This piece first appeared in our weekly newsletter, The Fallout.

Well that was quick.

We’re not even a month into this presidential administration and it appears we’ve reached the disregarding court orders phase of authoritarianism entrenchment as Donald Trump’s regime tries to move forward with one blatantly-unconstitutional power grab after another.

Over the weekend Vice President JD Vance invoked the spirit of noted segregationist and former President Andrew Jackson by claiming on X that federal courts don’t actually have the ability to block presidential action no matter what you may have learned in your U.S. Government class. Then, on Monday, a federal court ruled the administration failed to comply with its order to release billions of dollars in federal money that Congress already appropriated. The Trump administration responded with more defiance. And honestly, with more than 40 lawsuits and counting challenging Trump actions so far, who knows how much this fight will have escalated by the time this newsletter is published.

The administration hasn’t been held in contempt of court just yet, but that’s a formality at this point.

“When it comes to constitutional principles and court orders to enforce them, what we need from the administration is compliance not defiance,” said Paul Gordon, who serves as senior legislative counsel at People For the American Way, in a statement to Rewire News Group.

“When it comes to authoritarianism, we’re past the ‘this could happen’ warning stage. It is happening. This is what it looks like,” he added. “Fair courts are essential to protecting our democracy. That is why authoritarians target them. Our freedom is on the line.”

Last week I noted that there is a direct line between the lawlessness underlying the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to the current administration’s constitutional power grab. It only took Elon Musk, JD Vance, and the rest of the Trump regime a matter of days to prove me right.