The NYT reports about the DoJ (Department of Justice) being a key player in protecting elite MAGA corruption and criminality, while attacking political opposition and federal judges who decide cases the “wrong” way: “As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi Embraces Role of TV Messenger -- Attorney General Pam Bondi has adopted a conspicuously performative approach, willing to execute White House directives with little fuss. That Ms. Bondi, the nation’s top law enforcement official, would prioritize a case of importance primarily to conspiracy theorists [the Jeffrey Epstein situation] was telling. .... Ms. Bondi is still finding her footing, as evidenced by her setback with the Epstein files. But she sees her role as that of a surrogate, a faithful executor and high-volume messenger, compelled to cede ground to empowered players in the West Wing, and in her own building, who exercise significant authority that rivals her own, according to interviews with 20 current and former officials. .... If there is a script, it has come in the form of prescriptive executive orders and memos from the White House.”
As far as I can tell there are three main sources of MAGA’s authoritarian and kleptocratic power. One is djt and his often illegal EOs (executive orders), another is the MAGAfied USSC which has protected djt against crimes he commits while in office. The third is the DoJ under Bondi. Bondi openly defies court orders that djt dislikes, and she also stops DoJ investigations and prosecutions of crimes by MAGA elites and supporters, prominently including Elon Musk and some of the 1/6 coup attempt traitors who were subject to prosecution for crimes they committed after djt’s 1/6 coup attempt.
Assessing impacts on democracy so far:
Authoritarian consolidate is well underway
Overwhelming expert consensus (91%) says that the U.S. now meets criteria for an anocracy, i.e., a mixed authoritarian-democracy government. According to an electoral integrity index, the US score fell from 76/100 (2016) to 58/100 (2024), putting it below Romania and Panama. The Freedom House rating downgraded the US from 86/100 (2016) to 72/100 (2025). Anti-democracy problems like obstruction of justice and political prisoners dragged the US down. The V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index ranked the US below Argentina and Croatia, with warnings of “severe executive aggrandizement (dictatorship).”