The problem I have come up against while
researching ways to answer the relentlessly pertinent question of how to
diminish Trump’s advantages, is that many of the rules I thought might help do
that, already exist. For example – Jared Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law and is
now “White House Innovations Director” and Senior Advisor to the President; I thought one way to
hamper Trump’s cronyism and specifically nepotism tendencies would be to put in
place some rules about the President hiring family members. It turns out those
already very much exist. Under Federal Law at [1]5 U.S.C. § 3110, it states
– very clearly – that a federal employee –specifically mentioning that this
includes the President – may not appoint, employ, advocate for the appointment
of, etc., any family member – specifically mentioning that this includes a
son-in-law – to any position, in any agency that the federal employee in
question has jurisdiction over. It seems rather obvious that this part of
Federal Law has been blatantly violated. But, like in every other example I
have researched, Trumps lawyers dug up an obscure provision of the legal code
to suggest that, in this case, [2]3 U.S.C. § 105(a) of Federal Law
which involves the President’s ability to set salaries for employees,
supersedes the anti-nepotism statute. I personally don’t think this makes any
sense but the DOJ apparently does. Hence, Jared has a job, and I am still banging
my head against the wall.
The
rules around Presidential campaigns were even less of a problem for Trump.
There are myriad specific and structural reasons that the lack of regulations
and requirements for transparency benefitted Trumps candidacy. But as he is
already President, it seems more pertinent to focus on administrative/policymaking
changes.
Trump’s
tenuous alliance with the Republican Party leads him to use their ideological
aversion to big-government and support for an unfettered/unregulated free
market, void of supervision, to his advantage. This plays into his rampant
deregulation of every agency and sector of government. With less oversight,
regulation, and legal requirement for transparency, allows him to essentially
do as he pleases. This is one reason why “big-government” is a good thing, as
it would put enforceable rules in place to ensure that there are repercussions
for corruption. While apparently everyone thinks of "big-government" as an unquestionably terrible thing, that is only true if you hate the fire department, Medicare, Federal Government Disaster Relief, Public Schools, National Security, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, etc... So, yunno, let's maybe try to be more specific, and less broad-brush when we say vacuous things like "big-government."
Wracking
my brain, looking for ways to stop Trump, led me to the conclusion that a
statutory requirement for an adherence to political norms is the only way to
hinder his persistent obfuscation of the rules. Something that would make the
way that government is run, not simply a suggestion, enforceable only by way of
humility and public shaming, but legally adjudicative – because Trump does not
possess humility, or a capacity to feel shame. One thing that was a norm and would save us all a
headache on a daily basis, would be to make it a law that the President, being
privy to sensitive information, would not be allowed to participate on social
media while holding office. It’s not much, but it would at least make a lot of
people feel better and likely postpone what is continuing to look like a race toward a nuclear apocalypse, or whatever...