Center for Economic Policy Research: The Economic Consequences of the Second Trump Administration: A Preliminary Assessment, 2nd Edition 315 pages. See John Coates [Harvard Law School] chapter, The Rule of Law, begins on page 33 and includes an addendum on rule of law developments from April to September, starting at page 46.

…At the President’s direction, enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – passed in 1977 in the wake of Watergate and enforced since with bipartisan business support – was suspended for six months. The President directed all agencies to review all regulations and cease to enforce any deemed in their discretion contrary to ten court decisions, without normal administrative procedures, opportunities for public comment, or judicial review. While priorities vary with administrations, the US Constitution charges the president with an obligation to “take care” to enforce faithfully all valid laws. It is unprecedented to suspend wholly enforcement of specific and uncontestably valid laws – particularly those widely supported by both major political parties. Nor has any prior president engaged in sweeping deregulation based on executive officials’ views of the law, without compliance with regular process for changing regulations…More sweepingly, the new administration moved to reduce the autonomy of independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, among other agencies. The current administration took up the project with immediate attempts to terminate officials in violation of clear statutory “for cause” job protection.87 While many officials are still challenging the dismissals in multiple court cases, these efforts to reshape the boundary between the executive and the legislature would dramatically undermine the stability of federal policies of all kinds…