What Happened
Executive Leverage Used to Coerce Concessions from Targets
The Trump administration has been accused of using a tactic called governance by shakedown, where it invokes a nominal legal predicate to activate discretionary executive authority, imposing harm or threats of harm on targets unless they grant concessions. This pattern is visible across policy domains, including cases involving universities, law firms, broadcasters, and foreign governments. The administration’s actions have been met with resistance and have often been found to be unlawful by federal courts, as reported by Lawfare.