A President Before a Powerless Parliament - Trump’s Speech in a Country Under Strain

When Donald Trump stands before Congress on Tuesday, he will be speaking to a country that has visibly changed within a year. And he will be speaking to a legislature that still formally exists, but politically is increasingly just watching. One year after returning to office, Trump has pushed through an agenda that has shifted domestic priorities, strained foreign alliances, and put the balance between executive and legislative power to a severe test. Two Americans were shot and killed by federal agents during protests against immigration raids and mass deportations. At the same time, the president has created facts through a flood of orders that go far beyond traditional government policy. His fake news have become countless.

His largest legislative success so far is the sweeping Republican tax bill. It includes new savings accounts for newborns, tax free tips, and special deductions, combined with massive cuts to Medicaid and the food assistance program SNAP. More than 170 billion dollars were directed to the Department of Homeland Security to finance deportations. Yet much did not run through traditional legislation. Trump relied on direct pressure. He called lawmakers when votes were about to turn, and in other cases bypassed the laborious process of negotiations entirely. Hundreds of executive actions followed, many of them challenged in court.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Supreme Court decision on Trump’s tariff policy that in the American constitutional system it is difficult to regain power once it has been lost. Without judicial intervention, there is a risk of a permanent accumulation of power in the hands of a single man. It was a clear warning. In Congress itself, resistance remained selective. Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California jointly demanded the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files - against the resistance of the Republican leadership. The House voted, with support from some Republicans, against tariffs on Canada. The Senate introduced a resolution to prevent military steps in Venezuela without congressional consent, but withdrew after Trump intervened. All of these votes were politically visible, but with no realistic prospect of overriding a presidential veto.

On many other issues, Congress remained passive. Already approved funds for USAID and public broadcasting were rescinded. Military strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean, in which more than 148 people died, remained without parliamentary consequence. When Trump on his first day pardoned around 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, there was no open dissent from Republicans. One of the greatest historical stains of modern times.

Meanwhile, the state apparatus was restructured. Around 300,000 federal employees lost their jobs or were reassigned, while about 100,000 new hires were made, primarily in the homeland security sector. The Department of Government Efficiency created by Trump with the involvement of Elon Musk carried out waves of layoffs, and Republican lawmakers in Washington formed their own “DOGE” group to support that line. Democrats in the minority tried at least to attach conditions to the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in order to restrict immigration measures. But the majority margins remained narrow, and many initiatives failed.

Nancy Henderson Korpi from northern Minnesota, a retiree and participant in an Indivisible protest group, says she will watch the speech from home. What worries her is less the volume of politics than the role of Congress. “Congress has basically given up its power,” she says. Decisions can be corrected if the legislature does its job.

KNOWN “ANTI TRUMP” JUDICIAL ACTIVISTS

WANTED - Articles of impeachment drafted or in preparation - The yellow sticky notes each contain allegations such as “Blocks DOGE,” “Blocks immigration measures,” “Blocks NLRB,” and so on - references to which political measures the respective judges allegedly stopped.

Pressure is also growing within the judicial system. Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward speaks of a record number of lawsuits against the administration. More than 150 cases have been filed. At the same time, the White House publicly attacks judges, and Republican lawmakers post pictures of judges outside their offices whom they want to impeach. The next conflict is emerging with the SAVE America Act. The law requires birth certificates or passports for voter registration in federal elections and a photo ID on election day. The House has approved it. In the Senate, the required majority to overcome a Democratic blockade is lacking. Trump has already announced that, if necessary, he will act by executive measure.

Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, says the state of the Union is unraveling. Republicans such as House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, on the other hand, consider Trump the most consequential president of the modern era. When Trump speaks on Tuesday, the chamber will be full. But the real question is not which projects he announces. It is how much governing power Parliament still has - and how much of it it is willing to use.