And we thought last week was bad

Is federalism our best hope?

When Donald Trump was President, every day brought fresh horrors. He’s not even back in office yet, and that principle is already operating in overdrive.

As Trump met with President Joe Biden at the White House yesterday, the President-Elect (gag) vowed a transition “as smooth as it can get.” Well, isn’t that nice of him? I seem to recall a very different transition in 2020 when there was no such Oval Office meeting. Then-President-Elect Biden didn’t reject the invitation (as the once-and-future First Lady Melania Trump did when she declined to meet with Jill Biden this week); he never received an invite from sore-loser Trump in the first place. Classy.

Be that as it may, Trump is working on the transition, and so far, it’s a total clown show. It would be comical if it weren’t so dangerous. I’m hearing from people in our military and national security community across the federal government, and they are preparing for the worst in 2025. Some are asking me for advice, and I’m not sure what to tell them. Many good people are going to lose their jobs, and trust me, you don’t want these people to lose their jobs. Worse, they will be replaced by Trump loyalists with very little experience and expertise in these fields. And if they can’t get clearances? No worries, Trump will just bypass them!

So far, his nominees read like a who’s who of MAGA sycophancy—Elise Stefanik, Mike Huckabee, Lee Zeldin, Biden impeachment hawk Mike Waltz. The new Melania, Elon Musk, got himself a plum job as “Director of Government Efficiency” (or DOGE), whatever that is, in return for all of his campaign help. And over the weekend, Trump was pushing for recess appointments of his Cabinet nominations in the Senate. Now we can see why.

• Matt Gaetz for Attorney General: This is arguably the worst pick so far. It’s like putting the Hamburglar in charge of security at McDonald's. The GOP is on a very dangerous path here. Will they sacrifice their remaining integrity, minuscule as it is, to confirm this choice? If so, Gaetz will gleefully use his power to prosecute anyone upon whom Trump seeks “retribution.”

• Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence: This is another doozy. The former socialist Democrat is ideologically sympathetic to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin and is a known defender of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. She also has a nasty habit of blaming America, rather than its foes, for any threats they pose.

• Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense: This Fox News host is perhaps best known for revealing he doesn’t wash his hands. Ever. A bit surprising that Donald Trump would pick him, given the fact that those of us in the White House during his first term know fully well that he’s a germophobe.  More ominously, Hegseth lobbied on behalf of war criminals and made frequent appearances with white supremacists and conspiracy theorists like Jack Posobiec. Trump is planning to purge top Pentagon officials; this pick tells you exactly the type of unserious people he’ll replace them with.

• John Ratcliffe for Director of the CIA: While this pick could have been worse (Ric Grenell or Kash Patel, anyone?), it’s interesting that Trump chose someone like Ratcliffe, who is known to be hawkish on China and Iran, but says nary a word about Russia.

• Susie Wiles for Chief of Staff: Even Wiles brings her share of baggage, including family ties to the Kremlin-linked lobbyist infamous for the Trump Tower meeting; a chairmanship at Mercury Public Affairs, successor to Black, Manafort, Stone, and Kelly; and a lobbying stint at Ballard Partners, whose foreign clients raised eyebrows.

• Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security: People perplexed by this choice are missing the bigger picture. Trump has appointed Tom Homan, the extreme and ineffective former ICE Director, to be his border czar. He’ll be working on one of Trump’s top priorities: deportations. However, the overarching goal is the dismantling of DHS. I suspect Noem was picked because she won’t fight back while the homeland security framework as we know it is unraveled. Joining Homan is Stephen Miller as Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy. Miller was right at home at Trump’s abhorrent rally in Madison Square Garden last month, when he said, “America is for Americans and Americans only.” Enough said.

Compared to some of these picks, Marco Rubio at Foggy Bottom is like the second coming of George C. Marshall. We have to face the hard reality that the federal government is lost for at least two years (if we’re lucky). As Republican Rep. Troy Nehls said, “If Donald Trump says, ‘jump three feet high and scratch your head,’ we all jump three feet high and scratch our head.” Seriously.

Our best hope is in the states. And to their great credit, Democratic governors are already forming an unofficial resistance. From California to Illinois to Massachusetts, these blue state governors are telling Trump they won’t comply with his orders. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special session of the legislature to "Trump-proof" the state and has lobbied President Biden for funding and federal waivers before Trump's inauguration. And Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado are leading the formation of a group to oppose the second Trump administration.

This is all thanks to federalism, the sharing of power between the federal and state governments, which just became our new best friend. The Framers of the Constitution feared an authoritarian leader like Trump would come to power, so they intentionally limited the powers of the federal government and granted the states a lot of their own. The 10th Amendment seals the deal, reserving all powers not specifically delegated to the federal government—the president, Congress, and the Supreme Court—to the states or directly to the people. Thank you, Founding Fathers.

It’s not perfect, of course. States rely on federal funds for all manner of needs, and Trump will try to bring states to heel by denying them this funding, as is his way. I also fully expect him to use his weaponized DOJ to prosecute state officials who don’t bend to his will. His surrogates are already making public threats. Last Thursday, one of Trump’s legal advisors, Mike Davis, publicly threatened prison time for New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office prosecuted—and won—the Trump fraud case.

We don’t know what’s coming in January, but if the Cabinet nominees are any indication, it’s going to be as bad as we thought. There are currently 23 Democratic governors across the nation, representing some of the largest population centers in the country. They must be the guardrails of democracy this time. And so must we. More than 70 million of us rejected Donald Trump at the ballot box, and we’re not going down without a fight. Our fight will be fought securely within the law. The Constitution is literally on our side.

As another Trump presidency bears down on us, I will continue to be a voice in the pro-democracy chorus standing up for our country and for the values we believe in. I tried as best as I could to bear witness to what happened when we lived it the first time around. Now it will be worse, and truth-tellers will continue to be vital. I am prepared to face the consequences of telling the truth.

We are retooling this newsletter for what’s to come. Stay tuned for the next chapter. In the meantime, please follow me and COURIER News on all socials, including my new account on Bluesky (oliviatroye.bsky.social)!

See you soon,

Olivia