Whatever date given to mark America’s slide into authoritarianism has already passed. America, as an authoritarian regime, is no longer a hypothetical.

Using executive orders, President Donald J. Trump has instated sweeping tariffs, replaced or removed officials in independent organizations and deployed federal troops that were not authorized by local leaders. These are part of an active attempt to centralize power in the government and weaken the checks on the executive branch.

By instituting a slew of tariffs and clawing back previously allocated federal funds, Trump is attempting to remove the power of the purse from Congress.

The Supreme Court has fast-tracked a challenge against his tariffs and will hear oral arguments in early November. The purse should be one of Congress’ most tightly guarded powers, but the Republican majority has done little to stand in Trump’s way.

Republican senators have admitted to voting for funding cuts without even knowing what the cuts were for. The power of the purse is how Congress members provide for their communities and dictate to the executive what they can spend money on; it is what we as taxpayers expect Congress to control.

Trump has also carefully curated a cabinet that will do exactly what he wants. The Republicans in Congress are not only giving minimal resistance to Trump; in most cases they are helping him.

Republicans are “going nuclear” as they try to force nominees through the Senate using their slim majority. Nominees have always been approved by consensus, with generally unanimous votes.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Susan Monarez, was confirmed by the Senate just a month ago, but was promptly fired by Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy likely lacked the authority to do this because she was confirmed by the Senate and the firing undermined the Senate confirmation.

Following economic data that showed a market drop likely caused by tariffs, Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He claimed that the data was rigged to make him look bad.

He also fired the Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook, citing mortgage fraud. An appeals court recently ruled against him, saying there was no evidence of fraud by Cook and ordering her to be reinstated.

Trump’s firing of Cook is a part of a broader movement to attempt to control the Fed, an establishment that insists on its independence. Stephen Miran was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board by the Senate in a tight 48-47 vote.

He is Trump’s senior economic advisor and the first executive branch official to be on the central bank’s board since 1935. He will likely be in favor of interest rate cuts, something that Trump has been pestering Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, to do since being elected.

Powell has been hesitant to cut rates because of the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs. Interest rate cuts would spark growth, which would make Trump look good, but if coupled with growing inflation, could be extremely dangerous for the economy.

Trump has also frequently used force to display his power. He deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles against the wishes of the governor. He then deployed them in Washington, D.C., to stifle a crime wave he claimed existed, but in fact didn’t.

He has threatened Chicago, telling them they were about to figure out why the Department of Justice is now called the Department of War; he has now walked this back only days later, but says he still plans to send in the National Guard. He just signed off on sending the National Guard into Memphis, again against the wishes of local leadership.

The reach of Trump’s military endeavors extends beyond the US. He had two Venezuelan boats attacked in international waters, killing those on board. Trump said that in the video posted online of the most recent incident, there are “big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.” Neither of those are visible and Venezuelan gangs don’t produce fentanyl.

He has systematically instilled distrust in countless media outlets, federal agencies and threatened opposing politicians.

He is now looking at possible election changes after spreading misinformation about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He has recently started an effort to develop a massive database of voter data. He alleges it is to investigate claims that countless undocumented immigrants voted illegally, but this is unsubstantiated. The database could instead be used to sow distrust in future elections, something that has never been done before.

He has also spoken against mail-in voting and the use of digital voting machines. Paper ballots are less accurate and more expensive than digital machines.

Trump falsely claimed that the US is the only country to use mail-in voting and expressed his distaste for it since the 2020 election. It is predominantly Democrats who use vote-by-mail, but Trump has encouraged his supporters to utilize it in the past.

Very importantly, in Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution, states are given authority to decide the “Times, places, and manner of holding Elections.” Trump would be massively overstepping his authority by attempting to alter the ways in which elections are held.

All of what I have listed only skims the surface of his legal oversteps and expansions of executive power. While courts have resisted and attempted to block many of his changes, he has been able to get away with ignoring them several times. Dozens more cases are still waiting for decisions in courts.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has ruled against him occasionally, such as his attempt to remove birthright citizenship. But they also supported him in his firing of three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a five-member committee; he gave no reason for the firings.

They also recently ruled in favor of allowing ICE to stop and briefly detain people based solely on apparent race or ethnicity, fluency in English or accent, if they are located at certain locations such as farms or day laborer pickup sites and the type of work they do.

Congress has done next to nothing to stop him. The American political system relies on three branches that cling tightly to power. It expects the executive branch will try to expand its power and will be checked by the legislative. But the Republican majority in Congress has bent the knee to Trump and allowed executive orders to replace their powers.

We are no longer heading towards authoritarianism; we are living in it. Authoritarianism is the strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. We are seeing throughout the government that those who aren’t obedient to Trump face personal attacks from the president and jeopardize their jobs.

While I hold optimism that we will have a free and fair election in both 2026 and 2028, you can’t close your eyes to what is happening until it becomes obvious.

Looking at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rise to power exemplifies how important it is to recognize and stop authoritarianism before it is too late. Putin came to power in 2000 on an agenda of restoring law and order and restoring economic growth in Russia, very similar to Trump.

Over the course of a decade, he consolidated power and limited the power of regional leaders. He also arrested those in power who questioned him and used legal loopholes to stay in control beyond the two-term limit.

Crackdowns on free speech and press throughout the 2010s and a series of constitutional amendments in 2020 have now kept him in power for close to three decades.

Putin did not initially come to power with violence or immediately overthrow the government. He rose to power legally and slowly consolidated it, and over the course of two decades, he grew Russia into the dictatorship we know today.

An especially important aspect of Trump’s campaign and rise to power is his base of everyday Americans; this is the same for most authoritarian regimes.

A large wave of immigration at the start of Biden’s term put legitimate strain on many communities, including some in Massachusetts. Skyrocketing inflation at the start of his term, which I believe he still handled very well, but it put real stress on a great deal of households.

Trump took advantage of real issues and has used them to incite hate and fear throughout the country. Polling shows that Republicans were trusted on the most important issues by voters.

Trump is an existential threat to America and his success is indicative of deep issues within our country. Now is the time to accept your neighbors, no matter their background and to connect with your communities.

The rural Americans who have seen the jobs and wealth disappear from their community are not at fault for the state of the country. Neither is the trans person who is trying to live in a body they feel comfortable in. Nor is it the illegal immigrant who is trying to support their family and run away from a violent and dangerous situation.

Trump’s success relies on division, so defy him and accept those who differ from you politically and culturally. No matter how uncomfortable it makes you, the future of the country literally depends on it.

Ethan Walz can be reached at [email protected].