Imagine, if you will, a Democrat is sworn in January 20, 2029, as our next president. It doesn’t matter who it is. Man or woman. Progressive or moderate. Just that he or she is a Democrat.
Will normalcy return to the Oval Office, or will an imperial presidency continue? Will we continue to be ruled by fiat or will representative government come back in vogue?
It’s too easy, too naive, to believe all will be returned to pre-Trump sanity, be it the Biden years of 2020-2024 or Obama time 2009-2016. For, in truth, Barack and Joe exercised many of the same repressive powers Donald has. They just wore velvet gloves that softened the blows. They were not in-your-face, my-way-IS-the-highway executives. At least not publicly.
But what one president usurps as a rightful power of the office, especially if it is confirmed by the Supreme Court, is not lightly relinquished by a successor, ceded back voluntarily or through acts of Congress.
Let’s be honest. To undo Trump’s assault on our democracy and system of government a Democratic president would have to take executive actions that would go well beyond pre-Trump norms. A third of the country, at least, believes in the unitary executive exemplified by Trump. They might not like a Democratic president’s actions but it would not be unexpected. Each step of the way back would be challenged in court.
But even before a new president will work overtime to erase Trump’s excesses, the current pox on democracy will have two more years to inflict damage on our country regardless who wins the midterm elections. Even if Democrats win both the House and Senate and initiate impeachment proceedings Trump will retain his power to destroy until a conviction is passed. And let’s not forget that removing Trump elevates JD Vance to the Oval office.
From a Democratic administration in 2029 we can expect loads of criminal investigations into actions by Trump and members of his team. Of course, prior to leaving office Trump will do what Biden did. He will issue blanket pardons to family members and all the hacks that carried out his priorities. Chief among them—Stephen Miller.
A Democratic president will issue executive order after executive order removing Trump’s name from any federal building. He or she will reverse Trump’s draconian measures that targeted immigrants, environmental laws, free trade policies, foreign relations, health care, education, and civil rights issues, to name just a few areas Trump has hollowed out America’s exceptionalism.
He or she won’t open up our borders but will sharply curtail ICE’s activities.
Perhaps most calming to our national mood, the next president will not govern by tweet. He or she will restore dignity to the White House, to our standing on the global stage. He or she will cultivate alliances with democracy-loving nations, and not cozy up to dictators in China, Russia, North Korea and their proxies.
As legal battles ensue, I don’t put it past a conservative majority Supreme Court reversing itself on executive branch powers if doing so would stymie a Democratic president. But I would like to believe those justices have some scruples and respect for precedent they themselves set.
Having no doubt traumatized you with my dark forecast let me remind you, our country is resilient. We survived a Civil War, two world wars sandwiching a Depression, the lasting heritage of racial discrimination, a Cold War, the Vietnam War, and Trump’s assault on our country. We can recover. We will recover. We must recover.
November 3 is the first step to recovery.
