Edgar Lee
On Tuesday (2/18), Donald Trump signed an executive order making all entities within the executive branch under the supervision and control of the President. This order also gives the President and Attorney General, which is subject to the President, absolute authority to interpret all laws applied to the executive branch, meaning that a power once handed to the attorneys of agencies is now solely handled by those two offices.
Particularly highlighted in the order are independent regulatory agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the former of which develops legislation against misleading or unfair financial institution practices, and the latter insures money stored in banks. As a result of this order, all independent regulatory agencies are under the supervision of the President and must submit reports to him to ensure that they are carrying out his policies.
Before this order, independent regulatory agencies could act independently without reporting to the President, and were not required to submit regular reports to its office. Independent agencies, however, were still required to submit annual agendas to the Office of Management and Budget, which is a part of the President’s executive office.
This order displays the natural tendency of bourgeois states known as reactionization, where democratic rights for the people are increasingly restricted and illusory as power is further concentrated in the executive branch, particularly in the presidency. Reactionization is the political reflection of the increased concentration of wealth in fewer hands, the natural tendency of monopolization in the era of imperialism. We see this in the United States in an effort to secure its fading position as the sole hegemonic imperialist superpower in the face of inter-imperialist contention and growing revolutionary movements abroad and increasingly militant mass movements domestically. The U.S. has been unable to maintain solid political and economic grasp on the Third World and is using reactionization to try to fix that.
Bourgeois ideologues have pinned this on the so-called “unitary executive theory,” an allegedly fringe and conservative idea that advocates for complete Presidential authority over the executive branch. This is not an abstract idea imposed through the practice of a few believers, but is rather a key feature of reactionization, no matter who the President or his staff are. Trump did not start it; he is merely accelerating it.
Since Trump’s inauguration, he has portrayed himself as a King saving America, with the White House X page posting a photo featuring Trump with a crown on his head and the words “LONG LIVE THE KING” in response to him seeking to end New York City congestion pricing on Wednesday (2/19). Trump also posted the Napoleon Bonaparte quote “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” on February 15. These portrayals do not indicate that Trump has become a monarch or dictator, but instead are the sick fantasies reflected from an increasingly reactionized state.
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