitution refused to help Trump overturn the election and cling to power illegally. Comments from Trump and his allies make it clear that if he gets back into the White House, he will be careful not to hire anyone willing to say “no” to him.
- The far-right schemers and former Trump aides at Project 2025 are carefully pre-vetting thousands of potential Trump 2.0 employees to ensure their loyalty to Trump and the MAGA movement. Former Trump aide Russ Vought, involved in planning an assertion of near-dictatorial power after a return to the White House, has said, “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”
- Trump acts as if he is above the law. He “balked at any form of oversight during his tenure,” Vox noted. As People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker stated in 2019 when the House sought to enforce subpoenas that the White House was stonewalling, “Trump seems to think the rules do not apply to him, and he is wrong.” The truth of that statement is even clearer today, with Trump and his lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court that Trump should enjoy absolute immunity for any lawbreaking he committed as president.
- If the right-wing Supreme Court majority solidified by Trump backs him up, and he wins the election, Americans are likely to learn the hard way the answer to a question asked by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the court was hearing Trump’s immunity claim: “Why would we have a situation in which we would say that the president should be making official acts without any responsibility for following the law?” she asked. If the court would give “the most powerful person in the world” the ability to act without any accountability, she said, “I’m trying to understand what the disincentive is from turning the Oval Office into, you know, the seat of criminal activity in this country.”
These are just some of the reasons we need YOU in this fight. So, find your favorite way to unwind after reading through this week’s recap, and then make a plan for how you will fight back this week, this month, this election cycle.
For members who are interested in sharing the weekly Trumptastrophe series, you can find all previous editions on our website! This post will be published by Thursday so you can share with your friends and family and remind them of the importance of ensuring that Trump is defeated again this November.
Thanks for all that you do to defeat Republican extremism.
– People For the American Way
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