Are democratic checks and balances breaking down?

单集文稿 ...

• 00:00

  Good morning.

• 00:05

  It's Friday, March 21st.

• 00:07

  I'm Shemitah Basu.

• 00:09

  This is Apple News Today.

• 00:10

  On today's show,

• 00:12

  growing concerns that our democratic norms are eroding

• 00:15

  what Trump's order to close the Department of Education actually means,

• 00:20

  and a big privacy breach in the JFK assassination papers.

• 00:33

  We begin with growing concerns

• 00:35

  that the checks and balances that define American democracy are breaking down.

• 00:40

  At least that's the warning coming from the Varieties of Democracy Project,

• 00:43

  which measures the health of democracies around the world.

• 00:46

  The head of that program warns that, quote,

• 00:49

  if it continues like this, democracy will not last another six months.

• 00:53

  His warnings come as President Trump's administration is taking actions

• 00:57

  that historically and constitutionally have been outside of the executive branch's power,

• 01:03

  like significantly shrinking or trying to eliminate agencies established by laws passed by Congress.

• 01:09

  The legality of some of those moves are being challenged in multiple lawsuits.

• 01:14

  But while normally the courts would adjudicate disagreements over what the Constitution allows,

• 01:19

  the Trump administration has flirted with ignoring court orders

• 全部文稿