Federalism is the core principle of the U.S. government. Trump is undermining it. - Velshi - MSNBC

[Rhiannon12866]

America is built upon the principle of federalism, a form of government in which power is balanced and responsibilities are shared between the states and the federal government.

The Trump administration, however, is increasingly undermining it by using the levers of the federal government to impose its ideology upon the states. “These efforts to try to insinuate federal control in areas where it’s not supposed to be operating is sort of breaking down this really important barrier that we have against a truly authoritarian government,” Vox Senior Correspondent Zack Beauchamp tells Ali Velshi. - Aired on 10/12/2025.

[Frasier Balzov]

1. To me, federalism is provincialism.

It dates from a time when it took weeks to travel.

If Trump destroys the principle, then let a future Democratic President use that transformation to bring greater uniformity to the country from coast to coast.

Such as with the issue of guns and ammunition.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. And the same thing is true of the outmoded Electoral College which made sense when it took weeks to travel

Which has, more than once, resulted in a "win" for a candidate not chosen by the majority of the American people.