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Undermining the Constitution: The US Administration's Attack on the Rule of Law

Undermining the Separation of Powers

The Separation of Powers

The Constitution created three co-equal branches of government to maintain a system of checks and balances on the power of each branch. The Trump Administration has regularly threatened this system by ignoring Congressional direction and judicial orders.


Violations by the Trump Administration

Administration Action Why does this violate the Constitution? Notes
Signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, despite this agency being established by Congress. It would take an act of Congress to eliminate the Department.
Deported a Rhode Island doctor with a valid visa despite a court order that she not be removed until a hearing be held. The Constitution does not allow the president to defy court orders.
On March 15, 2025, President Trump ordered the arrest and deportation of hundreds of people residing in the U.S., arguing that they were members of a violent Venezuelan gang. Before the planes carrying these deportees landed, a federal judge ordered that the planes be turned around because the Administration had failed to respect the individuals’ due process and provide a hearing. Government officials ignored these orders and allowed the planes to continue their flight. The Constitution does not allow the president to defy court orders.
Ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to update the national voter registration forms to include a proof of citizenship requirement. This is a governing body created by Congress and it is likely illegal for the president to give it orders or for the Commission to make the changes he is suggesting.
Ordered that the Department of Homeland Security rescind the Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants months earlier than Congress specified. The president cannot ignore laws passed by Congress.
Ordered the suspension of asylum access at the southern border. A federal judge halted the action, clarifying that there is nothing in statute or the Constitution that gives the president the “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum.”