A month into Donald Trump’s first term, the president’s then-political sage Steve Bannon coined a doctrine to explain the conservative wrecking ball now demolishing the US government: “the deconstruction of the administrative state.

In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.

President Donald Trump is testing the limits of his executive authority with statutes that grant him sweeping powers during a national emergency. On his first day back in office, Trump used the National Emergencies Act to deploy additional troops to the southern border and expedite new domestic energy production.