On Friday, the White House issued a presidential order on reducing the federal bureaucracy. It seeks to eliminate “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law…the non-statutory components and functions” of the following government agencies:

(i) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service;
(ii) the United States Agency for Global Media;
(iii) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution;
(iv) the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
(v) the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness;
(vi) the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and
(vii) the Minority Business Development Agency.

Without even looking up what each of these agencies specifically do, it’s easy to see that the fascist regime is picking on the homeless and taking away federal investment in minority businesses. To understand how radical this order is, though, it might pay to look at some of the other agencies that are affected. For example, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was created in 1996 in a bill written by Republican congressman Bill Young of Florida who won passage of the Library Services and Technology Act without objection in the House and a 84-15 vote in the Senate.

In other words, there was massive bipartisan support for the legislation which focused heavily on technological upgrades to the nation’s library systems in view of the emergence of the internet. As for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, take a look at their 2022-2026 mission plan which is now sitting in a rubbish can. The IMLS is (was) the largest source of federal funding for libraries in the nation and supports (supported) “a vast range of museums, including art, history, natural history, and children’s museums, zoos, science and technology centers, historic houses, nature centers, and botanical gardens.” But fascists do not support these things. Instead, they take control of the Kennedy Center and have their leader choose the selection of honorees. Last year, the Kennedy Center honored the Grateful Dead, but you won’t see anything like that happen again.

The attack on the United States Agency for Global media caused the Voice of America, which was set up to counter Nazi propaganda during World War Two, to put its 1,300 member staff on paid leave. The fascist regime claims the Voice of America is “anti-Trump” and “radical.” There is now no money to pay freelance workers and international contractors.

On Saturday another presidential order came down, and it invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportation of Venezuelans. The Brennan Center has an excellent explainer of the Alien Enemies Act, its troubling history, and the fascists’ designs to use it in a radical new way. It originated in 1798, at a time when the United States did not have any federal intelligence or law enforcement agencies. Today, we have hundreds of thousands of people employed by the government to protect the country’s national security. The law allows, during a time of declared war, the summary deportation of people based solely on their country of birth or citizenship. It also has a provision to do the same if a foreign government threatens or undertakes an “invasion” or “predatory incursion.”

Since the United States and Venezuela have not declared war on each other, the fascist regime is relying on the “invasion” and “predatory incursion” provision to justify the” immediate apprehension, detention, and removal [of] Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older.” Those apprehended will have no rights and no hearing.

It’s important to understand that the order is ostensibly aimed at a transnational Venezuelan criminal organization called Tren de Aragua (TdA). As a predicate for this order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on February 20, 2025, designated the TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, which is already a big stretch. The TdA is more properly understood as a violent and vicious gang that engages in human, drug and weapons trafficking, kidnapping, blackmail and other odious practices.

The order attempts to tie the TdA to the Nicolas Maduro administration by virtue of infiltration of the Venezuelan government’s “military and law enforcement apparatus.” It then accuses Maduro “who claims to act as Venezuela’s President” of directing TdA to conduct an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” of the United States. This provides the legal justification for invoking the Alien Enemies Act in peacetime.

The immediate problem with this action is that anyone of Venezuelan ancestry or citizenship can be accused of being a member of TdA and there is no provision for appeal. But the rationale of the action is also highly dubious and its legality was instantly challenged. When US District Judge James Boasberg learned on Saturday that two planes full of Venezuelans were destined for Honduras and El Salvador, he ruled that “any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.” That order was ignored.

[El Salvador’s President, Nayib] Bukele posted on X Sunday morning that the members of Tren de Aragua arrived in El Salvador and have been transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center “for a period of one year.” His post included a video of men being led off of busses in handcuffs and having their heads shaved.

It’s likely that the conservative Supreme Court will ultimately rely on the “political question doctrine” or just innate executive authority to back Trump’s actions here. In other words, however implausible they think it is to argue that the TdA is a terrorist organization or that it is acting at the direction of the Venezuelan government to invade or commit a “predatory incursion” of the country, they will probably defer to the administration on those matters. Even Judge Boasberg may come to that conclusion, although he stated that invocation of the act could be illegal as it has historically been “a power invoked in a time of war, and plainly only applies to warlike actions.” His intention was to prevent the deportations for 14 days until he can have a hearing. He cannot be pleased that his order wasn’t respected or that Attorney General Pam Bondi responded by saying he “had supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans” and put “the public and law enforcement at risk.”

Blowing off federal judicial orders is a major step for the fascist regime. But these things will continue and get worse until the fascist regime is defeated.