Behind the apparent chaos, Trump transforms the US administration into a non-governmental organization, according to Josef Braml.
Those who measure the actions of the Trump team against established models of representative democracies are quick to assume that a government is stuck at the experimental level. However, it is a fallacy to conclude that Washington is being governed irrationally and without a coherent plan: Donald Trump has set out to minimize the influence of the state on the economy and people's lives.
This is why his supporters elected him as US president. This is why the business sector financially supported him. And this is why Trump could even be elected for a second term - even though currently high-ranking business leaders are distancing themselves from him and publicly condemning his moral ambivalence towards racist and anti-Semitic movements. Despite the reprehensible and erratic nature of the president's appearances, his mission of reducing the state is clear, and it resonates with the business sector and Republicans.
Assessing Trump's previous political measures under this strategic goal, they do make sense and show calculation. The budget proposal for the year 2018 was the first indication of the radical intentions of the Trump administration. The budget significantly cut various areas of state influence, including social welfare programs, environmental protection, foreign and development policy, as well as the administration's personnel budget. The only exceptions were the military and intelligence services. With his budget plan, Trump tackled what his chief strategist Stephen Bannon had announced as the "deconstruction of the administrative state."
Financial Drain
Opposing the financial weakening of established government structures was the creation of a kind of shadow cabinet made up of trusted White House staff: Embedded at the highest level in the workings of the ministries, these staff members are not, however, under the authority of the respective minister, but under the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Rick Dearborn. This move demotes ministers to mere assistants and continues the dismantling of the state: For example, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on whose moderating influence Western governments in the White House rely, does not even have the authority to appoint a deputy or other important personnel. On the other hand, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who learned his political craft as a hedge fund manager and political fundraiser at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, has more decision-making power. However, a prerequisite for this is that he ensures the already cautious regulations of the Obama administration in the financial sector are dismantled - a development that the now retired Stanley Fischer, Vice Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, described as "very dangerous."
In energy and environmental policy, Trump systematically pursues a strategy of deregulation and dismantling: The Department of Energy is now led by Rick Perry, the very man who wanted to abolish it as a presidential candidate. Previously, he served as the Governor of Texas; it was the oil industry that financed his appointment to this position. Scott Pruitt leads the Environmental Protection Agency. He too is a former lobbyist who, in collaboration with energy companies, had previously sued the agency he now leads multiple times to circumvent environmental regulations through legal means.
Trump's Allies in the Supreme Court
The Trump administration systematically advances its strategy of reducing the state's power in the judiciary, which is supposed to be an independent guardian and corrective of the executive branch according to democratic principles. The White House is gradually working on aligning the federal judiciary from the lowest level through the appellate courts to the highest authority, the "Supreme Court." The nine justices of this highest court are appointed by the president but must be approved by the legislature, specifically the Senate, before their lifetime appointment. The speed and effectiveness with which Donald Trump can act when it is important is demonstrated by Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court just eleven days after Trump's inauguration. Unlike his predecessor Obama, who struggled in vain for over a year to fill the vacant judge seat on the Supreme Court, Donald Trump pushed his candidate through using the so-called "nuclear option," bypassing the control mechanisms that were previously in place for votes in parliament. By securing an ally focused on dismantling the state at the top of the US judiciary, Trump has achieved his goal:
Except for his stance on abortion - crucial for Trump's potential re-election by his Christian-right base - the ultra-conservative Gorsuch is seen as an opponent of state intervention in the private and economic sphere. Budget and personnel policies, as well as judicial appointments in the Trump administration, are therefore not incoherent but consistently pursue the strategic course of reducing the state. This also applies to Trump's cooperation with the legislature: The power of the state is visibly diminishing with each political measure that drives up the national debt and thereby deprives potential future regulatory measures of the necessary resources. Trump also counts on the cooperation of his so-called party allies in Congress when it comes to cutting taxes. If his economic plans, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's "magic economics," are implemented, then - as in the 1980s - a noticeable increase in national debt can be expected. They are already spiraling out of control: Since the 2007/08 economic and financial crisis, they have doubled to currently 19 trillion dollars; this does not even include the debts of individual states and municipalities. The American state could soon become incapacitated - especially as demographic trends are expected to further strain social security funds in the near future. In a few years, the Baby Boomer generation will reach retirement age and additionally burden programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which provide healthcare for the socially disadvantaged and elderly and disabled. Like his predecessors, President Trump will avoid touching the often vital programs for older people; this active voting group is too important for him. However, without cuts in this area, according to the Congressional Budget Office's calculations, the debt will reach 86 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in ten years and 141 percent of the GDP by 2046 - a magnitude that even surpasses the peak of 106 percent reached during World War II.
Standstill for Future Governments
Already, the agency warns that the rising debt poses "substantial risks" to the country. A financial collapse that could paralyze the state's ability to act looms. Empty coffers mean a standstill for future governments: With his debt policy, Trump is also aligning the American state with the reduced role that lobbyists and their clients from the business sector assign to it. Tea Party activists are driven by the desire to make the state as small as possible so that it can be "drowned in the bathtub like a baby" - a frequently cited joke by Grover Norquist, strategist of the libertarian movement and head of the organization "Americans for Tax Reform." In his office in the heart of Washington, up to 150 officials from the legislative and executive branches, as well as representatives of interest groups and grassroots organizations, now meet weekly. Their recurring topic: tax policy. Norquist has already convinced a large majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate to publicly pledge not to agree to any tax increases in the future. Therefore, Trump's chaos has a system, and the dismantling policy of his government can indeed be seen as a choreographed whole. Those who hope, in the face of Trump's public ruptures with established political processes, that the administration will either "come to its senses" or be doomed to fail sooner or later, should not be deceived. The strategy of dismantling the state pursued by Trump and his supporters must be taken seriously - and it has consequences.
Speakers
