Trump neuters the watchdogs

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Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

After spending much of his first term and all of his post-presidency under investigation, President-elect Trump is moving to ensure that doesn't happen again.

The big picture: The Department of Justice, FBI, Congressional committees and government watchdogs all launched probes into Trump's activities, paving the way for two impeachments and dozens of criminal charges.

• Now more familiar with the levers of power — and his own points of vulnerability — Trump is attempting to insulate himself.

Breaking it down: Trump and his allies have telegraphed unprecedented steps to put loyalists in roles that have historically been apolitical.

• FBI Director: Trump has signaled he will fire Christopher Wray, whose 10-year term would run into 2027.
• Trump sparked a firestorm in his first term by firing James Comey and replacing him with Wray.
• Firing Wray would be norm-smashing yet unsurprising, given Trump's antipathy for Wray and the bureau more generally, particularly after its raid on Mar-a-Lago to recover classified documents.
• Attorney general: The nomination of Pam Bondi, who represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, would put a close ally in a position that by tradition (though not always in practice) has a level of independence from the president.
• "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore," Trump said in announcing the pick.
• Trump castigated and eventually fired his first AG, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, and later fell out dramatically with his successor, Bill Barr, for not endorsing his claims of widespread election fraud.
• Special counsels: Jack Smith moved to dismiss his cases against Trump after the election and is likely to resign before Inauguration Day.
• In Trump 2.0, we're unlikely to see a repeat of the Mueller probe, with an autonomous team investigating the sitting president — though Trump last year floated the idea of a special counsel to investigate the Biden family.
• Inspectors general: Watchdogs for government agencies could also be on the chopping block, with Trump's allies calling for their removal, Politico reports.

• Project 2025 — which Trump disavowed on the campaign trail before naming some of its architects to his administration — calls for a much wider culling of career civil servants in favor of loyalists.

Between the lines: Conservatives now control all three branches of government, neutralizing many potential challenges to Trump at least until 2026.

• Congress: Republican majorities — albeit slim ones — could prevent a third impeachment, at least until after the midterms. Republicans will also control the committees that would oversee investigations into the president.
• Supreme Court: A 6-3 conservative bench, which has already granted Trump presidential immunity for official acts, could side with him for years to come.

What to watch: Trump's most consistent and reliable target, the media, stands weaker than ever due to declining trust and difficult economics.

• He has filed lawsuits against news organizations, threatened to revoke broadcast licenses and reportedly cited the discrediting of news media as part of his mission.

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