United States
Conflicts Among Oligarchs Intensifying
As the coup by U.S. oligarchs to remove any barriers to seizing federal funds and restructuring the state to further usurp power, and to remove any accountability for their impunity, is being consolidated, the fierce conflicts among them are also evident. As power is concentrated in even fewer hands economically and politically into the Office of the President, some lose out. The battle is ongoing, and the oligarchs must contend with the fact that the existing institutions with their means to sort out such conflicts short of open civil war no longer function. Elections, dividing up the budget among the contending forces, using Congress to make deals, dividing up Congressional committee spots as sources of power, all have failed.
One recent example was the fight within the Office of the President concerning who decides what federal workers do. President Donald Trump demanded, and Elon Musk promoted, that federal workers provide an email listing five things they had done in the past week or lose their jobs. Immediately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) refused. FBI Director Kash Patel wrote, "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures." The State Department, Pentagon and Homeland Security all made similar statements. Each asserted their authority over their workforce.
Patel is also now head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). While the FBI is independent of any other agency, the ATF, like the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is part of the Justice Department. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Secret Service and the Coast Guard are all part of Homeland Security.
In the civil war conditions that exist, control and command of the many federal policing agencies are critical. Part of this latest effort by Trump, which appears only directed at federal workers, is also to identify who will and will not submit among the various authorities. On this issue, so far at least, there is refusal and contention. Such control and dictate are also why Trump has ordered the FBI, ATF, and DEA to work with ICE in attacking, detaining, and deporting immigrant workers and families. He is working to establish his sole authority over these forces and put in place different norms and standards for their activities.
Trump is also going after the military, which not only has conflicts with the president but within its own forces -- Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and now Space Force -- which all contend with each other. The Navy and the military monopolies that back it, is the main one pushing for use of massive bombing raids in war, as occurred in the genocide of Gaza and Iraq for example.
On February 21, Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the head of the Navy, having previously fired the head of the Coast Guard. The open racism and chauvinism were evident in that the firings involve a Black man and two women. He also fired the top judge advocates general (JAG) for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
The JAG officers are the military's lawyers and legal experts, responsible for ensuring the Uniform Code of Military Justice is followed by commanders, a mechanism that is supposed to prevent war crimes. Given Trump is moving to illegally use the military inside the country, both sides of the border and conduct additional aggression against Mexico, Canada, Panama, Greenland, and more, JAG officials are seen as a barrier. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth openly said the firings were necessary because Trump did not want JAG to pose any "roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander in chief."
While Trump is acting to seize more control, the peoples are stepping up their struggles against war and increasing attacks on social programs, workers, and immigrant communities. Their demands are to not only abolish ICE but all these policing agencies, to close all U.S. military bases and demilitarize the border and cities across the country. Unity and united actions are growing stronger, and it is this collective organized resistance of the people that the oligarchs are most worried about.
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 2 - February 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/M550027.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca