Surviving Autocracy

by Masha Gessen

Magyar talks about capturing the institutions of the state, obliterating distinctions among branches of government, and packing the courts. In Trump’s case, the takeover of state institutions has consisted of two parts: using them for personal gain and handicapping their service to the public. Obliterating divisions among branches of government has taken the shape of subjugating the Republican Party. And packing the courts is packing the courts. By November 2019, Trump had set a record for the number of judges appointed. His appointees made up a quarter of all judges in the courts of appeal. He had flipped courts that could make key decisions connected to the impeachment process. And he had appointed two Supreme Court justices. Trump’s appointments are not just ideologically far right: antichoice, dismissive of civil rights protections, opposed to LGBT rights, and in favor of deregulation. Several are also notably inexperienced. Like only one other recent president, George W. Bush, Trump has chosen to bypass the American Bar Association’s vetting process. With time, his picks have become more ideologically extreme and less qualified—more and more reflective of the administration itself. Some of the confirmation hearings have constituted an attack on politics not dissimilar to a Trump rally or press conference: they make one ashamed to see and hear.