MAGA dreaming of greater power grabs
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Steve Bannon speaks at the National Conservatism conference on September 3. Photo: Dominic Gwinn/AFP via Getty Images
MAGA activists are urging President Trump to tear down the remaining guardrails on his authority, dreaming of bigger, faster power grabs than the sweeping changes already in motion.
Why it matters: Trump has spent his first eight months smashing norms — and crossing legal lines — in his dizzying pursuit of mass deportations, crime crackdowns, government purges and more.
- But in MAGA's maximalist mindset, it's not enough: The base sees a shrinking window for its revolution, with Trump term-limited and potential midterm losses looming next year.
- On every political front, the movement is pressing for more — now.
Zoom in: At this past week's National Conservatism Conference in Washington — a more cerebral counterweight to CPAC's red-meat theatrics — MAGA thinkers and influencers sketched out a blueprint for further consolidation of power.
- Agencies: White House budget chief Russ Vought said at "NatCon" that the Government Accountability Office — a watchdog that repeatedly has accused the Trump administration of violating federal law — shouldn't exist. Vought, an architect of "Project 2025," argued there should be no such thing as independent federal agencies.
- Redistricting: Steve Bannon, the MAGA thought leader, has called for GOP-led states beyond Texas to redraw their congressional maps to minimize Democratic districts, for Trump to redo the Census to exclude unauthorized immigrants, and for the Supreme Court to strike down the Voting Rights Act.
- Confirmations: Charlie Kirk and other activists have called for Senate Republicans to blow up "blue slips," the tradition of allowing senators to block U.S. attorney and district court nominees in their home state.
- Military: After Trump deployed the National Guard to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., MAGA activists urged him to send troops everywhere — regardless of whether governors consent.
- Judiciary: Activists argue that courts that issue rulings against Trump's agenda should be dissolved, and "rogue" judges prosecuted. Jan. 6 rioters who already received blanket commutations are demanding financial damages for what they call unfair prosecutions.
What they're saying: Some NatCon attendees framed the moment as an urgent call to accelerate Trump's agenda — especially on immigration.
- "I think it's great that the border is closed," said Philip Wohltorf, vice president of Boston University's College Republicans. "But I do think we still have a huge illegal immigrant population, which should be taken care of."
Others argued the maximalist push isn't a power grab at all, but simply a correction to the constitutional balance.
- "The president is the chief executive of the executive branch, and all of the executive branch serves at his pleasure," Ron Dodson, who runs a family office and hedge fund in Dallas, told Axios.
- "People think, 'Well, that's an imperial president.' No, it just forces the legislative branch to legislate, and the judicial branch is basically a third-party tiebreaker when there's a dispute," he added.
And Vought, echoing his Project 2025 blueprint, warned that the establishment would try to outlast Trump unless conservatives lock in structural change now.
- "Don't think that the minute the president is out of office … this town will not try to pivot back to the form of conservatism that I believe National Conservatism is a response to," Vought told the crowd.
Between the lines: The palpable urgency on display at NatCon reflects a movement that knows its window is short.
- Republicans on Capitol Hill are weighing a second sprawling reconciliation bill, even before voters have digested the massive one Trump signed in July — a sign of the pressure to deliver while they still control Congress.
- With midterms looming in 2026, MAGA activists see a narrow two-year runway to cement structural change before the map potentially tilts against them.
