A Constitutional Crisis: How Trump’s Assault on the Rule of Law Puts Every American at Risk

Unchecked power, secret “intelligence,” and constitutional rights hanging by a thread

There’s a constitutional crisis happening and we need people outside the political echo chambers to be talking about it. Not in whispers, not just in policy wonk circles, but out loud and in the open. Because the people designing this future are already doing just that. They’re shouting and we are whispering. It is time to use our voices.

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When my phone rang this weekend, I didn't expect the conversation that followed. A family member, trying to make sense of recent events, asked me to summarize everything happening with the Trump Administration – the deportations of students, the silencing of journalists, and the case of a man sent to an offshore facility without due process.

After my lengthy explanation, they asked simply: "Is the point that anything could happen to anyone?"

Yes. That's exactly the point.

Not even 100 days into Trump's second term we're witnessing what can only be described as a constitutional crisis. This administration's goal is unchecked executive power. The only significant obstacles remaining are the US Courts and the Constitution itself.

As Senator Chris Van Hollen said after returning from El Salvador where he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Maryland resident who was sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison in March: "This is not a case about just one man whose constitutional rights are being ignored and disrespected…When you trample on the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights of every American."

Van Hollen’s statement cuts to the heart of our current predicament. We're not just discussing isolated incidents or political disagreements – we're confronting a fundamental challenge to the rule of law itself.

Trump's immediate objective seems clear: confront the courts and win. This confrontation isn't as random or impulsive as it seems. It’s a calculated step for any aspiring authoritarian. While the Republican-controlled Congress’s legislative restraints have been largely neutralized (especially via the significant financial influence of Elon Musk), the courts have proven more difficult to subdue despite ongoing attempts to bully and taunt them into submission.

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The Kilmar Abrego Garcia case is a particularly troubling intersection of authoritarian tactics:

First, the administration directly violated a standing court order prohibiting his deportation. This is not just a policy disagreement but a deliberate defiance of judicial authority. And that judicial authority is the foundation of our constitutional system.

Second, Kilmar was denied basic due process rights which are the fundamental protections that distinguish legitimate legal proceedings from arbitrary punishment.

Third, he wasn't simply returned to his country of origin but transferred to a notorious offshore detention facility, creating a dangerous "black hole" for cruel and unusual punishment outside normal legal protections. This is a tactic with alarming historical parallels. And then we witnessed an Oval Office pantomime in which the President of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States and the President of El Salvador pretended that El Salvador couldn’t immediately return Garcia at Trump’s request. Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador said: “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”

Fourth, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked if the courts have the power to even weigh in at all, he said “No court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States.” They seem to believe they’ve found a loophole, that once you put someone out of American boundaries, the courts have no power to enforce the constitution or our laws. Trump was filmed saying to Bukele: “Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places. It’s not big enough.”

“Home-growns” being US citizens.

Fifth, is the administration's justification. When ABC News reporter Jay O'Brien pressed DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin about the lack of evidence against Kilmar, she responded that they didn’t have “evidence,” only “intelligence” and that "We're not going to give out our national security documents every time a terrorist denies they are a terrorist."

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This statement reveals the circular logic at work here, the administration claims they don't need to provide evidence, only "intelligence," which they refuse to share publicly. A person is deemed a terrorist because they say so, with no obligation to prove it to courts, Congress, or the public.

Consider what this precedent establishes; the executive branch can ignore court orders, bypass due process, detain people in offshore facilities, and justify it all through classified "intelligence" that no one else can see or verify.

This framework doesn't just threaten Kilmar's rights, it creates a template that could be applied to anyone.

When Senator Van Hollen says "When you trample on the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights of every American," he's not engaging in hyperbole. He's describing exactly how democratic backsliding works, beginning with those most vulnerable and gradually expanding to threaten everyone's liberty.

All of this exists within the context of Trump and conservatives long-standing assault on our judicial system. Trump, who is always the victim of a witch hunt, has called the courts dirty names for years. Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller calls them “rogue Marxist judges.” Every conservative influencer I follow has been shitposting about the judicial branch for weeks (years!) and on April 9, the Republican House passed a bill that limits the authority of federal district judges to issue nationwide orders.

That bill, however, will not pass the Senate (for now), because of the 60-vote threshold that is currently in place. But Trump’s assault on our country stands and the warning signs are flashing red. The administration's willingness to defy court orders, deny due process, create legal black holes, and justify actions through secret "intelligence" creates a dangerous precedent that could ultimately affect anyone deemed inconvenient to those in power.

I have friends with Green Cards who are terrified to leave the country for fear of being detained at the border. I know students on typically airtight visas who have lawyers on speed dial. Even American citizens have told me that they have switched to all encrypted messaging because they are terrified of being surveilled and possibly detained.

But what we need to remember is that we are not powerless. The courts, despite being under attack, can use the power of contempt to punish and compel Trump administration officials to act according to the law.

Congress can do more too, as we saw this week, in response to mounting pressure, two Congressional delegations went to El Salvador, Brian Schatz has put a hold on 300 Trump nominees (it should be all of them) and Democrats held a “shadow hearing” on rule of law (which is a hearing not ‘officially’ organized by a Republican-lead committee).

When faced with an administration that's basically treating the Constitution like optional weekend reading, it's tempting to pin all our hopes on judges in black robes riding to the rescue. But the reality is, the problem necessitates a political solution from the entire ecosystem.

Jamelle Bouie has been saying since the election that “politics still matters.” And his point has been that while things will get very bad, the Trump Administration is not immune from politics. There is the point when all of the posting and conversations and protests and calls have to force actual actions from our electeds or they won’t be elected again.

Demanding our elected officials act is actually part of the process. Sharing a meme mocking JD Vance is part of the process. It's not enough. It won't solve the problems. But in a time in which authoritarians want us to feel powerless, even these small acts of resistance maintain the political pressure that can eventually force change.

The system isn't working right now because a small group of powerful people don't want it to. But that doesn't mean the system is broken beyond repair. It means we need to be louder, more organized, and more persistent than they are determined to break it.

So yeah, post those memes. Call your representatives. Show up at protests. Support journalists that are still doing actual journalism. Tell your friends what's happening. Have the uncomfortable conversations at family dinners. Every bit of political engagement shifts the calculus for those in power.

Nixon didn't resign because the courts ordered him to, he resigned because the political pressure became unbearable. Trump might think he's immune to such pressure, but he has not become a dictator yet. Our job is to make ignoring the Constitution so politically painful that even Trump's enablers start looking for the exits, and perhaps more importantly, the American public becomes aware of the true stakes in their next election.

The constitutional crisis we're facing isn't just a legal problem, it's a political one. And in politics, we all have power if we choose to use it.

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