Programming Alert: America Under Siege

Tune in today at 4p eastern/1p pacific for "The Jim Acosta Show" special report on "America Under Siege."

It was only a few short weeks ago, when the smart people in Washington declared that “the resistance” would be dead during the second Trump administration. That was a misreading of the American experience. It’s in our DNA. From the Revolutionary War era of our founding fathers to the Civil Rights and anti-war movements of the 1960’s and early 70’s, patriotic citizens have, from time to time in the pursuit of a more perfect union, risen up to challenge injustices that simply cannot stand. We may well have reached such a moment once again.

If a rogue president can delegate an unelected billionaire to run roughshod over federal agencies and his vice president can declare that the executive branch could disregard rulings from the judiciary, then the citizenry will have no choice but to demand a return to the checks and balances that have kept this nation in good stead.

In one revealing social media post, Vice President J.D. Vance somehow managed to upstage his boss - who spent this past weekend attending the Super Bowl, seizing control of the Kennedy Center and abolishing the penny - by issuing a performative decree on the propaganda platform of his other superior, Elon Musk, insisting that the White House need not adhere to rulings from federal judges.

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power,” Vance posted. Vance on judges

Vance, who is a graduate of Yale Law School, is saying the riot part out loud. Presidents cannot violate rulings from the courts, unless of course, the Constitution is rendered null and void. Such an action would, for all intents and purposes, amount to something of a non-violent insurrection, executed from inside the government. To that end, Trump’s critics would note this is not his first rodeo. The idea that “judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power” may be the view of the most ardent conservatives on the Supreme Court. But it’s hard to imagine Chief Justice John Roberts holding such a view. Though one can imagine a lot these days.

Over the weekend, MAGA-world was howling after a federal judge temporarily blocked Musk’s government efficiency team, DOGE, from having access to the Treasury department’s highly sensitive federal payments system. Trump responded to the ruling, calling it a “disgrace.”

Trump’s actions since the start of his second administration raise serious questions about what his intentions would be, moving forward, if the guardrails of a judicial branch are tossed aside. His pardons and commutations for January 6th rioters, his stripping of the security details for outspoken ex-government officials like former national security adviser John Bolton, his move to tear down USAID and the Department of Education, not to mention his erratic fixation on acquiring Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal all call for bright red lines curtailing Trump’s executive powers. After the last couple of weeks, this is no time to remove any constitutional restraining bolts.

The Democratic Party, as I noted on my podcast last week, has found itself in a moment of maximum powerlessness. Elections have consequences. Yes, elected Democrats at the state level can act. California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Attorney General Letitia James can haul the Trump administration into court. But consider Trump’s track record in that arena. While under multiple indictments following his disgraceful exit from office the first time around, the then ex-president played our legal system like a violin. That surreal symphony of delay tactics, combined with a still-astounding Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, still echoes. And echoes.

All of which leads back to the American idea of resistance, the favorite punching bag of the chattering classes of D.C. punditry. Last week, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Treasury Department to demonstrate against Musk’s infiltration into the federal government. To this reporter, who covered that protest, it felt like an awakening. Nothing gets the dander up of patriotic Americans, of all political persuasions, quite like billionaires grabbing us by the data. To millions of citizens, America feels under siege. Don’t be surprised if they decide the time to resist has arrived.

Let’s discuss later today on the podcast. See you then.