Democracy-Erosion

Trump Issues 202 Executive Orders with Two-Thirds Matching Project 2025 Blueprint

| Importance: 10/10

By August 7, 2025, President Trump had signed 202 executive orders, with independent analyses confirming that approximately two-thirds mirror the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposals - an agenda Trump previously disavowed during his campaign. Key domains include civil rights …

Donald Trump Heritage Foundation Project 2025 Federal Register executive-orders project-2025 authoritarian-blueprint legislative-bypass democracy-erosion +1 more
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Freedom House Downgrades US Democracy Score to 83/100

| Importance: 8/10

Freedom House downgraded the United States democracy score from 94/100 to 83/100 between 2010-2021, the steepest decline among established democracies. The 11-point drop reflected systematic erosion of democratic norms including partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression laws in 33 states, …

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DeJoy Removes 711 Mail Sorting Machines During Mail-In Voting Surge

| Importance: 8/10

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, appointed despite lacking postal experience and having conflicts of interest with USPS competitors, removed 711 high-speed mail sorting machines capable of processing 21.4 million pieces per hour during the 2020 election mail voting surge. DeJoy also eliminated …

Louis DeJoy USPS Donald Trump Federal Courts election-interference voter-suppression institutional-capture mail-voting democracy-erosion
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Federalist Society Captures Federal Judiciary with $250M Dark Money

| Importance: 9/10

The Federalist Society, funded by $250 million in dark money from anonymous donors, orchestrated the most systematic judicial capture in U.S. history. Trump outsourced judicial selection to the Society, appointing 231 federal judges including 3 Supreme Court justices, all from their pre-approved …

Federalist Society Leonard Leo Donald Trump Judicial Crisis Network Mitch McConnell judicial-capture dark-money democracy-erosion institutional-capture rule-of-law
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Shelby County Decision Guts Voting Rights Act Preclearance

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court 5-4 decision with Thomas and Alito strikes down VRA Section 4(b), enabling voter suppression that benefits Republican donors who fund justices’ luxury lifestyles

Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito John Roberts Shelby County Alabama voting-rights judicial-capture democracy-erosion racial-justice electoral-manipulation +1 more
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Citizens United Ruling Enables Unlimited Corporate Political Spending

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court 5-4 decision with Thomas and Alito in majority allows unlimited corporate political spending, directly benefiting their billionaire donors Koch, Crow, and Singer

Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito Citizens United Federal Election Commission campaign-finance corporate-power judicial-capture dark-money democracy-erosion +1 more
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