By Serena Edwards
The Brooklyn College Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute hosted an event on Feb. 20 featuring New York Times (NYT) columnist Jamelle Bouie to discuss the state of democracy post-inauguration. Professor Anna Law introduced Bouie and touched upon his subject for the following discussion.
Bouie was a columnist for the NYT and a political correspondent for the publication “Slate”. Bouie is known for his pieces on history and politics; one of his notable works focuses on the 1619 project, entitled “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.” Bouie has received a film prize for opening analysis in journalism and was recognized in “Forbes 30 under 30 in Media” in 2015. He co-hosts the “Unclear and Present Danger” podcast, which covers the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers.
Bouie introduced his assessment by recognizing that it has only been a month since the inauguration, and yet so much has happened that needs to be unpacked.
“I realized that when I woke up this morning, it was the 20th, and I was giving this talk and it’s exactly one month since the inauguration, where it feels so much longer,” Bouie said. He continued by debriefing the executive orders that President Donald Trump has signed within just a month.
“Trump is inaugurated on January 20, and he then pardons the 1500 rioters for January 6, with his attempt to stay in power […] he issued an executive order stating that he has the right to fire and will and this is all for the first week,” Bouie explained.
He then delved more into Trump’s executive orders, some of which included ending gender-affirming care for all transgender Americans and taking control of the Department of Education. Bouie went in-depth on the executive orders that have taken a bigger hit on society as a whole.
“A more significant order was to freeze the entire operation of the federal government in order to root out what he says is illegal DEI of what reverse the diversity, equity, and inclusion these are our programs that violate civil rights and are unconstitutional discrimination against Americans,” Bouie explained.
Bouie then assessed the way that the new administration’s handling of certain plans thus far and what that may mean for the future.
“One way to look at all of this is to say that we have a president who is advancing a quite radical theory of executive power and doesn’t simply have broad discretion, but he’s something like the sovereign of the entire federal government,” stated Bouie.
Bouie also explained that the signing of these executive orders does not immediately put them into effect – they must still be approved by Congress. “People think Congress is a useless power at first, but bear with me. We’re gonna give some grace and benefit of the doubt to Congress would not really have much to do without the power of the first,” he stated.
Bouie pivoted to dismantling the concern surrounding Elon Musk and his influence on government figures. “Elon Musk is just some guy. Yes, he’s famous, yes, he’s a president’s big dog, but in a constitutional sense, he’s just a guy who’s there,” Bouie emphasized. Bouie continued to emphasize his dissent with Musk’s position in the Department of Government Efficiency, “Elon Musk is just a guy, who’s exercising incredible authority despite having no particular constitutional sanction,” stated Bouie.
Bouie talks about the statements that Trump had made about being king and what that means for us as US Citizens.
“It’s easy to dismiss stuff like that as being like jokes and why are you taking him so seriously […] once you’re announcing you’re unchecked by either the legislative or judicial government, then in a real sense you are claiming something like a royal prerogative,” said Bouie.
He urged us to take the actions and words of this new administration more seriously due to the changes we have seen this last month. “He does not believe that he can be legitimately checked by any other institution in the government and has unleashed the richest man in the world on the federal government to unilaterally change it to cut it as that person sees fit,” Bouie continued.
On the subject of the federal government, Bouie proceeded to question the lawmakers who hold office within the government. Bouie stated how uncertain the fate is for America as from the actions of other lawmakers.
“We’re already seeing Republican lawmakers to be at the very least begging Trump to not cut appropriations that they themselves passed. That’s wild to see if I’ll be perfectly honest.” He expressed how the acts of checks and balances have been torn apart. “You passed the appropriation, the law says that the president has to do it, the president said, ‘I don’t think so,’ and rather than exercising your constitutional authority to make the president do what you told the president to do, you go to them, you know, hat in hand, ‘please, Mr. President, can you give me your money back?’”
Bouie left the audience with advice on how to bring change and how to the outcome of the next four years around.
“I think there’s a real reluctance to engage in politics on a level but I would say that’s exactly what needs to happen,” Bouie stated, “we need to be making claims about what we think the Constitution means to us.”