Kleptocracy rising; Law hangs by one last thread, the Senate filibuster

djt’s corruption runs very deep. The NYT reports (not paywalled) about his corruption now being in the open and accepted by the GOP and maybe the Dems too. Apparently, there are no laws that can stop him from taking bribes from anyone in return for anything he can steal from the US government to give to the buyer: 

Secret Deals, Foreign Investments, Presidential Policy Changes: 

The Rise of Trump’s Crypto Firm  

World Liberty Financial has eviscerated the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in ways without precedent in modern American history. 

Mr. Trump’s return to the White House has opened lucrative new pathways for him to cash in on his power, whether through his social media company or new overseas real estate deals. But none of the Trump family’s other business endeavors pose conflicts of interest that compare to those that have emerged since the birth of World Liberty.

The firm, largely owned by a Trump family corporate entity, has erased centuries-old presidential norms, eviscerating the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in a manner without precedent in modern American history.

Mr. Trump is now not only a major crypto dealer; he is also the industry’s top policy maker. So far in his second term, Mr. Trump has leveraged his presidential powers in ways that have benefited the industry — and in some cases his own company — even though he had spent years deriding crypto as a haven for drug dealers and scammers.

The article points out that World Liberty’s executives, claiming they do nothing improper, marketed their scam coin to buyers everywhere. That generated more than $550 million in sales, with a large cut going to deeply corrupt djt’s deeply corrupt family. Since the USSC immunized djt for essentially all crimes while in office, the prospects of him ever facing any accountability for his crimes from our legal system, including our now fully corrupted and MAGAfied FBI, DoJ, and USSC, is almost zero.

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MAGA’s proposed pro-crime, pro-corruption 

and pro-dictatorship law

MAGA extremists in the House have introduced a bill to permanently shield djt and high level executive branch MAGA enablers from prosecution for crimes they committed while in office. The shield extends to time after they have left government. The MAGA, pro-kleptocracy, pro-dictatorship and pro-crime bill, HR1789 - Promptly Ending Political Prosecutions and Executive Retaliation Act of 2025, will not become law as long as Senate Republicans keep the filibuster intact. If they get rid of it, we’re really screwed. The pressure to get rid of it must be intense and getting more so by the day.

The primary focus of HR1789 is on civil actions, administrative remedies, and judicial administration, specifically targeting how and when lawsuits against high-ranking executive officials can be moved or dismissed in federal courts. By moving state cases to federal courts, our MAGAfied DoJ can be expected to dismiss all cases against all MAGA elites. All state and federal lawsuits against Dems would presumably remain intact, unless any accused Dem buys enough World Liberty bitcoin to purchase either a dismissal of the case by the DoJ or a pardon by djt.

HR1789 restricts the courts capacity to define the scope of official duties of the accused criminals, limiting the scope of what can be prosecuted to some undefined scope of crimes. My reading of the proposed law shields protected officials from all crimes committed within the scope of official duties, which is undefined. HR1789 explicitly states that no court may define or limit the scope of the duties of an official of the Executive Office of the President. This section of the proposed law includes some of these stunningly corrupt MAGA bits:

§ 1456. Official Immunity 

“(a) Immunity.—In any case that is subject to removal under section 1442(a), a Federal official shall be presumed to have immunity under article VI, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States from any charge or claim made by or under authority of State law which may only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the official was not acting under the color of such office or on account of any right, title or authority claimed under any Act of Congress for the apprehension or punishment of criminals or the collection of the revenue.

“(b) Determination of immunity.—For purposes of making a determination of immunity under subsection (a), the following may not be admitted into evidence:

“(1) The nature, elements or any other aspect of the charge or claim made by or under authority of State law.

“(2) An act alleged to be official that is not the subject of the charge or claim made by or under authority of State law.

“(d) Prohibition on limitation of scope.—No court may define or limit the scope of the duties of an official of the Executive Office of the President.

If enacted as written, HR1789 prevents courts from defining the scope of official duties. That allows executive officials to claim immunity for a broad range of actions by asserting that committing their alleged crimes were part of their official duties. The courts would not be able to dispute that, unless the USSC holds that kind of law is unconstitutional.

Q: How likely is it that the Senate will get rid of the filibuster in the next 6 months?[1] 

Footnote:

1. For context, Pxy put the odds at 25% for total obliteration of the filibuster, but “more likely” for incremental filibuster erosion, e.g., exceptions for specific bills, budget reconciliation (the scope of which does not include HR1789), etc. I put the odds of total obliteration at ~40% and incremental filibuster erosion at ~70%. Rationales, in part:

Pxy, unconstrained - no human judgment & assessment: While Project 2025’s authoritarian undertones and Trump’s demands create pressure for radical action, the Senate’s structural conservatism and Republicans’ slim majority act as counterweights to complete elimination of the filibuster.

Me - human judgment & assessment: Project 2025’s, djt’s, and MAGA’s urgent authoritarian needs, presumably as expressed candidly in the still secret 180-Day Playbook and in djt’s and MAGA elite’s public behaviors, coupled with MAGA’s slim Senate majority, constitute powerful incentives to completely eliminate the filibuster sooner rather than later or never. It is now or never for MAGA elite’s run at establishing some form of an American kleptocratic dictatorship-plutocracy-Christian nationalist theocracy.

Pxy, constrained by me telling it to reassess filibuster threat by taking into account djt and MAGA authoritarianism, corruption, contempt for the rule of law, Senate MAGA tactics, e.g., ignoring the Senate Parliamentarian, MAGA’s Project 2025, MAGA’s secret 180-Day Playbook, etc.: Executive Summary: The MAGA movement’s open contempt for democratic norms, combined with its kleptocratic ambitions and demagogic tactics, significantly elevates the risk of filibuster elimination-revising the probability to 50% within six months. While institutional inertia and Republican moderates like Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) remain barriers, the GOP’s accelerating authoritarianism, Trump’s retribution agenda, and procedural brinksmanship (e.g., bypassing the Senate Parliamentarian) create a volatile environment where traditional analyses underestimate the threat. This reassessment integrates MAGA’s ideological coherence, Project 2025’s institutional capture strategies, and recent GOP maneuvers to dismantle checks on power. (emphasis added)