The Trump administration and congress have pursued an agenda of extremely aggressive extremist measures in their first 6 months even though half the country is strongly opposed to most of their initiatives.
Party line politics has played an increasingly large role in the US legislature and executive branch. The unique nature of our two-party system often allows one party to control the presidency and both houses of congress even when the margins of victory are tiny. This has increasingly led to legislative and executive actions by one party that have no support at all by the other party, creating a thirst for retribution once the other party takes control and creating a whiplash effect in policy.
The last three presidential elections have been extremely close. In 2016 Clinton won the popular vote (48.2% to 46.1%) but lost to Trump in the electoral college (304-227). In 2020 Biden won the popular vote (51.3% to 46.9%) and the electoral college (306-232). In 2024 Trump won the popular vote (49.8% to 48.3%) and the electoral college (312-226). The previous elections saw more substantial victories, but the popular vote margins have rarely been more than a 10% difference (Reagan’s win over Mondale, Nixon’s win over McGovern, and Johnson’s win over Goldwater being the rare exceptions in the last 60 years).
The House of Representatives and Senate have traded hands over the last three elections with both houses being won by the president’s party in presidential election years and the House of Representatives changing hands in midterm elections. The margins in all of these elections have been small.
Given the obvious 50/50 nature of recent political affiliation, it would seem logical for both parties to work together to craft legislation that is a compromise of the views on both sides of the aisle. But instead, most legislation is passed with bitter party line votes and strong protests from the minority party.
This has reached a crescendo in the current political environment. Trump’s executive orders and autocratic rule have been rubber-stamped by a craven, fear-driven republican-controlled congress that has only a tiny majority but is able to operate as if it has a huge mandate. A supreme court stacked with three conservative justices that Trump was allowed to appoint under clearly fraudulent circumstances has yet to exert any braking effect and seems unwilling to challenge Trump’s authoritarian impulses.
An objective observer cannot help but judge the Trump regime’s first 6 months as the most extreme set of policies and executive actions that this nation has ever experienced. And the fact that Trump and his congress squeaked out wins in the last election makes this especially unwarranted and dangerous. We are careening toward a state of civic distrust and enmity that does not bode well for the future of our democracy or our sense of a common purpose.
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