The law won't stop Trump

From Counterpunch:

....There is little reason to believe that Trump and his followers will be constrained by the law. The Supreme Court has given Trump himself a get-out-of-jail free card for all official actions he takes as President. 

As all orders coming from him to government officials will be considered official, he can not be held liable for any of them—no matter how illegal. While his subordinates have not been given these free passes and thus are theoretically culpable for their illegal actions, Trump has the ability to pardon them. So they need not be constrained by the law either.

The reality of our crisis is demonstrated by what is actually taking place within government agencies. Trump is taking illegal actions and they are been carried out. He fired 17 or 18 inspectors general, effective immediately. 

This is illegal; Congress requires that it must be notified 30 days in advance for the firing of an inspector general, and a cause for this firing must be given. Neither of these things was done. 

By law, all of these individuals should have remained on the job, pending the proper procedures. 

One Inspector General challenged the order. Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the US Department of Agriculture, said she intended to stay because proper protocols had not been followed. She was escorted out of the building by security agents.

Trump’s take over of the Justice Department and the FBI makes it even more clear that he will be able to fire anyone and undertake any investigations or actions no matter their legality. 

He is firing apolitical federal prosecutors and agents for doing their jobs and participating in legitimate investigations—a violation of civil service protections. His followers will stock these institutions with their fellow believers and proceed. Whether or not charges brought by them are ultimately upheld in court is almost irrelevant. Years of litigation and prosecution will be sufficient to ruin people.

Other frightening actions are unfolding rapidly. Elon Musk’s surrogates have gotten access to the Treasury Department’s payments system. 

This system is responsible for sending out trillions of dollars in payments to individuals and groups, including Social Security payments. Anyone with control of the system could presumably target their “enemies” and withhold payments to them. Illegal? Yes! 

So what? Similar actions have shut down US AID operations around the world, causing large-scale suffering....

See also Here’s How Unpopular Elon Musk Is

Rob's comment:

This is what right-wing government looks like in the United States.