AUTHORITARIAN WATCH
Volume 1 - 1st of March, 2025
AUTHORITARIAN WATCH is a journal dedicated to reporting actions by governments and other bodies that subvert democracy and the rule of law. For each journal entry, we will first present facts from a journalistic approach, supported by verified news sources which the reader can follow in links provided, then we will provide our editorial view on each subject. AUTHORITARIAN WATCH is an open journal and accepts submissions, feedback, and corrections.
USA
Since President Donald Trump retook office in January 2025, his administration has undertaken several actions that have raised significant legal and constitutional concerns. These actions collectively reflect a pattern of undermining democratic institutions and norms, aligning with tactics historically employed by authoritarian regimes to consolidate power and suppress opposition.
1. Attempt to Revoke Birthright Citizenship January 20, 2025
President Trump signed Executive Order 14160, aiming to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. This action challenges the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to all individuals born on U.S. soil. This bypasses Congressional authority over immigration and citizenship laws and contradicts the 1898 Supreme Court ruling United States v. Wong Kim Ark, representing executive overreach into legislative and judicial domains.
Supporting Evidence: Legal challenges were promptly filed, leading to a preliminary injunction by Judge Joseph N. Laplante on February 10, 2025. Legal challenges from 22 Democratic-led states were filed by January 21, 2025
https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
Authoritarian Parallel: This move mirrors actions by authoritarian leaders who have redefined citizenship to marginalize specific groups. Adolf Hitler’s 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped citizenship from Jews, bypassing legal norms to redefine identity via executive action, similar to Trump’s unilateral attempt to alter a constitutional right.
2. Pardoning January 6, 2021, Capitol Rioters January 20, 2025
President Trump pardoned over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol attack, including those convicted of assaulting police and seditious conspiracy, shortly after inauguration. Though the pardon power is broad, using it to excuse an insurrection against democratic processes undermines judicial accountability and the tradition of sparing, clemency-focused pardons, rewarding political loyalty instead.
Supporting Evidence: NPR reported the pardons on January 20, 2025 , with Reuters noting over 1,500 recipients, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights criticized it as enabling violence.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/21/1225890660/podcast-trump-pardons-jan-6-defendants
Authoritarian Parallel: Joseph Stalin pardoned loyalists involved in political violence during Bolshevik purges to maintain a loyal base, akin to Trump shielding allies who attacked democratic institutions.
3. Dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs January 21, 2025
Through Executive Order 14173, President Trump directed federal agencies to terminate DEI-related grants and contracts, mandating that federal contractors certify the absence of DEI programs.
Supporting Evidence: U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction on February 21, 2025, blocking key provisions of this order, citing constitutional violations.
Authoritarian Parallel: This action is reminiscent of policies in apartheid-era South Africa, where the government systematically dismantled programs promoting racial equality, enforcing segregation and discrimination.
4. Expansion of Immigration Enforcement into Religious Spaces January 22, 2025
The Trump administration rescinded previous protections, allowing immigration raids in houses of worship. This policy instilled fear among immigrant communities and raised concerns about religious freedom violations.
Supporting Evidence: A coalition of religious organizations secured a preliminary injunction against this policy on February 24, 2025. https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/sikh-temple-protections-20185356.php/
Authoritarian Parallel: Authoritarian regimes often disregard sanctuaries to exert control. For example, during the Spanish Civil War, Franco's forces violated churches' sanctity to suppress opposition, demonstrating a blatant disregard for religious protections.
5. "Deferred Resignation" Offer to Federal Employees January 28, 2025
The administration offered federal employees a deal to resign by February 6, 2025, with pay until September 30, 2025, aiming to purge
non-loyalists and replace them with appointees. This circumvents civil service protections under the 1883 Pendleton Act, threatening the merit-based bureaucracy’s impartiality without legal grounding.
Evidence: CNN detailed the upheaval on February 7, 2025, with Congressman Steve Cohen reporting over 150 House Democrats demanding answers on February 23, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/07/politics/trump-musk-federal-workforce
Authoritarian Parallel: Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution purged disloyal bureaucrats, replacing them with ideological allies, much like Trump’s effort to politicize the civil service.
6. Assertion of Unchecked Executive Power January 2025
President Trump issued multiple executive orders asserting broad inherent presidential powers, often in direct conflict with existing federal statutes.
Supporting Evidence: Legal scholars have criticized these actions as attempts to override legislative authority and judicial precedents. https://www.justsecurity.org/106969/trump-dictatorial-theory-presidential-power-executive-orders/
Authoritarian Parallel: This mirrors actions by leaders like Benito Mussolini, who utilized decrees to bypass legislative bodies, consolidating power and undermining democratic institutions.
7. Politicization of the Civil Service January 2025
The administration implemented policies allowing for the removal of civil servants deemed disloyal, replacing them with individuals aligned with the President's agenda.
Supporting Evidence: Analysts warn that such actions undermine the apolitical nature of the civil service, leading to governance based on loyalty rather than competence.
Authoritarian Parallel: The Soviet Union under Stalin saw the purge of government officials and their replacement with loyalists, ensuring absolute adherence to Stalinist policies and eliminating dissent within the government.
8. Granting Elon Musk’s DOGE Access to Sensitive Treasury Data January 2025
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allowed Elon Musk’s unofficial “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) team access to sensitive financial data, including taxpayer and Social Security details, following the resignation of Acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk, who opposed the move. This breaches the 1974 Privacy Act and subverts traditions restricting such access to vetted officials, bypassing Congressional oversight.
Supporting Evidence: Senator Tammy Baldwin and other lawmakers have expressed deep concern over this development, highlighting the risks of political interference in critical payment systems and potential conflicts of interest due to Musk's business ties. In response to legal challenges, federal judges have issued orders blocking DOGE from accessing sensitive personal data held by various U.S. government agencies, including the Treasury Department. These interventions underscore the significant legal and ethical concerns surrounding DOGE's access to sensitive personal data.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-doge-treasury-5e26cc80fcb766981cea56afd57ae759/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/27/elon-musk-conflicts-of-interest/
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/08/g-s1-47350/states-sue-to-stop-doge-accessing-personal-data/
Authoritarian Parallel: Francisco Franco granted loyal industrialists state resources post-1939, similar to Trump outsourcing government functions to a private ally, undermining public accountability.
9. Centralization of Cultural Institutions February 12, 2025
President Trump appointed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, aiming to influence American culture and promote a specific ideological agenda.
Supporting Evidence: This move has been criticized as an attempt to use cultural institutions for personal and political gain. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/02/what-trump-misses-turning-camelot-magalot/681820/
Authoritarian Parallel: Authoritarian leaders, such as Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany, centralized control over cultural institutions to propagate their ideology and suppress dissenting artistic expression.
10. Executive Order Expanding Presidential Control Over Independent Agencies February 19, 2025
President Trump signed an order requiring independent agencies like the SEC and FDIC to submit regulations and budgets to the White House, undermining their statutory independence. This violates the tradition of agency autonomy upheld by the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor v. United States ruling, centralizing executive power beyond constitutional checks.
Supporting Evidence: President Trump’s February 19, 2025, executive order mandates that independent regulatory agencies, including the SEC, FTC, FDIC, and NLRB, submit proposed regulations, enforcement actions, and budget requests for White House review and approval before implementation. The order modifies Executive Order 12866 and subjects these agencies to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversight, reversing longstanding policies that exempted them from direct presidential control. Legal challenges have been filed, citing violations of the Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935) ruling, which established agency independence by limiting the President’s removal power over regulatory commissioners. The Congressional Research Service has issued a report questioning whether the order exceeds Article II executive authority, as agencies like the Federal Reserve and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have statutory mandates protecting them from White House intervention.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/29/donald-trump-executive-orders-signed-list/
Authoritarian Parallel: Benito Mussolini’s 1926 reforms in Italy merged independent institutions under Fascist control, mirroring Trump’s erosion of agency independence to enforce executive loyalty.
11. Restriction of Press Freedom February 25, 2025
The Trump administration announced that it would assume control over the press pool, determining which news outlets are permitted to cover presidential events. This move departs from the century-long tradition where the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) managed press access.
Supporting Evidence: The administration barred the Associated Press (AP) from covering presidential events due to its refusal to adopt the term "Gulf of America" instead of "Gulf of Mexico." A federal judge upheld this ban, leading to widespread condemnation from press freedom organizations.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/white-house-takes-control-of-press-pool-that-shares-access-to-president-trump-a5bb366f.com https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-02-24/court-ruling-lets-white-house-ban-on-the-associated-press-continue-for-now.com
Authoritarian Parallel: Authoritarian regimes often suppress press freedom to control narratives and stifle dissent. For instance, in Russia, legislation has been enacted to punish journalists spreading information not aligned with the government's stance, particularly concerning sensitive topics like military actions.
12. Attempt to Bypass Civil Service Protections February 27, 2025
President Trump’s administration attempted a sweeping purge of federal employees, aiming to replace career civil servants with political loyalists. Under a new executive order, tens of thousands of federal workers were designated as “at-will” employees, stripping them of longstanding job protections enshrined in the 1883 Pendleton Act. This move sought to remove officials deemed insufficiently supportive of the administration’s agenda.
Supporting Evidence: A federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the mass firings, citing serious legal and constitutional concerns. The ruling emphasized that the executive branch does not have unilateral authority to override civil service laws without congressional approval. Legal challenges from federal employee unions and advocacy groups argue the policy violates due process and undermines nonpartisan governance. The Guardian reported that Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s ruling temporarily halts the order, noting that it would cause "irreparable harm" to federal workers and democracy itself. Axios detailed how the administration framed the firings as a measure to increase "efficiency," but experts warn it would politicize government institutions. AP News highlighted that critics fear this move could turn the federal workforce into an ideological tool of the presidency, dismantling bureaucratic impartiality.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/27/judge-temporarily-blocks-trump-firings/
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/28/trump-federal-employees-firing-court-judge/
https://apnews.com/article/trump-federal-employees-firings-a85d1aaf1088e050d39dcf7e3664bb9f/
Authoritarian Parallel: This strategy mirrors tactics used by authoritarian leaders to consolidate control over government institutions. Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge replaced bureaucrats with loyalists, ensuring total compliance with his regime’s policies. Similarly, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán systematically eroded civil service independence, replacing career officials with party-aligned operatives to entrench power. Trump's attempt to sideline the professional bureaucracy aligns with these historical precedents, aiming to reshape government institutions into instruments of executive loyalty.
13. Curtailment of Foreign Aid and Dismantling of USAID February 2025
An executive order froze foreign aid, effectively dismantling USAID. This action halted programs supporting global health, democracy, and education, leading to significant humanitarian consequences.
· Supporting Evidence: The shutdown of USAID and the freeze on foreign aid resulted in the termination of multiple international assistance programs, including global health initiatives, food aid, and disaster relief efforts. The decision halted funding for HIV/AIDS relief, vaccine distribution, and maternal health services in several countries. Food aid programs in Yemen and Syria were suspended, and climate resilience projects in disaster-prone regions were discontinued. The policy change prompted formal objections from the European Union, Canada, and Japan, citing concerns over the potential impact on regional stability and migration trends. In response, bipartisan lawmakers, including Senators Chris Coons and Marco Rubio, filed legal challenges, arguing that the order violated the Impoundment Control Act by freezing funds that had already been approved by Congress.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/26/trump-usaid-cuts/
https://www.businessinsider.com/scotus-block-lower-courts-order-trump-release-usaid-funds-2025-2/
· Authoritarian Parallel: Isolationist policies were prominent in pre-World War II America, where the refusal to engage internationally had profound global repercussions, highlighting the dangers of withdrawing from international aid and cooperation.
14. Undermining Judicial Independence February 2025
President Trump dismissed inspectors general and replaced them with loyalists, compromising the independence of oversight bodies and weakening checks on executive power.
Supporting Evidence: This action has been criticized for jeopardizing government oversight and evoking a constitutional crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/07/trump-executive-actions-democracy/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/politics/inspector-general-lawsuit-fired-trump/index.html
Historical Parallel: This tactic resembles actions by Viktor Orbán in Hungary, where the government systematically undermined judicial independence, consolidating power and eroding democratic institutions.
Note: This list will be updated weekly to monitor and document ongoing developments.
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Reflections on Authoritarian Tendencies
History, as Joseph Campbell reminds us, is cyclical. Tyranny, like myth, follows a pattern. It emerges in the guise of a savior, speaking in the language of the people, promising to restore a lost golden age. But beneath the gilded words lies a darker design—the slow, methodical erosion of the institutions that hold power to account. Today, we stand at the precipice of such a cycle once more.
We are witnessing a political moment not unlike the great collapses of past civilizations. The Trump administration, with its relentless consolidation of power, echoes the drumbeats of regimes that have twisted democracy into despotism. The contours of this authoritarian playbook are clear, and the shadows of history lengthen over the present.
Centralizing Power: The Death of Checks and Balances
Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin—each of them understood a fundamental truth: democracy is not slain in a single night, but suffocated, piece by piece. By coiling his grip around independent agencies, silencing oversight bodies, and overriding legal precedent, Trump mimics their strategy. The judiciary, the press, the civil service—once bastions of impartiality—are now subject to the whims of executive decree. The Founders of the United States warned against such concentrated power. It was James Madison who wrote, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
But tyranny never announces itself. It does not storm the gates. It infiltrates, erodes, and whispers that its presence is necessary. The moment we accept this unchecked authority under the pretense of efficiency or national security, we have already lost.
Undermining Rule of Law: The Destruction of Accountability
Law is the last fortress against the arbitrary hand of power. But the autocrat knows that laws can be bent, circumvented, or ignored. In Stalin’s Soviet Union, amnesty for the loyal and punishment for the dissenters was a standard tool of control. Hitler’s revocation of Jewish citizenship set the legal precedent for mass disenfranchisement and destruction.
Trump’s mass pardons of the January 6 insurrectionists and his attempts to redefine citizenship are not simply political moves—they are structural attacks on the very concept of justice. The rule of law only functions when no one is above it. When a leader exempts his allies and punishes his enemies, he is no longer bound by the law; he becomes the law. This is how authoritarianism spreads—not in the thunder of war, but in the slow erosion of fairness, in the normalization of impunity.
Purging Opposition: The Machinery of Obedience
The purging of dissent is the next step in the authoritarian’s playbook. It is not enough to consolidate power and warp the law; one must also eliminate all who refuse to kneel. Mao Zedong knew this well—he did not simply remove opponents; he replaced them with devotees, ensuring that loyalty to the leader superseded loyalty to the nation.
Trump’s purging of federal agencies, his “deferred resignation” purge of civil servants, and his demand for absolute personal allegiance are tactics lifted directly from the Maoist and Stalinist playbooks. A government staffed not by experts, but by sycophants, does not serve the people—it serves only the ego of its ruler.
Cronyism: Power for the Few, Destitution for the Many
Power, left unchecked, always degenerates into cronyism. Franco rewarded his loyalists with state resources, enriching a select few at the cost of an entire nation. Trump’s empowerment of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) follows this same pattern—bypassing Congress, subverting oversight, and granting access to sensitive data to a personal ally.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best politics is right action.” But what happens when politics is neither just nor right? When power becomes a currency, exchanged between the wealthy and the powerful, the people become subjects rather than citizens. This is not democracy—it is oligarchy draped in the thin disguise of patriotism.
The Unfolding Tragedy: A Warning from History
Noam Chomsky has long warned of the creeping normalization of authoritarian rule. “People not only don’t know what’s happening to them, they don’t even know that they don’t know.” That is the final victory of tyranny—when the people no longer see their shackles.
If we do not recognize these patterns now, if we do not call them by their true names—fascism, authoritarianism, oligarchy—then we are already complicit in our own subjugation. It is easy to imagine that the fall of democracy is a distant event, something that happens in history books, in far-off lands. But history is not a distant past; it is a living, breathing force, and we are in it.
Every moment of silence in the face of these encroachments is an endorsement of their permanence. Every unchecked abuse of power is an invitation for the next. The lessons of the 20th century were paid for in blood, in the ashes of collapsed democracies, in the mass graves of those who dared to dissent. Shall we ignore them?
Or shall we, as free people, stand against the tide?
The hour is late, but the fight is not yet lost.