Dictatorship update: Federal agency collapse

Federal agencies are in full blown collapse. Yesterday, the USSC issued another shadow docket ruling that allows djt to illegally fire the three Democratic commissioners on the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Current law requires the president to show cause for firing, e.g., fraud or professional negligence. That agency is now completely powerless to do anything about unsafe consumer products, new or old. Other recent USSC shadow docket rulings that allow djt to illegally fire independent agency employees have stripped away protections from workers (National Labor Relations Board gutted), consumers (Consumer Finance Protection bureau gutted) and federal elections (Federal elections Commission gutted). Gutting of the FEC leaves federal election laws no longer enforceable. 

In a different line of attack on federal agencies, djt's pro-pollution MAGA elites will gut the Environmental Protection Agency by getting rid of its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The MAGA plan is simple. The EPA will rescind a 2009 declaration known as the “endangerment finding,” which scientifically established that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger human lives. Rejecting that science leaves the EPA powerless to deal with global warming. Some of fallout will affect auto and power plant emissions. For autos, the MAGA thugs behind this kleptocratic move argue that that imposing climate regulations on automakers poses the real harm to human health because it would lead to higher prices and reduced consumer choice. 

In addition to gutting EPA power to regulate, the MAGA thugs running the EPA plan to completely stop its climate science research and climate protection efforts. The agency is now charged with fostering carbon polluting activities and blocking green energy efforts, e.g., MAGA elites have blocked $20 billion in green energy spending. For the environment, MAGA’s overall strategy, which was laid out in Project 2025, is to (i) promote the use of fossil fuels, (ii) reduce or eliminate environmental regulations and green energy development, and (iii) stop federal climate research. MAGA will also eliminate air quality monitoring, particularly near industrial sites where it is most needed.

One can clearly see the authoritarian and kleptocratic goals of djt and his MAGA wealth and power political movement. Essentially all MAGA efforts are aimed at (1) deprotecting and disempowering major aspects of the public interest such as consumers, workers, the environment and government functions that protect all of that, and (2) transferring wealth and power from the public interest to wealthy and/or powerful individuals, groups or special interests that cooperate with elite MAGA players. We have a very corrupt pay-to-play system where cooperative special interests pay authoritarian MAGA elites, especially djt, for our wealth and power. 

In essence, djt and MAGA elites are selling us out piece by piece to the highest special interest bidders.

Qs: Is it reasonable to claim that what is happening mostly boils down to democracy and the public interest vs. kleptocracy and authoritarianism (a djt dictatorship with some oligarchy and Christian nationalist theocracy)? Or, do we need to see more evidence that djt and MAGA are authoritarian kleptocrats seeking power and wealth by generally opposing and taking power and wealth from the public interest and its federal protections?