In Trump’s Second Year, Congress Weighs How to Reassert Its Power – The New York Times

Congressional Memo

A Diminished Congress Weighs Whether to Reassert Its Power

Lawmakers head into President Trump’s second year facing questions about whether they can reclaim congressional clout in the face of his power grab.

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By Carl Hulse, Reporting from Capitol Hill, Jan. 2, 2026

Congress learned some hard lessons about the limits of its power during the first year of the second Trump administration, when Republican leaders in both chambers largely declined to check a president unconstrained by law or custom.

President Trump barreled ahead with scant deference to the House and Senate. He abruptly changed the statutory name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, summarily withheld funds from congressional priorities, claimed broad tariff power that the Constitution invests in Congress, and launched military attacks off South America without authorization from the legislative branch.

Now, with midterm elections that will decide control of Congress less than a year off and with lawmakers hearing from anxious constituents about high prices and economic distress, Congress must decide whether to try to assert itself more and reclaim some of the power it has ceded to the president, or to continue to accept a shrinking role and diminished status.

“The president would be better off if the Republican House pushed back more,” said Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican who has sometimes opposed Mr. Trump’s policies and approach. “I think his tariff policy would be better. I think it would be better on Ukraine. I think we could push him in a much better direction if he was open to it.”

“But,” added Mr. Bacon, who has opted not to seek re-election, “if you feel like you have a bunch of lackeys that are going to do whatever you say, then he doesn’t feel constrained.”

With both chambers controlled by Republicans loyal to the president, pushback from Capitol Hill has been scattershot and largely ineffective, and oversight virtually nonexistent. Even when some Republicans have been stirred to join Democrats in raising objections to the administration’s legally questionable actions, lawmakers have struggled to get the White House to back off or reverse course.

The president has the ability to move expeditiously; Congress, not so much.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: In Trump’s Second Year, Congress Weighs How to Reassert Its Power – The New York Times

Speed-Running Tyranny: Did Hitler Really Take Germany in 36 Days? – A DWD BRIEF

Editor’s Note: For some historical context, I worked with Gemini 3 AI to explore an oft-quoted Hitler “fact.” See below for our findings. This was inspired by the speed of Trump’s facist and right-wing Republican/GOP takeover of American Democracy in his last and second term. –DrWeb

In the world of political commentary, a specific “fact” is often cited to illustrate the fragility of democracy: the claim that Adolf Hitler “took over” Germany, ascended to power, and began his era of aggression in a mere 36 days. Precision in these timelines is paramount.

While the speed of the Nazi movement was indeed terrifying, the “36-day” figure is a historical shorthand that requires a closer look at the archives.

The Research: Anatomy of a Takeover

The “36-day” claim typically focuses on the period between Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor and the immediate aftermath of the Reichstag Fire. Historians, however, view the “seizure of power” (Machtergreifung) as a more complex legislative window. Here is the breakdown of that critical timeline:

• January 30, 1933: Hitler is appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg. At this stage, he leads a coalition government and remains bound by constitutional law.
• February 27, 1933 (Day 28): The Reichstag building is set on fire.
• February 28, 1933 (Day 29): The Reichstag Fire Decree is signed, suspending civil liberties.
• March 5, 1933 (Day 34): Federal elections are held under a state of emergency. The Nazis win 44% of the vote—not a majority, but enough to exert control.
• March 23, 1933 (Day 52): The Enabling Act is passed, giving Hitler the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag.

Fact Check: True or False?

Claim: Hitler took over Germany and achieved absolute power in 36 days.
Verdict: MOSTLY FALSE / MISLEADING.

While Hitler moved with terrifying efficiency, the claim is misleading for three reasons. First, on Day 36, he was still legally bound by the authority of President Hindenburg.

Second, true dictatorial power was not cemented until Day 52 with the Enabling Act.

Finally, the process was not “finished” until August 1934, when the offices of President and Chancellor were merged upon Hindenburg’s death.

The Engine of Autocracy: The Reichstag Fire Decree

The true “turning point” within that first month was the Reichstag Fire Decree (February 28, 1933). Invoking Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, this decree served as the legal death warrant for German democracy. It suspended nearly all fundamental civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to assemble.

This decree allowed the Nazi-controlled state to arrest political opponents without charge and shuttered any press that dared to dissent. By the time the 36-day mark was reached, the infrastructure of the police state was already operational, turning the March 5 elections into a coerced formality rather than a democratic exercise. The “36 days” isn’t the story of a completed takeover, but the story of how quickly a legal system can be used to destroy itself.

Works Cited & Research Resources

• “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State (‘Reichstag Fire Decree’) (February 28, 1933).” German History in Documents and Images, German Historical Institute, 2025, View Document Archive.
• Evans, Richard J. The Coming of the Third Reich. Penguin Books, 2004.
• Fritzsche, Peter. Hitler’s First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich. Basic Books, 2020.
• “Hitler Comes to Power.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2025, View Encyclopedia Entry.
• Koonz, Claudia. The Nazi Conscience. Belknap Press, 2003.
• “The Reichstag Fire.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2025, View Historical Summary.
• Turner, Henry Ashby. Hitler’s Thirty Days to Power: January 1933. Addison-Wesley, 1996.

Related Posts:

• https://drwebdomain.blog/2025/02/19/analysis-of-historical-parallels-between-trump-supporters-and-nazi/
• https://drwebdomain.blog/2025/02/13/how-hitler-dismantled-a-democracy-in-53-days-the-atlantic/
• https://drwebdomain.blog/2025/02/19/historical-and-contemporary-analysis-of-authoritarian-power-grabs-lessons-from-hitlers-rise-and-modern-parallels/

Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth’s War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2) – Vanity Fair

DAY 289
November 4, 2025

The day I met Wiles at the White House was a watershed for Trump: Voters would choose governors in New Jersey and Virginia and a new mayor in New York City; they would also vote on Proposition 50, California governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to counter a brazen Republican gerrymander in Texas. Collectively, the contests were a referendum on Trump’s second presidency.

Click here read Part 1 of 2 from Vanity Fair’s portfolio of Trump’s inner circle.

Over lunch in her West Wing corner office, Wiles recounted the morning. Escorting Trump from the White House residence to the Oval Office, she gave the president her election predictions: “I’m on the hook because he thinks I’m a clairvoyant.” Wiles thought the GOP had a chance of electing the governor in New Jersey, but she knew they were in for a tough night. (It would prove to be a Republican disaster, with Democrats running the table on the marquee races, passing Proposition 50, and winning downballot elections in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Mississippi.)

Given voters’ anxiety about the cost of living, Wiles told me she thought Trump should pivot more often from world affairs to kitchen-table issues. “More talks about the domestic economy and less about Saudi Arabia is probably called for,” said Wiles. “They like peace in the world. But that’s not why he was elected.”

Not far from where we sat was a gaping hole where the East Wing had been until just days before. I asked her about the fierce criticism that followed its demolition to make way for Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom. “Were you surprised by it?”

“No,” Wiles replied. “Oh, no. And I think you’ll have to judge it by its totality because you only know a little bit of what he’s planning.”

Was she saying that Trump was planning more, as yet undisclosed renovations?

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“I’m not telling.”

T-MINUS 232 DAYS
June 2, 2024

“Would you declassify the Epstein files?” —Fox News’s Rachel Campos-Duffy
“Yeah….I think I would.” —Trump

For many of Trump’s followers, it’s an article of faith that the US government has long been run by an elite cabal of pedophiles. Less conspiratorially but no less seriously, others question whether politicians and powerful people either participated in or knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women, from his posh Manhattan town house to his private Caribbean islands. Perhaps most critical to Trump followers, though, is the fact that Trump indicated a willingness to release the files—and didn’t. As this article went to press, grand jury material from the Epstein records was due to be released in December.

What about accusing Letitia James of mortgage fraud?

“Well, that might be the one retribution,” Susie Wiles replied.

Wiles told me she underestimated the potency of the scandal: “Whether he was an American CIA asset, a Mossad asset, whether all these rich, important men went to that nasty island and did unforgivable things to young girls,” she said, “I mean, I kind of knew it, but it’s never anything I paid a bit of attention to.”

In February, Bondi gave binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a group of conservative social media influencers who were visiting the White House, including Liz Wheeler, Jessica Reed Kraus, Rogan O’Handley, and Chaya Raichik. The binders turned out to contain nothing but old information. “I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this,” Wiles said of Bondi. “First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.”

As Noah Shachtman reported in Vanity Fair, “dozens and dozens” of FBI agents at the New York field office were tasked with combing through the Epstein files. Many observers assumed they were looking for (and possibly redacting) Trump’s name. “I don’t know how many agents looked through things, but it was a lot,” said Wiles. “They were looking for 25 things, not one thing.”

Wiles told me she’d read what she calls “the Epstein file.” And, she said, “[Trump] is in the file. And we know he’s in the file. And he’s not in the file doing anything awful.” Wiles said that Trump “was on [Epstein’s] plane…he’s on the manifest. They were, you know, sort of young, single, whatever—I know it’s a passé word but sort of young, single playboys together.” (Trump started dating Melania Knauss, whom he married in 2005, sometime in 1998. Virginia Giuffre, Epstein’s most prominent accuser, who died by suicide earlier this year, first met Epstein while she was a Mar-a-Lago spa worker in 2000. Trump and Epstein reportedly had a falling out in 2004.)

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s infamous private island, Little St. James, “supposedly 28 times.” “There is no evidence” those visits happened, according to Wiles; as for whether there was anything incriminating about Clinton in the files, “The president was wrong about that.”

The people that really appreciated what a big deal this is are Kash [Patel] and [FBI deputy director] Dan Bongino,” she said. “Because they lived in that world. And the vice president, who’s been a conspiracy theorist for a decade…. For years, Kash has been saying, ‘Got to release the files, got to release the files.’ And he’s been saying that with a view of what he thought was in these files that turns out not to be right.”

In July, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general and Trump’s former lawyer, traveled to a Tallahassee, Florida, courthouse to interview Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021, she received a 20-year prison sentence. “It’s not typical, is it,” I asked Wiles, “to send the number two guy in the DOJ and the president’s former defense lawyer to interview a convicted sex trafficker?” According to Wiles, “It was [Blanche’s] suggestion.”

Wiles said that neither she nor Trump had been consulted about Maxwell’s transfer to a less restrictive facility after Blanche’s visit. “The president was ticked,” according to Wiles. “The president was mighty unhappy. I don’t know why they moved her. Neither does the president.” But, she said, “if that’s an important point, I can find out.” (At press time, Wiles said she still had not found out.)

“Sometimes he laments, ‘You know, gosh, I feel like we’re doing really well. I wish I could run again.’” Wiles said of Trump. “And then he immediately says, ‘Not really.”

What about the birthday greeting featuring a sketch of a nude woman, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, bore Trump’s name and was sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday? “That letter is not his,” Wiles said. “And nothing about it rings true to me, nor does it to people that have known the president a lot longer than I have. I can’t explain The Wall Street Journal, but we’re going to get some discovery because we sued them. So we’re going to find out.” Trump’s lawyers filed a $20 billion defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, which the defendants have asked a federal judge in Florida to dismiss.

So will the president sit for a deposition in that process?

“I mean, if he had to,” she said.

The Epstein files debacle poses a dire political threat to Trump and the future of the GOP. “The people that are inordinately interested in Epstein are the new members of the Trump coalition, the people that I think about all the time—because I want to make sure that they are not Trump voters, they’re Republican voters,” Wiles said. “It’s the Joe Rogan listeners. It’s the people that are sort of new to our world. It’s not the MAGA base.”

A senior White House official described the mindset of an overlapping bloc of voters who are angered by both Trump’s handling of the Epstein files and the war in Gaza. It’s as much as 5 percent of the vote and includes “union members, the podcast crowd, the young people, the young Black males. They are interested in Epstein. And they are the people that are disturbed that we are as cozy with Israel as we are.”

Vance keeps his eye on the voters. “It’s Epstein, Gaza, and the coziness with Israel,” said this White House source. “If you dive deeply into the internet, you’ll find things that say, ‘Well, why don’t we just put Bibi at the Resolute Desk?’ ” the source said, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Across our year of conversations, Wiles wanted to put an end to what she believes is a persistent myth, that Trump is a warmonger. To the contrary, Wiles says, the president genuinely cares about ending wars and saving human lives. “I cannot overstate how much his ongoing motivation is to stop the killing, which is not, I don’t think, where he was in his last term,” she said. “Not that he wanted to kill people necessarily, but stopping the killing wasn’t his first thought. It’s his first and last thought now.” Whether that thought is genuine or driven by his desire for a Nobel Peace Prize is, of course, open to debate.

DAY 213
August 20, 2025

“Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City.” —Reuters

In early October, Trump announced that his envoys had brokered a deal with mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to end two years of bloodshed in Gaza. The 20-point plan, calling for the disarmament of Hamas and the administering of Gaza by a multinational force, was far from a sure thing. But the ceasefire and the release of almost all the hostages (the remains of one are still missing) was a considerable achievement. During his triumphant appearance at Israel’s Knesset, Trump struck a bellicose tone, praising Netanyahu and the Israeli armed forces with no mention of the Palestinian civilian casualties. Trump had previously lauded Bibi’s efforts in another action by calling him a “war hero”—a remark partially aimed at Israelis. Talking about it then, Wiles winced. “I’m not sure he fully realizes,” she said, “that there’s an audience here that doesn’t love it.”

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth’s War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2) | Vanity Fair

Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2) – Vanity Fair

On the morning of November 4, 2025, an off-year Election Day, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was meeting in the Oval Office with the president and his top advisers, men she calls her “core team”: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff. The agenda was twofold: ending the congressional filibuster and forcing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power. As she related it later, President Donald Trump was holding forth on the filibuster when Wiles stood up and started for the door. Trump eyed her. “Is this an emergency, that you have to leave?” he demanded. It was nothing of the sort—but Wiles left Trump guessing. She replied: “It’s an emergency. It doesn’t involve you.” With that, according to Wiles, she departed the Oval.

Click here to read Part 2 of 2 from Vanity Fair’s portfolio of Trump’s inner circle.

Wiles, wearing dark pants and a plain black leather top, met me in her office with a smile and a handshake. Over sandwiches from the White House Mess, we talked about the challenges Trump faces. Throughout the past year, Wiles and I have spoken regularly about almost everything: the contents, and consequences, of the Epstein files; ICE’s brutal mass deportations; Elon Musk’s evisceration of USAID; the controversial deployment of the National Guard to US cities; the demolition of the East Wing; the lethal strikes on boats allegedly being piloted by drug smugglers—acts many have called war crimes; Trump’s physical and mental health; and whether he will defy the 22nd Amendment and try to stay on for a third term.

“I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch,” said Susie Wiles. “I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”

Most senior White House officials parse their words and speak only on background. But over many on-the-record conversations, Wiles answered almost every question I put to her.

We often spoke on Sundays after church. Wiles, an Episcopalian, calls herself “Catholic lite.” One time we spoke while she was doing her laundry in her Washington, DC, rental. Trump, she told me, “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vance’s conversion from Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte, she said, has been “sort of political.” The vice president, she added, has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.” Russell Vought, architect of the notorious Project 2025 and head of the Office of Management and Budget, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” When I asked her what she thought of Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, she replied: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” (She says she doesn’t have first-hand knowledge.)

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Wiles is the most powerful person in Trump’s White House other than the president himself; unlike any chief of staff before her, she is a woman.

“So many decisions of great consequence are being made on the whim of the president. And as far as I can tell, the only force that can direct or channel that whim is Susie,” a former Republican chief told me. “In most White Houses, the chief of staff is first among a bunch of equals. She may be first with no equals.”

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the world right now that could do the job that she’s doing,” Rubio told me. He called her bond with Trump “an earned trust.” Vance described Wiles’s approach to the chief’s job. “There is this idea that people have that I think was very common in the first administration,” he told me, “that their objective was to control the president or influence the president, or even manipulate the president because they had to in order to serve the national interest. Susie just takes the diametrically opposite viewpoint, which is that she’s a facilitator, that the American people have elected Donald Trump. And her job is to actually facilitate his vision and to make his vision come to life.”

It’s been a busy year. Trump and his team have expanded the limits of presidential power, unilaterally declared war on drug cartels, imposed tariffs according to whim, sealed the southern border, achieved a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and pressured NATO allies into increasing their defense spending.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2) | Vanity Fair

Trump Is Hosting CEOs in the Rose Garden. Elon Musk Won’t Be There.

On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump will dine with some of the most powerful business leaders in the…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #BlueOrigin #businessinsider #CEO #comment #ElonMusk #formerpresidentjoebiden #invitee #representative #request #RoseGarden #secondterm #Tesla #thursdayevening #Trump #UnitedStates #Us #USA #whitehousespokesperson
https://www.newsbeep.com/103696/

📉 Trump’s Approval Drops to 37% — Second-Term Low
A recent Gallup poll shows Trump’s job approval at just 37%, hitting new lows as support among independents tumbles to 29%. Republicans remain loyal at ~90%.
👉 Full story: https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/news/national-news/new-york/donald-trumps-approval-ratings-heres-what-recent-polls-say-3/
#TrumpApproval #Gallup #Polling #USPolitics #SecondTerm

https://www.fogolf.com/1011989/trumps-pace-of-early-travel-largely-mirrors-bidens-but-with-more-sports-events-and-golf-3/ Trump’s pace of early travel largely mirrors Biden’s, but with more sports events and golf #AmericaFirst #Biden #Donald #DonaldTrump #DonaldTrumpGolf #DonaldTrumpGolfing #events #Golf #SecondTerm #travel #trump #TrumpGolf #TrumpGolfing #WhiteHouse

#Presidential #historian foresees “#disastrous #end” for #DonaldTrump.

She said #GroverCleveland's #secondterm should be a #cautionary #tale.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/01/presidential-historian-foresees-disastrous-end-for-donald-trump/

What does Trump have in store for the world in his second term? History provides some clues
#DonaldTrump #SecondTerm #ElonMusk #DODG #USPolitics #GlobalPolitics #HistoricalAnalysis #Leadership #Presidency #ForeignPolicy #PoliticalHistory #Politics #World
https://the-14.com/what-does-trump-have-in-store-for-the-world-in-his-second-term-history-provides-some-clues/

@godpod Flags were at half staff for President Nixon’s second inauguration, following the death of President Truman. Remember how Nixon’s second term ended? An omen for Trump’s second term, perhaps?
#halfstaff #secondterm
https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/21/archives/nixon-inaugura-ted-for-his-second-term-sees-world-on-threshold-of-a.html

This pretty much nails it...

#SecondTower #SecondTerm

Will #BirthControl Be #Banned During #Trump's #SecondTerm? #Experts Explain #Future #Access

You don't need to get an #IUD just yet. (Unless you want to!)

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #Hategroups #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Discrimination #Misogyny #ThePartyOfHate

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a62842648/is-birth-control-going-to-be-banned/

What You Need to Know About #Trump's Extreme #AntiLGBTQ+ Agenda for a #SecondTerm --

#DonaldTrump defeated #KamalaHarris early Wednesday morning in a #presidentialelection defined by the #Republican candidates’ #antitrans, #antiimmigrant messaging.

https://www.them.us/story/donald-trump-jd-vance-president-vice-president-2024-election

#ConvictedFelon #DonaldTrump's #RevengeTour Goes #OffTheRails

Trump's #MadisonSquareGarden #rally featured #speeches laden with #untruths, #racist, #sexist and #vulgar #remarks, along with a #dark #vision for his #secondterm should he be #elected.

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-10-28/trumps-revenge-tour-goes-off-the-rails

Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been named the winner of Algeria’s presidential election, granting him a second-term

Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been named the winner of Algeria’s presidential election, granting him a second-term #Abdelmadjid #Tebboune #named #winner #Algerias #presidential #election #granting #secondterm

https://telecastindia.in/abdelmadjid-tebboune-has-been-named-the-winner-of-algerias-presidential-election-granting-him-a-second-term/

EU top jobs field narrows, von der Leyen set for second term
https://zurl.co/Vwk4

#EULeadership #VonDerLeyen #EUTopJobs #SecondTerm #EuropeanUnion
#Amaravati #AmaravatiToday #Amaravathi #WorldNews

I just received an email from BallotTrax: My ballot (for the California Presidential Primary Election) was received and counted. #voteblue #JoeBiden #secondterm

Biden’s top priority for a second term: restoring abortion rights

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/biden-priority-second-term-abortion-rights-00134204

#Biden #AbortionRights #SecondTerm #RestoringRights #ProChoice #Women'sRights #Politics #News

Damage Trump could bring
In a second term could be
Irreparable grief

#johnbolton #trump #secondterm #damage #haiku #poetry

https://www.msnbc.com/inside-with-jen-psaki/watch/john-bolton-damage-trump-could-do-in-a-second-term-may-be-irreparable-199887941811

'Donald Trump will never leave office voluntarily': Rep. Schiff on the threat of a second Trump term

https://www.msnbc.com/inside-with-jen-psaki/watch/-donald-trump-will-never-leave-office-voluntarily-rep-schiff-on-the-threat-of-a-second-trump-term-199373893594

#Trump #SecondTerm #Schiff #Threat #LeaveOffice #Voluntarily #Politics #News