Soft Secession vs. Soft Fascism: We Have Options
You don't have to settle for "wait until next election"
This is what soft fascism looks like. Here is a partial list of what the GOP and Trump administration have done since January 20, 2025. Finish it if you can, skim if you need to because the scope is an important starting point to weed out the “we are one or two elections from everything being fixed” crowd.
1. Invaded Venezuela and kidnapped their president.
2. Bombed Iran without congressional authorization.
3. Seized Congress’s power of the purse by refusing to spend appropriated funds.
4. Indicted James Comey, Letitia James, and John Bolton.
5. Dropped Eric Adams corruption case for political favors.
6. Opened investigation into Adam Schiff after Trump posted demanding it.
7. Masked agents grabbing people off streets in unmarked vehicles.
8. 3,000 daily arrest quota with punishment for missing targets.
9. Deporting American children, some mid-cancer treatment.
10. Crypto scam where family takes 75 percent.
11. $2 billion funneled through his stablecoin from UAE.
12. Selling billions in pardons.
13. Dissolved the DOJ units that would investigate him.
14. DOJ official said tell a judge “fuck you.”
15. Deported 238 people after judge ordered planes turned around.
16. Judge found probable cause for criminal contempt.
17. Secretary of State mocked court order on social media.
18. Fired 17 inspectors general in one night; judge ruled it illegal.
19. Unvetted 25-year-old got edit access to Treasury payment systems.
20. DOGE seized data on millions of Americans without warrants.
21. DOGE data exfiltration followed by Russian login attempts.
22. 43-day government shutdown, longest in history.
23. Sued all 15 federal judges in Maryland.
24. American Bar Association filed first-ever lawsuit against U.S. government.
25. Accepted $400 million jet from Qatar that transfers to him personally after leaving office.
26. Foreign aid cuts killed 360,000 people by July 2025.
27. Withdrew from WHO.
28. Froze new Ukraine military aid.
29. Deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles over governor’s objection; judge ruled it violated Posse Comitatus.
30. Federal takeover of DC police.
31. Schedule F stripped civil service protections from 50,000 workers.
32. Instituted loyalty tests for federal hiring and retention; told current employees they work for Trump, not the American public.
33. 317,000 federal workers gone through firings and buyouts.
34. Eliminated day-one ethics rules; eight nominees would have been banned under old rules.
35. Kash Patel fired FBI agents who investigated Trump.
36. Seven SDNY prosecutors resigned rather than drop Adams case.
37. 282 former federal officials unanimously said DOJ is “tool of retribution and reward.”
38. All five investigations into Musk’s companies terminated or frozen.
39. Pardoned roughly 1,500 January 6 terrorists.
40. Pardoned both men who pepper-sprayed Officer Sicknick, who died the next day.
41. January 6 participants now in government: Jared Wise, filmed shouting “Kill ‘em!” at police, at DOJ; Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney.
42. Executive orders attacking law firms for representing clients against him; four judges ruled unconstitutional.
43. Nine law firms paid nearly $1 billion in forced pro bono work to avoid being targeted.
44. $1 trillion cut from Medicaid over 10 years.
45. Medicare facing $536 billion in automatic cuts.
46. Fired 2,000 Interior staff including 1,000 National Park Service employees.
47. Pardoned Ross Ulbricht, eliminating $184 million owed to families of six overdose deaths.
V-Dem, the leading global democracy measurement institute, announced America is now an “electoral authoritarian state.”
49. Defied roughly a third of 160 court orders.
50. U.S. dropped to 57th in press freedom.
51. Sinclair Broadcasting reaches 40 percent of households.
52. 23 Fox News employees now in high-ranking administration positions.
53. Trump ally bought Dominion Voting Systems; now controls poll books and vote-counting in 27 states.
54. Oligarchs buying up media: CBS, TikTok, Washington Post editorial restrictions.
55. ICE hiring 10,000 new agents, more than doubling the force.
56. ICE now highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country, larger than FBI.
57. Training cut from five months to 47 days because Trump is the 47th president.
58. One-third of recruits fail a fitness test requiring 15 pushups; half fail an open-book law exam.
59. Recruits found with gang and white supremacist tattoos.
60. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that ICE can stop people based on appearance, language, and perceived job type.
Justice Sotomayor, dissenting: “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job.”
Every item on that list shares something. No one stopped them. Lower courts ruled against some of it. The Supreme Court bailed them out or the administration ignored the ruling. People with power to act told us to wait for the next election.
The founders built a system of separated powers. They assumed each branch would defend its own authority. They didn’t anticipate a scenario in which the legislative branch would pass laws stripping courts of enforcement power, the judicial branch would be captured and politicized by corrupt extremists, and the executive would control the apparatus of prosecution so completely that no federal consequence would follow. The founders didn’t anticipate this because they couldn’t imagine a political party captured so totally that it would abandon the constitutional structure rather than lose power.
We are living in that scenario.
The federal government has been captured. Captured institutions don’t reform themselves from within. The Department of Justice won’t prosecute the president. The FBI director works for him. The inspectors general who would have investigated were fired on the same night. The courts issue rulings that are treated as suggestions. The Supreme Court granted immunity for official acts so broad that ordering the military to assassinate a political rival might qualify if framed as protecting national security.
Every federal path to accountability has been closed. Not blocked. Closed.
This is where people give up. This is where the article would normally end with a paragraph about the importance of voting, the need to stay engaged, the hope that institutions will somehow reassert themselves. That is not this article.
The president cannot pardon state convictions.
That single sentence changes everything. Federal prosecutors answer to the Attorney General who answers to the president. But state attorneys general answer to their own governors and their own constitutions. A state prosecution for assault, kidnapping, civil rights violations, or corruption operates entirely outside federal control. The president can’t fire a state attorney general. The president can’t pardon someone convicted under state law. The president can’t order state charges dismissed.
Red states figured this out decades ago. They passed laws making federal gun regulations unenforceable by state officials. They created sanctuary policies for firearms the way blue states created sanctuary policies for immigrants. They used state power to resist federal priorities they opposed. They understood something we’ve been slow to learn: in a federal system, states aren’t subordinate administrative units waiting for permission from the federal government. States are sovereign governments with independent constitutional authority.
We need to use ours.
This is not full secession. Some people are talking about it, and honestly, fair enough. I’m glad they’re out there making the case. It fully should be on the table under the circumstances. The full secession folks also help show that soft secession is the most moderate option that can work. Think of it like taking a cop’s badge and gun. You’re not necessarily firing them forever. You’re de-escalating the immediate danger, protecting people from harm, and pressuring the system to fix itself. Some people call it federalism. The name matters less than the substance.
The framework requires three pillars.
Non-tax revenue. States that depend on federal dollars can be coerced. States that build independent revenue streams can’t. Public banking keeps interest payments circulating locally instead of flowing to Wall Street. Municipal broadband generates revenue while breaking monopolies. North Dakota’s state bank has been profitable every year since 1919. This is how you build a treasury they can’t threaten.
Interstate compacts. States acting alone get picked off. States acting together are a bloc. They filed over 140 multistate lawsuits during the first Trump term, winning roughly two-thirds. The infrastructure exists. It needs to be used for more than lawsuits.
Anti-corruption. State attorneys general can prosecute federal officials for crimes committed in their states. Assault. Kidnapping. Bribery. Civil rights violations. The president can’t fire a state AG. The president can’t dismiss state charges. The president can’t pardon state convictions.
Some of this is already happening. Washington State filed 97 lawsuits against the federal government during the first Trump term with a 95 percent win rate. California went further, building an entire parallel regulatory infrastructure: its own cap-and-trade program, vehicle emissions standards that 17 other states adopted, the largest state-run paid family leave program in the country. New York and Illinois took different approaches to the same problem, New York passing the TRUST Act to protect state tax returns from federal overreach while Illinois became a sanctuary state with legislation prohibiting local law enforcement from participating in warrantless abductions. Colorado created a public option for health insurance. Several states are now exploring public banking following North Dakota’s century-old model.
But it’s not enough. States are filing civil suits when they should be filing criminal charges. They’re building defense when they should be building independence. They’re treating the federal crisis as a temporary problem to be weathered rather than a structural collapse requiring new foundations.
That’s where we come in.
This isn’t a spectator situation. We don’t get to watch from the sidelines and hope someone else fixes it. The governors and attorneys general who have the power to act need to hear from us. They need to know that using their authority fully, including criminal prosecution of federal officials who commit crimes in their states, will be supported. They need to know that building independent revenue and safety net systems will be celebrated, not punished at the polls. They need to know that we understand what’s required and we’re ready.
Every state has a governor. Every state has an attorney general. Most have websites with contact forms. All have phone numbers. The ask is simple: Use your power. Prosecute federal officials who commit assault, kidnapping, or civil rights violations in your state. Build public revenue streams that don’t depend on federal funding. Expand state safety nets to catch the people federal cuts will drop. Demonstrate what good governance looks like.
Do the right thing. Always. Without exception or delay. That’s the standard we hold them to, and the standard we hold ourselves to.
There is no path out of this without conflict. When you challenge bullies, when you challenge authoritarians, when you assert any boundary, they escalate. Escalation is coming either way. It can be on our terms or theirs. They will use violence and threats, hook or crook, any means necessary. You will never win against tyrants by acquiescing.
States can protect us if they choose to. We have to make sure they choose to.
We don't need more courageous politicians, we need them to know we are watching and their career begins or ends with their readiness to follow the will of the people.
Be specific. Be loud. Be persistent. Invite others to do the same.
Wash, rinse, and repeat until you have oligarchs living in Alligator Alcatraz and a democracy for the rest of us.
TheExistentialistRepublic.com for Merch and the Intro to Soft Secession Booklet you can hand out in public or mail to your neighbors and representatives.
BuyMeACoffee.com/TheER for free activist training guides.
That list. OMG. If this was any other democracy, Trump would already be in jail. Thank you for writing this; it’s super important.
I've been very happy with the level of engagement I've seen from Maryland State Attorney General Brown, who is actively pushing back against illegal federal actions, filing lawsuits, and protecting the rights of Maryland citizens. I like the point about establishing a state bank -- I don't think Maryland has anything like that. I view the present moment as a fantastic opportunity for states to seize power and use it wisely, modeling appropriate governance.