American democracy is built upon a delicate balance of power. The Constitution vests the executive power in one individual, the President – but surrounds that power with checks and balances via the legislative – the Congress consisting of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Judicial system consisting of the Federal and the State courts. Of late, the equilibrium has come under strain. Two developments – presidential immunity coupled with expansive pardon powers the president is vested with – raise troubling questions about whether a president might, in practice, wield unchecked authority with impunity. Can American democracy survive this convergence of quasi-sovereign presidential power?
Presidential Immunity
On July 1, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that presidents, both present and past, enjoy:
- Absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken under their core constitutional powers, such as directing the military, granting pardons, vetoing legislation, managing foreign affairs, and exercising immigration authority.
- Presumptive Immunity for actions that are considered “official acts” but are not the core constitutional powers. This means that criminal charges can be brough only if prosecutors can show that such legal action will not impair the executive branch’s ability to function – a very high threshold.
- No immunity for purely unofficial acts, that is, actions outside the scope of official duty.
Chief Justice Roberts argued this was to encourage presidents to make bold decisions “without fear of later prosecution.” That’s one way to look at it. Another way is that it is akin to providing presidents with a chainsaw while assuring them that the legal consequences of any accidents, no matter how serious, from their actions, will be taken care of.
Dissent and Concern
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson all dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision granting broad presidential immunity. Justice Sotomayor authored the main dissent, which both Kagan and Jackson joined fully. Sotomayor wrote: … ( https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf )
… “Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.”
… “Let’s say [the president] orders the Navy’s Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”
… “The President is entrusted with great power, but the Court now makes the President immune from punishment for the use of that power in ways that violate criminal law, so long as he claims to act officially. This is a risk to American democracy and the rule of law unprecedented in our history. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
Sotomayor’s dissent runs for dozens of pages and details the constitutional, legal, and historical arguments against granting a president such broad immunity, repeatedly returning to the central warning that the decision could empower presidents to act with lawless impunity, akin to a monarch.
Presidential Pardons
The power of the US President to pardon individuals is enshrined in the US Constitution.
This constitutional power allows the President to pardon or grant partial reprieves for federal criminal offenses already committed (not future crimes). It does not apply to state crimes or civil cases.
The Supreme Court has described this presidential power as “plenary” (full and complete) and not subject to Congressional or judicial restriction. The history of presidential pardons shows that on many occasions the power has been used in a manner that undermines the judicial system, and the rule of law.
Is Self-Pardon Possible?
During his presidency, Trump mused publicly about his self-pardon power, prompting media and legal commentary.
In 1974, during the Watergate crisis, a Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo opined that a president cannot pardon himself, citing the principle that “no one may be a judge in his own case.” The memo, however, is not legally binding.
Legal scholars widely argue against self-pardons, citing issues of self-judging and conflict of interest. Many underscore that the Constitution doesn’t support it. The Supreme Court, however, is yet to rule on whether self-pardons are constitutionally valid.
This question however becomes irrelevant in view of the immunity from prosecution that has now been granted to all presidents!
Assaults on Democracy
On August 19, 2025, Maggi Miller, wrote in the Politico: (https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/19/trump-and-putin-are-both-criticizing-mail-in-voting-election-officials-are-freaking-out-00515513?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
“The idea that an American president would look to Vladimir Putin for advice on how we should run our elections is beyond absurd,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and one of the lead lawmakers who investigated Russian interference efforts in the 2016 presidential election, said.”
“Undermining confidence in these systems doesn’t make us safer — it hands a gift to our adversaries who want nothing more than to weaken Americans’ faith in their own democracy,” he added.”
On August 22, 2025, Steven Greenhouse wrote in The Guardian: (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/22/trump-philosophy-authoritarian-government?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
“Americans have long glorified their constitution and the rule of law. But Donald Trump’s volatile and vindictive presidency has increasingly replaced that philosophy with something very different – call it “governing by shakedown”.
… “Congress and the supreme court need to wake up, step up and lay down the law. They must stop Trump’s rule by shakedown, which far too often involves capricious, vindictive dealmaking and ignores our legal rules and standards. Americans need to realize that Trump’s style of governance is dangerously eroding our rule of law and democracy.”
On August 23, 2025, David Rothkopf wrote in the Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/yes-it-is-a-police-state-and-yes-you-can-do-something/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
… “This past week has contained so many examples of steps the Trump Administration has taken to transform our government into a weapon designed to serve their grievances, hatreds and fears that it is hard for the casual observer to track them all. Indeed, after seven months, it is clear that approach is a central part of the regime’s strategy. Relentless infringements on rights, attacks on the law, restructuring of the government to attack rather than serve the people are perpetrated daily.”
On August 24, 2025, Nicholas Riccardi, wrote in an article for AP News: (https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-revenge-bolton-military-deployments-aa2b977621bce563770b60dade581f79)
… “In addition to making good on his promises of retribution, Trump has deployed the military into American cities to fight crime or help with immigration arrests. He has sent thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets in the nation’s capital, after activating the Guard and Marines in Los Angeles earlier this year.”
… “Trump began his second term by pardoning more than 1,500 people who were convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His Justice Department, meanwhile, has fired some federal prosecutors who had pursued those cases. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a grand jury to look into the origins of the investigation of his 2016 campaign’s ties with Russia, and Trump has called on her department to investigate former Democratic President Barack Obama.”
Collectively, the convergence of unchecked executive immunity and pardon powers, institutional breakdown, aggressive cultural and informational controls to supress pluralism and dissent, and aggressive consolidation of power in one individual, pose a serious threat to
American democracy.
Fighting for Democracy
Defending democracy will require legal renewal, judicial action, and civic energy. A few concrete (or in-principle) strategies to neutralize vulnerabilities are as follows:
Legislative Reforms
Congress could pass statutes clarifying that criminal accountability is not barred for actions violating constitutional rights – even if taken in office. Amend the Constitution to prohibit self-pardons, require independent review of pardons, or restrict pardons for certain crimes (such as corruption, rebellion). Legislate safeguards for agencies like the BLS and the Federal Reserve, including rules on dismissals and reporting integrity. These steps would require bipartisan agreement to put country ahead of party.
Judicial Pushback
Judges in the lower courts could narrow the scope of “official acts” by rigorous scrutiny to prevent immunity from covering wrongful conduct. Prosecutors can challenge imagined or expanding definitions of immunity in specific cases. These steps would require professionalism of a high order which overcomes the allegiance to the party that supported the appointments.
Electoral and Civic Action
American people should elect representatives committed to democratic norms and institutional integrity – irrespective of party affiliation. They should actively strengthen nonpartisan oversight, independent journalism, and support protection for career bureaucrats targeted by partisan attacks, to counter executive distortions. This would require people to understand what is at stake and think beyond what may be conveyed by propaganda favorable to the extant regime.
In Conclusion
U.S. is far too important a country for the world to ignore. What happens in the U.S. will affect the rest of the world significantly. If U.S. were to accept autocratic, authoritarian leadership, then the will of the people will be subverted in democracies around the world. The next few years are critical for the world as democracy unravels in the U.S.
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