Why Trump’s attack on democracy is as deep a Jewish concern as semitism or Israel
The president of the Shalom Hartman Institute says he is “horrified” by Jewish groups’ “wait and see” approach to the dismantling of the federal government
(JTA illustration)
(JTA) — American Jewish leaders have always insisted that when it comes to support for Israel and fighting antisemitism, we should stand united across partisan lines.
But when it comes to the assault on American democracy currently underway from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, no such unified response has materialized.
And I am horrified to see American Jewish institutions taking a “wait and see” approach to DOGE, as though we should only care about cuts to the programs and budget lines that have an immediate effect on our own communities. To see the federal government dismantled irresponsibly and capriciously is not just a threat to our values; it is a threat to our safety, and it needs to be confronted with the same ferocity as we fight for our community and against external threats.
Our safety as Jews in America has long been best ensured by the mechanisms of fair governance. We thrived in America not because we received special treatment, but because we benefited from equal treatment; and we have a glorious history of American Jewish activism for those values to be normalized for all Americans, and not just for ourselves. In contrast to most of Diasporic Jewish history, in which Jewish safety depended on the vicissitudes of the ruling class, American Jews leaned into the core principles of American democracy as vital instruments to keep us equal, protected, and safe among our fellow Americans. We even went so far as to integrate what we saw as American ideas and ideals into our Jewishness, such that our American Jewish values commitments to liberalism and pluralism reflect a deep synthesis between American Jewish interests and our understanding of what America was making possible for us.
Democracy protected Jews in America, if imperfectly, and Jews made it a hallmark of our Americanness to be advocates for democracy in return. And as we did this, we recognized that we were not merely fighting for ourselves. So too today, the fight by American Jews for American democracy is not merely for us Jews, but for all of us Americans.
The Trump administration’s assault on America’s federal bureaucracy is unprecedented in its scope and in its sloppiness. The idea of slimming the federal government is worth debating and has been on the agenda all throughout the rise and growth of the federal bureaucracy, and politicians across partisan lines have argued in favor of such an agenda and have put forth plans to do so. There is also no debate on the virtue of eliminating waste. In the past, as presidents and other politicians set out to make change on this front, they have done so through transparent legislative processes, most famously passing the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.
In contrast, the president has circumvented Congress by installing a private citizen in a cabinet-level role and giving him significant latitude and power over the DOGE process; he has made the goal of this process a mix of ideology, retribution against his political enemies and rewards for his cronies, and an alleged effort at government efficiency; and he has cancelled or clawed back funds that sit under the purview of congressional allocations, thus jeopardizing the separation of powers. It is a seizure of power with no apparent guardrails.
Healthy government is one of the institutions that maintains the fabric of democracy, by creating and fostering the sort of trust in our society that leads us commit to something larger to ourselves. In healthy government, the work of refinement and change should be boring. These processes should be conducted fairly, with transparency in the decision making, in partnership with politicians on the other side of the aisle and rooted in a commitment to ensuring the public trust. None of these values are currently on display, and the current array of illegalities and indignities is too long to list.
Accordingly, those of us that care about the larger American project — and not just about our side winning on this issue or that — should be at least as concerned by the process through which the president’s DOGE effort are sabotaging government as the choices that he is making. Winning a democratic election does not mean that you acquire absolute power. It requires ensuring the stability of fair systems and norms so that the democratic process and the infrastructure of governance outlives you. All of this is under threat right now.
If institutions are vital to functioning democracy, and if American Jews have relied on the health of our democracy to ensure our safety, we must reasonably conclude that this assault on our democracy is an assault on American Jewish safety. American Jewish safety is not only about managing our own interests. It is also about ensuring the fundamental stability of our country.
How then can we remain silent as foreign aid is unfairly and indiscriminately eviscerated, jeopardizing international public health and the trustworthiness of the United States around the world, and as federal prosecutors are forced out of their jobs for their unwillingness to comply with the administration’s cronyism? How can we remain silent as many, many American Jews who have committed their lives to public service in government — who chose these careers neither because they were lucrative, nor because they were power-hungry, but because they were noble, and because that choice was of a piece with what they understood was demanded of them as Americans — are losing their jobs overnight, with no regard for their wellbeing or their dignity?
Furthermore, what the Trump administration is doing could destroy public trust in government for generations and could incentivize only the most ideologically partisan and ruthless individuals to commit their careers to our collective betterment. As the son of a decorated longtime nonpartisan public servant, I shudder to think what will happen to the integrity of our government and our international standing when our best people are turned away from the work of public service.
American Jewish leaders are wise to be cautious about committing all their resources to one side of the political aisle and to be cautiously committed to trying to work with whatever government is in place. We are also wise to recognize the real vulnerabilities we face right now in the rise of antisemitism, which means we have certain self-interests that are different than other groups face.
But this moment requires us to advocate for ourselves and for our country with a clear and unified voice. The dismantling of the federal government, and the way that is being conducted, is a clear and present danger to the future of American Jewry. It is essential that we say so — and to unify as a community, educate, advocate, build allies, and build muscle to fight against it
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
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