History Repeats Itself—But With New Names
In 1933, Germany’s Reichstag—once the legislative heartbeat of the Weimar Republic—ceased to function as an independent governing body. With the passage of the Enabling Act, Adolf Hitler assumed unchecked power, and the Reichstag became little more than a stage for his speeches. Its members, rather than fulfilling their duty to legislate and hold the executive branch accountable, became instruments of a totalitarian state.
In 2024, the United States has not yet passed its own version of an Enabling Act, but it may not need one. The Republican Party, dominated by Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, is already showing signs of voluntary submission to an authoritarian leader. The GOP-controlled House and Senate, despite wielding legislative power, operate not as a check on Trump’s ambitions, but as an extension of his will. The collapse of a democracy does not require a single decisive law—it can happen through the slow, steady capitulation of those elected to defend it.
The Reichstag and the Republican Party: Parallel Paths to Powerlessness
When the Enabling Act passed in 1933, the Nazi regime systematically eliminated political opposition. The Communists were arrested en masse, the Social Democrats were forced into exile, and remaining lawmakers were either intimidated or coerced into submission. There are whispers and rumors of eerily similar actions now–as Republican legislators stay silent and vote against the interests of their constituents and democracy not out of loyalty to Trump or MAGA, but out of fear for their own lives and the lives of their families.
The Reichstag met only 19 times between 1933 and 1945, passing just seven laws—all dictated by Hitler. Compare this to the current state of the Republican-led House of Representatives. Since reclaiming control, the House has prioritized obstruction, partisan revenge investigations, and performative politics over governance.
Republican lawmakers who dare to challenge Trump face political exile—just as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger did when they stood against the January 6 insurrection. Those who remain fall in line, fearing the wrath of Trump’s base more than they fear the collapse of democracy.
The Reichstag became an empty institution under Hitler. The United States Congress today isn’t any different.
Eliminating Opposition: From Political Arrests to Political Exile
In Nazi Germany, opposition figures were not just removed from power—they were jailed, exiled, or executed. While America has not yet seen political prisoners on that scale, the Republican Party’s internal purges are undeniable.
- Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who served on the January 6th Committee, were ostracized and effectively removed from Republican politics.
- Former allies like Mike Pence and Chris Christie, once loyal to Trump, are now persona non grata for daring to challenge his narrative.
- Election officials and judges who ruled against Trump’s baseless fraud claims have been harassed and threatened.
- Trump and Musk, with the help of a cadre of authoritarian sycophants, are punishing anyone who is not a MAGA loyalist and purging the federal government of employees who will not bend the knee to a would-be tyrant.
This isn’t an exact parallel to Nazi Germany, but the underlying principle remains the same: opposition is not tolerated, and those who speak out are punished.
The Death of a Legislature: The GOP’s March Toward Irrelevance
With no opposition left, the Reichstag ceased to function. Today, with the Republican Party reshaped into an arm of the MAGA movement, Congress risks the same fate.
- The House, despite Republican control, is incapable of governing—spending more time on political spectacle than on passing meaningful legislation.
- GOP lawmakers routinely echo Trump’s rhetoric, even when it contradicts facts, legal rulings, or their own previous positions.
- Trump has openly declared that he wants to “terminate” parts of the Constitution that limit his power, yet Republicans refuse to condemn him.
A legislature that refuses to act as a check on executive power is no longer a legislature—it is a rubber stamp for autocracy.
Nuremberg and the Future Reckoning
After World War II, the Nuremberg Trials held Nazi officials accountable—including former Reichstag members who enabled Hitler’s rise. They claimed they were just following orders, just going along with the system—but history did not excuse them.
As Trump bulldozes American democracy, today’s Republican leaders–and maybe some of the elected Democrats–should expect to face a similar reckoning.
History will remember politicians like John Cornyn, Tommy Tuberville, Marjorie Taylor-Green, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and countless others as spineless enablers, too afraid or too ambitious to stand against an autocratic tide. And when the US version of the Nuremberg Trials comes, they will face the same fate as their Nazi dopplegangers–Göring, Hess, Frick, and the rest of the Reichstag members who were complicit.
The Final Warning
The collapse of democracy does not always require a single defining moment. The United States may never see its own Enabling Act because it may not need one.
A Congress that refuses to act, a political party that submits to a strongman, and a citizenry too distracted to resist—this is how democracy is suffocated.
We have already seen this playbook. We already know how this works out. Democracy will prevail and those enabling authoritarian fascism will be held accountable–even if they have to be hunted down decades later.
I just hope they all know that “I was just following orders” wasn’t a valid defense then, and it won’t be a valid defense now.
