In just 72 days, U.S. President Donald Trump has set the record for the most executive orders signed in a president’s first 100 days. Amid these changes to the federal government, over 50 Emory University community members gathered in the Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies Building on April 1 for a panel of five Emory political science professors discussing Trump’s second term. The Emory Department of Political Science, led by Department Chair and Professor of Political Science Michael Rich, organized the event.
This event is the first of a two-part panel entitled “Trump 2.0: Norms, Anomalies and the Future of American Democracy.” The panelists covered issues related to domestic policy and American political institutions. Associate Professor of Political Science Alexander Bolton, Professor of Political Science and Quantitative Theory and Methods John Patty, Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Staton and Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science and Director of Experiential Learning Matthew Baker joined Rich in the panel discussions.
The professors focused on the impacts of federal spending and tax cuts, precedents for Trump’s executive actions and limitations to his executive power. The next panel, “America and the World,” will be on April 8 at 4 p.m., focusing on this administration’s effect on foreign affairs.
Each panel member gave a 10-minute presentation about policy changes within the Trump administration. Assistant Professor of Political Science Kiela Crabtree moderated the event, which concluded with a 30-minute Q-and-A session with audience members’ questions. Baker, a former public defender, focused his presentation on the role of courts and their injunctive power to block executive branch actions. Injunctive power refers to the ability of courts to stop specific political actions.
“Any judge can issue an injunction that's binding on all courts, and then, as we know for the literature, that presidents also pick judges for this reason,” Baker said. “They want them to implement their preferred policies.”
The courts have used their injunctive power more during the first two months of Trump’s second term than in the entire term of some administrations. The injunctions have halted several orders, including an order to freeze broad swaths of federal funding.
Some panelists focused on the role of the Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, which have enabled the Trump administration to expand its executive power without legislative checks. Rich referenced the lack of interference from Congress on Trump’s orders, such as the reduction in funding for the National Institutes of Health. Emory receives nearly $500 million annually from the federal agency. The University has started experiencing financial consequences, such as a recent hiring freeze, reductions in operating expenditures and other cuts.
Staton explained the relationship between threats toward judges and policymakers signals weak democracy and the potential for regime collapse.
“It's basically that [the judiciary’s] primary function in terms of stabilizing democratic regimes, is incentivizing people in power to chill out, to slow down, to be prudent, incentivizing people out of power who can mobilize people onto the streets with weapons, to accept short term losses,” Staton said.
“The executive branch is even more empowered, in part because Congress is not serving as much of a check on that branch as much,” Baker said.
Jordan Antwi (23Ox, 25C) attended the panel and said that despite the discussion of current political instability, the panel also emphasized the importance of staying focused during periods of uncertainty.
“Even though it’s a very trying time, and it can draw our attention in several different directions, I think my main takeaway from the event was to focus on what really matters to you,” Antwi said.
Another attendee, Angel Sosa Llanos (26C), called Trump’s recent policy changes “a waiting game.”
“It seems like even the people who are more acquainted with all of these organizations and the different processes also understand its uncertainty, and we have to wait for it to play out,” Sosa Llanos said. “It’s only until then that we can make more rash judgments or come to conclusions.”
Yichi Zhang (22Ox, 24C) said people feel less comfortable discussing sensitive political topics since Trump took office
“People prefer to not discuss those topics these days, even as permanent residents, where previously, permanent residents certainly [could] be actively involved in politics, political discussions,” Zhang said. “It’s been changed under this administration."
Sosa Llanos urged the Emory administration and individual departments to continue to support the student body in light of recent changes.
“Whatever [colleges and universities] can do in order to help the students is probably the best course of action,” Sosa Llanos said.
Antwi said hosting the panels is an important step in promoting discourse on campus and keeping students informed on political changes.
“They need to hold more events like this,” Antwi said. “I would say holding more events like the one that was held here today would inform students about what is happening.”
