This Week in Democracy – Week 49: The Supreme Court Finally Hands Trump a Significant Loss
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Alien and Sedition Acts
11 min read
The article mentions deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act that were ruled illegal. This 1798 law has rarely been invoked and understanding its historical context and legal framework provides crucial background for the current immigration controversies.
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Insular Cases
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The Greenland annexation discussion and US territorial ambitions echo the legal framework established by the Insular Cases, which defined the constitutional relationship between the US and its territories. This provides historical context for understanding American expansionism.
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Inspector general
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The article references inspectors general seeing dramatic increases in whistleblower complaints. Understanding the role, independence, and powers of inspectors general in the US federal government helps readers grasp the significance of these oversight mechanisms.
More Epstein files – though still not all of them, as legally mandated. Another likely illegal strike on an alleged drug boat. And more turmoil at CBS News under “editor in chief” Bari Weiss. We’ve only documented the last four days, and ‘This Week in Democracy – Week 49’ is already one for the history books.
From the ongoing Epstein cover-up to ramping up tensions with Greenland to seizing Venezuelan oil tankers, Donald Trump and his cronies were busy yet again, harming democracy, hurting Americans and free societies worldwide, and undermining the Constitution.
There was unexpected good news, however: A Supreme Court that has let Trump get away with just about anything finally handed the president a major loss, ruling that, at least for now, he cannot send hundreds of National Guard members to Chicago over the objections of Illinois officials.
We’re sending ‘This Week in Democracy’ a bit early this week, so Team Zeteo can take some time away for the holidays. But we won’t stop documenting all the undemocratic things that Trump and his allies do while we’re away. We’ll include the days we missed in our first ‘This Week in Democracy’ in the new year.
Until then, here’s our last edition of 2025, a year that, when looking at the last 49 weeks, was quite possibly worse than we all could have imagined. It’s on the record:
Saturday, December 20
On Twitter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted footage of the US Coast Guard and the Defense Department apprehending an oil tanker she said was last docked in Venezuela. Noem noted that the US “will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region,” adding, “We will find you, and we will stop you.” In a statement, the Venezuelan government described the apprehension as theft and hijacking, and accused the US of forcibly disappearing the crew on board the tanker.
The Justice Department removed at least 16 Epstein-related files from its website, including a photo that showed an image of Trump alongside his wife, Melania, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. The DOJ later reposted the image after “further review.”
Sunday, December 21
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled a ‘60 Minutes’ segment on the
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