The Senate passed what is called the “Big Beautiful Bill” — a baroque monstrosity of legislative sleight-of-hand that gives the sitting president powers that would make Richard Nixon sweat through his jowls. Nixon wanted to be king.
Trump, or whatever authoritarian mascot comes next, just got crowned by Congress.
They call it “streamlining.” Executive override of federal agencies, preemption of state investigations, even the ability to suspend regulatory enforcement “in the interest of national efficiency.”
The bill passed under the banner of “restoring order.” Order is what they always call it right before they toss democracy into the wood chipper.
And the Supreme Court – that black-robed chorus of constitutional necromancers? In a pair of rulings delivered with the smug precision of a guillotine, SCOTUS granted the executive branch something close to divine right — gutting the Chevron deference and crowning the president as the final interpreter of law. No more expert agencies. Just vibes. Presidential vibes.
This isn’t about parties anymore. This is about the architecture of American power cracking down the middle like a rotten dome. We’ve seen the slow, narcotic drift toward autocracy before, but this time it’s not a drift. It’s a stampede.
The headlines pretend normalcy. But, let’s call it what it is: the long con of a fading republic, shuffling off its constitutional coil while the politicians in charge wave flags, chant slogans and count the money.
But those of us paying attention know: the Big Beautiful Bill is just a curtain — and behind it is the beast.