The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 6, 2025

Brian is away today, so we’re rebroadcasting a report from last July, which is particularly apt for the shattering of the norms of the presidency we’ve witnessed in the first weeks of the Trump second term.

Anti-authoritarian feelings ran high in the years before and after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, as the Declaration’s litany of complaints against the King suggests.  So it’s unlikely the founding fathers would have supported expansion of Presidential powers, and absolute immunity for “official acts.”

The July 1st opinion from the so-called “originalist” members of the U.S. Supreme Court invokes Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Papers vision for a “vigorous” and “energetic” Executive.  Without that, “the President would be chilled from taking the “bold and unhesitating action” required of an independent Executive.”   But that’s not the whole story.

Three other prominent framers of the U.S. Constitution, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and George Mason, feared the opposite, and pushed for a multiple-person executive council to decentralize power.  Ultimately they compromised,  stipulating that the President  seek “advice and consent” from the Senate for appointments and treaties. 

Constitutional Convention delegate James Wilson said during debates on the Constitution,  “Sir, we have a responsibility in the person of our President; he cannot act improperly, and hide either his negligence or inattention; he cannot roll upon any other person the weight of his criminality. He continued, “Far from being above the laws, he is amenable to them in his private character as a citizen, and in his public character by impeachment.” 

We’ve linked those documents and to the text of the Declaration of Independence  at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
National Archives – Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
U.S. Supreme Court – Trump v. United States
Library of Congress – Constitutional Convention Debate Transcripts – James Wilson
Newsweek – The Founding Fathers Didn’t Think Donald Trump Should Get Immunity Either | Opinion
University of Virginia Miller Center – IMPEACHMENT IN THE 1780S – Speech of James Iredell, North Carolina advocate for ratifying the U.S. Constitution
The Hill – Ty Cobb: Founding Fathers would be ‘weeping and stunned’ over Trump guilty verdict
Salon – Historian says Trump lawyer “deliberatively misleading” SCOTUS: Ben Franklin “would be horrified”
Washington Post – (2017) The president was never intended to be the most powerful part of government
Robert J. Reinstein, American University Law Review – (2017) The Limits of Executive Power

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, International Refugee Assistance Project

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #July4th #FoundingFathers #IndependenceDay #PresidentialPowers #OfficialActs

The post Would the Founding Fathers Have Embraced Having Unfettered Power for the Presidency?  Not Likely. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 5, 2025

We reported last year that the Trump transition team had been funding itself through unknown private donations, and refused to sign a General Services Administration transition support memo which limited private donations to $5,000.  The memo was never signed, and the transition’s private donors still haven’t been disclosed.

Nonprofit news site NOTUS reports that previous transition teams disclose that information by February 19th, including for Biden and Trump’s first transition.   In November, Trump’s chief of staff promised to disclose those donors. 

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 allows money controlled by the GSA to fund Presidential transition expenses, including office space, personnel, IT, and other support services to aid incoming and outgoing administrations.   The GSA budgeted $21.6 million dollars this cycle, according to the Congressional Research Service.  That funding is contingent on the incoming administration signing a memo of understanding, and the Transition Act limits outside donations of $5,000. 

But while Trump’s team agreed on the terms of the new administration’s move into the White House, it refused to sign GSA’s transition support memo, allowing it to sidestep the limits and disclosure requirements.      

So between November 7th and January 20th, it’s likely millions were received from wealthy donors and corporations, and Americans still don’t know who funded its transfer of power, and the influence it bought.  We’ve linked the NOTUS report and GSA’s transition page at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Oversight – (****2016 – 1st Trump Administration) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AND DONALD J. TRUMP
U.S. General Services Administration – Transition Memoranda, Reports, and Key Documents
U.S. General Services Administration – Trump Vance 2025 Transition Team Ethics Plan
American Democracy Minute – (2024) The Presidential Transition Turns Into One Big Dark Money Special Interest Swamp
NPR – (2024)  With clock ticking, Trump transition is so far skipping background checks and briefings
NPR – (2024)  Trump team signs a key transition agreement with Biden White House
NOTUS – (Free w/registration) – Donald Trump Still Hasn’t Disclosed His Secret Transition Funders

Groups Taking Action:

Campaign Legal Center, Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (C.R.E.W), Public Citizen 

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #TrumpTransition #DarkMoney #Corruption #DonaldTrump 

The post The Deadline was Feb. 19 and the Trump Transition Team Still Hasn’t Disclosed Its Transition Donors appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 3, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

On February 18th, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order #14215, entitled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies.”  It claims Presidential authority over historically independent agencies – including the Federal Election Commission.

There are more than 50 agencies considered “independent” federal agencies,   constitutionally under the executive branch, but structured by Congress to be insulated from day-to-day Presidential control.  Three of those agencies play a critical part in federal elections:  The Federal Election Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Postal Service.   

The bipartisan FEC was formed after Watergate to oversee campaign finance and rules. While often hamstrung as a policing agency, the FEC does require disclosure of campaign spending and donors – including the president   

Donald Trump, his campaign, and billionaire donor and the head of the ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, faced dozens of complaints before and during the 2024 election.  Enforcement deadlocked along party lines – including the Stormy Daniels affair.  

February 28th, the Democratic National Committee and the Congressional and Senate campaign committees asked the DC Circuit Court to strike down the executive order, arguing it interferes with the FEC’s ability to enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act as Congress intended.  

Pro-democracy groups fear unchecked presidential authority could erode SOME oversight to NO oversight.  We’ll explore how the role of the Federal Communications Commission could also be hampered in our next report.

Find more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – Trump Attempts to Fire Federal Election Commission Chair ‘Effective Immediately.’  It’s Not Legal.
The American Presidency Project – Executive Order 14215—”Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies”
Democratic National Committee – DNC, DCCC & DSCC File Lawsuit Against Trump’s Illegal Executive Order Ending Free and Fair Elections
Politico – National Dems sue over Trump executive order they say could weaponize FEC
U.S. District Court for DC – Democratic National Committee, DCCC, DSCC v. Trump
USA Today – Trump-Elon Musk interview violated campaign finance regulations, Democratic PAC claims 
NPR – Trump wants more power over agencies. Experts worry about campaign finance regulators

Groups Taking Action

Brennan Center, Public Citizen, Common Cause

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FEC #FederalElectionCommission #ExecutiveOrder #DonaldTrump

The post Executive Order Asserting Presidential Authority Over Independent Agencies Could Put Federal Election Oversight Under Partisan Control appeared first on American Democracy Minute.