Monkey Cage Topic Guide:

The Trump Administration, Bureaucratic Politics, and Expertise

Created: March 22, 2020

Last Updated: March 3, 2021

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January 2021 Crisis

• Jordan Tama, “Members of Congress want a commission to investigate the Capitol invasion. Here’s when these work,” January 19, 2021.
• Shariana Ferrer-Núñez, Melody Fonseca and Fernando Tormos-Aponte, “Why it’s so misleading to call the Capitol violence ‘Third World’,” January 16, 2021.
• Kimberley S. Johnson, “Today’s election denialism and violence has a dark echo in the Jim Crow South,” January 15, 2021.
• Corey Brettschneider and Jeffrey K. Tulis, “No, Trump can’t pardon himself or other insurrectionists. Impeachment would strip him of that power,” January 15, 2021.
• Daniel Byman, “The assault on the U.S. Capitol opens a new chapter in domestic terrorism,” January 15, 2021.
• Michael Tesler, “These 3 graphs explain why more House Republicans did not support impeachment,” January 14, 2021.
• Davin L. Phoenix, “The Capitol siege shows how White Americans can express anger that Black Americans cannot,” January 14, 2021.
• Corey Brettschneider and Jeffrey K. Tulis, “No, Trump can’t pardon himself or other insurrectionists. Impeachment would strip him of that power,” January 13, 2021.
• Alexander C. Furnas and Timothy M. LaPira, “Almost a quarter of influential Republicans deny Biden’s victory, survey says,” January 12, 2021.
• Lilliana Mason and Nathan P. Kalmoe, “What you need to know about how many Americans condone political violence — and why,” January 11, 2021.
• Joshua C. Wilson, “Look beyond Trump’s language to see the roots of recent political violence in the U.S.,” January 11, 2021.
• Sarah Binder, “A violent mob overran Congress. 3 takeaways for the weeks ahead,” January 11, 2021.
• Naunihal Singh, “Was the U.S. Capitol riot really a coup? Here’s why definitions matter,” January 9, 2021.
• Stephen C. Nemeth and Holley E. Hansen, “Three key factors that drive far-right political violence — and two that don’t,” January 9, 2021.
• Vipin Narang (interview with Elizabeth N. Saunders), “There is no legal way to stop Trump from ordering a nuclear strike if he wants to, expert says,” January 8, 2021.
• Joel Goldstein, “What you need to know about the 25th Amendment, Section 4,” January 8, 2021.
• Jim Golby and Carrie Lee, “The National Guard has been called out in Washington, D.C. Here’s what you need to know,” January 7, 2020.
• Sarah Binder, “What to expect when Congress counts the electoral college votes on Wednesday,” January 4, 2021.

The Trump Administration’s Response to COVID-19

See also the TMC topic guide on COVID-19

• Stephanie Ternullo, “Americans want to trust the experts on the coronavirus. That isn’t easy,” October 6, 2020.
• Andrew Rudalevige, “If a president becomes incapacitated, here’s what the Constitution says,” October 3, 2020.
• Andrew Rudalevige, “Trump’s latest executive actions have 3 big problems,” August 12, 2020.
• Sanford C. Gordon, and Dimitri Landa, “Why Trump and Fauci need each other,” March 26, 2020.
• Nicholas G. Napolio, “The CDC isn’t favoring Trump states with coronavirus spending,” March 19, 2020.
• Neil Malhotra, “Why isn’t the U.S. ready for a pandemic? For Politicians, investing in prevention doesn’t pay off,” March 12, 2020.
• Shane Markowitz, “Why Trump has received a much smaller approval bump than other world leaders during the pandemic,” April 8, 2020.
• Josh Pacewicz, “States lead the fight against covid-19. That means we all depend on Medicaid now,” April 8, 2020.
• David Ryan Miller, and Andrew Reeves, “If Trump took responsibility for coronavirus missteps, it might actually help him,” March 26, 2020.
• Michael Poznansky, “Apparently, Trump ignored early coronavirus warnings. This has consequences,” March 23, 2020.
• Andrew Rudalevige, “Trump declared two different kinds of emergencies for covid-19. There might soon be 52,” March 14, 2020.

Presidential Power and Congressional Oversight

• Saikrishna Prakash, “Only Congress has the authority to declare war. Can it take that power back from the presidency?,” October 2, 2020.
• Elizabeth Goitein, “How Congress is pushing back against Trump’s unprecedented use of emergency powers,” September 25, 2020.
• Liz Hempowicz and Anne Tindall, “Trump won’t cooperate with congressional oversight. Here are Congress’s options,” September 15, 2020.
• William Howell and Terry Moe, “How a stronger presidency could lead to more effective government,” September 14, 2020.

Expertise, Bureaucratic Politics, and Crises

• Michael Albertus, “Why Trump’s border wall failed,” February 17, 2021.
• Erica Chenoweth, Tommy Leung, Nathan Perkins, Jeremy Pressman and Jay Ulfelder, “The Trump years launched the biggest sustained protest movement in U.S. history. It’s not over,” February 8, 2021.
• David C. Nixon, “Some Trump officials are ‘burrowing’ into government jobs. What does that mean, exactly?,” January 6, 2021.
• Stephanie Ternullo, “Americans want to trust the experts on the coronavirus. That isn’t easy,” October 6, 2020.
• Henry Farrell (interview with Amy Zegart), “Trump’s top intelligence official is curtailing congressional briefings on foreign election interference,” September 1, 2020.
• Sanford C. Gordon, and Dimitri Landa, “Why Trump and Fauci need each other,” March 26, 2020.
• Neil Malhotra, “Why isn’t the U.S. ready for a pandemic? For politicians, investing in prevention doesn’t pay off,” March 12, 2020. 
• Kathryn Dunn Tenpas and James A. McCann, “Compared with recent presidents, Trump does not like to travel — except when he’s campaigning,” January 25, 2019. 
• Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, James A. McCann and Emily J. Charnock, “Trump makes fewer public trips than recent presidents. Will that hurt the Republicans in November?,” January 17, 2018. 
• Sarah Pralle, “Hurricane Harvey shows how floods don't pay attention to flood zone maps — or politicians,” September 7, 2017. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Eight questions about Donald Trump’s decision-making in a foreign policy crisis,” December 21, 2016. 

Staffing the Trump presidency:

See also TMC topic guide on Civil-Military Relations

• Andrew Rudalevige, “Will a new White House chief of staff matter? Not unless Trump wants change,” December 12, 2018. 
• Naunihal Singh, “Steven Bannon is wrong. The White House ‘resistance’ is the opposite of a coup,” September 11, 2018.
• Matthew Dickenson, “Why John Kelly struggles so much as Trump’s chief of staff,” March 6, 2018. 
• Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, “Trump set a record for White House staff turnover in the first year,” January 16, 2018. 
• Kathleen Doherty, “Trump could dramatically reshape the civil service, if he wanted to,” November 29, 2017. 
• Philip Rocco, “Most presidents rely on expertise. Trump treats experts like the enemy,” July 24, 2017. 
• David Lewis, “So far, Trump is really struggling as a chief executive,” April 27, 2017. 
• Andrew Rudalevige, “Trump wants to reorganize the executive branch. Good luck with that,” March 16, 2017. 
• David Lewis, “Why Donald Trump needs the ‘administrative state’ that Steve Bannon wants to destroy,” March 2, 2017. 
• Andrew Rudalevige, “The Cabinet was the easy part. Staffing (and steering) the bureaucracy takes much more work,” January 10, 2017. 
• Claire Annesley, “There are three rules of Cabinet appointments. Will Donald Trump break them?” November 26, 2016. 
• Josh McCrain, “What does Donald Trump need for a successful presidency? Bureaucrats,” originally published November 14, 2016, updated January 27, 2017.

Personnel and Foreign Policy during the Trump Administration:

• Manuel Reinert and Samuel M. Hickey, “Trump changed how the U.S. assigns the label ‘terrorist.’ Can the Biden administration change it back?,” February 12, 2021.
• Aparna Ravi and Emmanuel Teitelbaum, “The U.S. banned Xinjiang cotton imports because of forced labor. Textile workers face abuses in other countries, too,” February 10, 2021.
• Vipin Narang (interview with Elizabeth N. Saunders), “There is no legal way to stop Trump from ordering a nuclear strike if he wants to, expert says,” January 8, 2021.
• Rebecca Lissner, “Trump got it wrong at the U.N. America can’t counteract China without global institutions,” September 25, 2020.
• Brent Durbin, “Trump named a loyalist to head intelligence. Will Richard Grenell eliminate dissent?” February 24, 2020.  
• James Goldgeier and Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Republicans say that Trump’s quid pro quos were normal. Here’s why they’re wrong,” November 2, 2019. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Three reasons that Jim Mattis’s resignation is not just unusual — but startling,” December 21, 2018. 
• Jim Golby, “President Trump tapped Gen. Mark Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Here are 3 things to know,” December 12, 2018. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Sure, Trump’s advisers aren’t the first to push back against a president. But what’s happening now is completely unprecedented,” September 6, 2018. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Steve Bannon is on the National Security Council. That sends a big signal,” February 1, 2017. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Trump shifted gears on Afghanistan -- but what role do foreign policy advisers play? Here's what the research says,” originally published November 21, 2016, updated August 23, 2017. 
• Phil Potter and Tony Lucadamo, “When the White House changes hands, it is a dangerous time for foreign policy,” November 10, 2016. 
• Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Mitch McConnell thinks you don’t need experience to be president. Here’s why he’s wrong,” July 27, 2016.