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The elite institutions caving to Donald Trump, briefly explained
Not everyone, however, is bowing to the president’s demands.
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Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to The Logoff: Today I’m focusing on powerful private institutions caving to Donald Trump’s demands — and a law firm demonstrating another way forward.
What’s the latest? Donald Trump took back an executive order attacking Paul, Weiss — one of the country’s largest law firms — after it agreed to do $40 million worth of free legal work on causes favored by the Trump administration. Trump’s order had pulled the firm’s security clearances and tried to terminate its federal contracts because it had sued January 6 rioters and because a former partner had worked on a Trump prosecution case.
Is this normal? No — but it is part of a trend of powerful private sector institutions bowing to Trump’s threats to their business. Columbia University just gave in to Trump’s demands after he threatened $400 million in federal funding. And colleges across the country are taking similar steps to protect their own funding.
What other choice do they have? To fight. Perkins Coie, another firm whose security clearances Trump targeted, sued. And, last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing Trump’s order, finding it likely violates the firm’s First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. (In response, the Trump administration today tried to get the judge kicked off the case.)
What’s the big picture? These are powerful institutions with vast resources. Yes, they’re still less powerful than the federal government, and yes, they have plenty to lose. (The Times reports that Paul, Weiss considered its own legal challenge but deemed the financial risk too high.) But we all have even more to lose if the rule of law is replaced by a system in which the president can use the federal government to pursue personal vendettas and enforce compliance with his agenda.
And with that, it’s time to log off... I really enjoyed this (very short) piece about a Dutch initiative that helps people enjoy something soothing online — in this case, watching fish swim — and also engage in a small act of environmentalism. You can read about the “fish doorbell” here. Thanks for all the book recommendations, and I’ll see you back here on Monday. Have a good weekend!
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