Weaponizing "weaponizing"

One of Mr. Trump's first executive orders is titled "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government."  (Full text below the fold)

In that order, Mr. Trump complains that the Biden administration had engaged

in a systematic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions.

For the sake of this blog post, let's not dispute that claim. Let's assume it's generally accurate. With that assumption, what is Mr. Trump's solution?

[read below the fold to continue]

 

It's "to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community." To do that, he charges the Attorney General and Director of Intelligence to conduct investigations into past actions and submit reports to one of Mr. Trump's deputy chiefs of staff. That report would have "recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken to fulfill the purposes and policies of this order."

That's it in a nutshell. 

One of the problems, of course, is what the "remedial actions" are. This EO is probably the first salvo in a campaign to punish and perhaps prosecute those who worked for Mr. Biden. Whether and how that happens is what may be concerning. But we don't know quite yet. 

Another problem as with most of the EO's I've read so far, is that the form of the EO is pretty innocuous. It contains the provision that "Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect...the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof" and "This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations."

While I know, or at least feel safe in guessing, that Mr. Tump's goal is to push the envelope and sees what holds up in court, the form of what he does still ostensibly complies with what is legal. But what we need to watch out for isn't only the form.

It's also two other things. One is how practice shapes the form. By that I mean how the courts will reinterpret the law in response to his actions. If he does enough, at least some will stick. Even if the courts are hostile to what he does, they'll concede at least a few points. A second is what Mr. Trump will do when the courts rule against him, which they will at least some of the time. Will he comply?

I have complicated thoughts on everything I've seen so far in this administration. Those thoughts aren't well organized. But I thought I'd put them out here now.