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2476 - Constitutional Crisis Intensifies; How Weapons Sales Drive US Policy w/ Annelle Sheline - The Majority Report with Sam Seder | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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2476 - Constitutional Crisis Intensifies; How Weapons Sales Drive US Policy w/ Annelle Sheline

The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Tue Apr 15 2025

It's a Newsday Tuesday with Emma on the mic. She recaps the chilling spectacle that was the Bukele-Trump Oval Office meeting / press availability, including the Kafkaesque exchange over the wrongfully deported Maryland father Kilmar Armando Abrego...

Summary

The Majority Report with Sam Seder
Episode 2476: Constitutional Crisis Intensifies; How Weapons Sales Drive US Policy
Guest: Dr. Anel Sheline
Release Date: April 15, 2025

Overview

In Episode 2476 of The Majority Report with Sam Seder, host Sam Seder delves into a burgeoning constitutional crisis precipitated by former President Donald Trump's defiance of the Supreme Court. The episode features an in-depth conversation with Dr. Anel Sheline of the Quincy Institute, who explores the historical and contemporary implications of the U.S. military-industrial complex and its impact on human rights. The discussion navigates through the controversial deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, Trump's threatening remarks about American citizens, and the broader issue of U.S. weapons sales influencing foreign policy.

Constitutional Crisis and Deportation Incident

The episode opens with a critical examination of the recent deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father and sheet metal worker, to El Salvador. Dr. Sheline clarifies that Garcia's removal was not a routine deportation but a significant administrative error. Initially, immigration courts labeled Garcia as a member of MS-13 based on informant claims, leading to his bond being denied (09:31).

However, subsequent legal protections were granted, recognizing that Garcia posed no threat to U.S. national security. Despite these protections, the Trump administration proceeded with his deportation to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Seekot) in El Salvador—a facility characterized by overcrowding, torture, and high mortality rates (16:23). This action has ignited a constitutional crisis as Trump openly defies the Supreme Court's mandate to facilitate Garcia's release.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Anel Sheline emphasizes the severity of the situation:
“These are torturous conditions... Hundreds of deaths have been documented in Seekot since it opened at the start of 2023.”
(08:35)

Trump's Defiance of the Supreme Court

Trump's public statements during this incident have further exacerbated the crisis. In a heated exchange, he insinuated that American citizens could become targets, stating, “Homegrowns are next,” implying a willingness to send U.S. citizens to foreign gulags (10:02). This rhetoric aligns with authoritarian tactics, undermining democratic norms and instilling fear.

Notable Quote:
Trump responds to legal challenges by asserting:
“The Supreme Court said that the Trump administration needs to be facilitating Abrego Garcia's release... We expected El Salvador to abide by the terms of the ceasefire.”
(17:36)

Dr. Sheline critiques this stance, highlighting the lack of adherence to legal protections and the administration's disregard for human rights.

Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights

Dr. Anel Sheline provides a comprehensive analysis of how the U.S. military-industrial complex shapes foreign policy. She traces the origins of U.S. primacy to post-World War II military-industrialization, emphasizing that weapon sales often take precedence over human rights considerations. This trend has been perpetuated through legislative measures that ostensibly link arms sales to human rights but are frequently bypassed to maintain strategic alliances, particularly with nations like Israel.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Sheline discusses the historical context:
“The United States is the leading arms dealer of the world since 1950, and that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.”
(46:43)

She underscores the hypocrisy in U.S. foreign policy, where human rights abuses in allied countries are overlooked to sustain military and economic interests.

Discussion on the Military-Industrial Complex and Israel

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on U.S. military aid to Israel, highlighting its escalation as a tool for maintaining American primacy in the Middle East. Dr. Sheline critiques the bipartisan support for Israel, noting that despite clear legal frameworks aimed at curbing arms sales to regimes committing human rights violations, these laws are often ignored when it comes to key allies.

Notable Quote:
Analyzing military aid trends, Dr. Sheline states:
“The notion that Israel is the unsinkable aircraft carrier... is nonsense. The US has massive numbers of troops stationed around the region.”
(48:45)

Emma Vigeland further elaborates on the financial aspects, illustrating the staggering increase in military aid to Israel, especially post-October 7th attacks, and questions the strategic necessity behind such unwavering support.

Erosion of American Exceptionalism and Democratic Processes

Dr. Sheline argues that the erosion of American exceptionalism and undermining of democratic processes have enabled the prioritization of military-industrial interests over human rights. She links the contemporary administration's actions to a broader historical pattern of militarization and foreign policy manipulation, drawing parallels to past administrations like Nixon and Ford.

Notable Quote:
Dr. Sheline warns of the dangers ahead:
“This is the time to stand up and speak out again, whether it's about Palestine or just about the assault on our constitutional rights.”
(62:34)

She advocates for democratizing foreign policy and holding both right and left factions accountable to prevent further slides into authoritarianism.

Key Insights and Conclusions

Constitutional Overreach: The Trump administration's actions signify a troubling trend of presidential overreach, challenging the checks and balances inherent in the U.S. Constitution.
Human Rights at Risk: U.S. weapons sales, driven by the military-industrial complex, continue to supersede human rights considerations, fostering alliances with regimes that commit atrocities.
Decline of American Exceptionalism: The diminishing commitment to American exceptionalism and democratic values poses significant risks to both domestic freedoms and international standing.
Call to Action: Both host Emma Vigeland and guest Dr. Sheline emphasize the urgency for American citizens to actively engage in safeguarding democracy and holding foreign policy accountable to human rights standards.

Notable Quote:
Emma Vigeland encapsulates the episode's sentiment:
“This is what authoritarian governments do all over the world... Stand up and speak out again.”
(62:53)

Conclusion

Episode 2476 of The Majority Report with Sam Seder provides a critical examination of the interplay between constitutional crises and the U.S. military-industrial complex. Through thoughtful discourse with Dr. Anel Sheline, the episode exposes the systemic issues that allow the prioritization of weapons sales over human rights, urging listeners to recognize and combat these threats to democracy and ethical foreign policy.

Note: This summary excludes all advertisement segments, introductory remarks, and non-content discussions to focus solely on the substantive political analysis and conversations presented in the episode.

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Transcript

Emma Vigeland (0:00)

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Sam Cedar (2:31)

The Majority Report with Sam Cedar.

Emma Vigeland (2:37)

It is Tuesday, April 15, 2025. My name is Emma Vigeland and for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, Downtown Brooklyn, USA on the program today, Dr. Anel Sheiline of the Quincy Institute will be with us to talk about the US Military industrial complex, her paper on its history and how it relates to our claims about human rights. Also on the program, full blown constitutional crisis mode. Trump defies the Supreme Court on returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador's gulag and contradicts his own Department of Justice, which previously claimed that Garcia's deportation was a mistake. In that same meeting, Trump was caught on a hot mic telling Bukele that homegrown American citizens are next. Senator Van Hollen of Maryland demands a meeting with Bukele over Garcia's imprisonment and says he will go to El Salvador himself if Garcia is not returned. A Quinnipiac poll shows public opinion on Trump's immigration policies has shifted with a majority of Americans, including a majority of independents, independence now disapproving. So does that mean the Democrats will fight on something now because it's hit over 50%? Well, not Israel, but this is the popularism that the Biden administration was a fan of. Leading from behind is what I would call it. Harvard refuses Trump's demands to suppress anti genocide protests and refuse admissions to foreign students. So Trump cancels $2 billion in grants. But good on Harvard. MIT also followed. Another Columbia student, a Palestinian green card holder for a decade has been disappeared after showing up to his immigration hearing. Some rare good news. The Trump administration is re engaging with Iran on nuclear talks. I mean, we'll take that over some more bombings. Trump announces new tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. That could change after this sentence ends. A Koch brothers backed legal group representing a group of small businesses sues Trump over tariffs. Marjorie Taylor Greene got caught with her hand in the insider trading jar. She was one of the people that bought a bunch of stock right before Trump revoked the most insane of his tariffs. FEMA denies Washington state disaster relief for cyclone damage in November because Blue State Trump's billionaire donor Bill Ackman, the Zionist who funded doxing campaigns of students protesting genocide, donates to Andrew Cuomo's mayoral campaign. And on a related note, lastly, quarter mil. Wow. Cuomo's campaign was caught writing its housing policy platform with ChatGPT. Maybe Ackman's, you know, incredible wealth can can help them with some better, I don't know, workplace practices. Not using ChatGPT because housing's the number one issue in the city. All this and more on today's program. Gosh, really hoping that we can stave off Andrew Cuomo here. Hello, Matt. Hello Russ. It is Newsday Tuesday. Yesterday, we responded to this story as breaking news. This press conference with Salvadoran President Neil Bukele, who was visiting the Oval Office. But I wanted to do a deeper dive into, to start the show today because this is an enormously important story. There were two massive pieces of news to come out of that meeting. One is that Trump is openly defying the Supreme Court in a major constitutional crisis. The other was that Trump got caught on the hot mic saying that, quote, homegrowns are next to Bukele, insinuating that he is open to the idea of sending American citizens to a foreign gulag. Now, we'll get to that other incredibly horrifying statement, but let's tackle this first one here because it's really important that we get this right. Yesterday, I did make a mistake responding to the breaking news. Sometimes that happens. Seekot, I said, uses solitary confinement. Broadly. I said that yesterday. It doesn't. It's a tactic that is occasionally used in this gulag. Ckot, which is an acronym for Terrorism Confinement center in Spanish. It was built in 2022, opened in 2023, but it's a black hole prison. In fact, the conditions outside of the occasional use of solitary confinement are also just as torturous. They leave the lights on for 24 hours a day. You can't go outside. The prisoners can't communicate with relatives and lawyers. Go ahead, Matt.

Emma Vigeland (24:56)

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Dr. Anel Sheline (37:56)

Yeah, so I'm partly basing this on a former colleague here at Quincy who's now at Carnegie, Stephen Wertheim's excellent book called Tomorrow the world where as a historian, he traces this and kind of the aftermath of World War II, this decision, partly informed by the experience of the US economy going through sort of military industrialization to fight World War II and how that helped move the US economy out of the Great Depression and then the choice to sort of perpetuate that. And at the time, this was motivated by Cold War logics, you know, which as you mentioned later morphed and, you know, was reflected in McCarthyism and the sort of boogeyman of communism writ large. And as time went on, as you know, the military industrial complex grew to such an extent that you had people like President Eisenhower himself, a military, cautioning the American people about the influence of the defense industry, of kind of the ways in which this would help, this would drive our foreign policy. Then I go through the fact that in the 1970s, there was a huge expansion in the weapons production and weapons sales around the world, which corresponded to the fact that this was the first time that Congress actually said that. No, actually, human rights should be part of our consideration when we are establishing our foreign policy and linking weapons sales to human rights in the law. Unfortunately, that law has never been applied because that would undermine such a core aspect of how we conduct our foreign policy, which is often driven by military sales, by security assistance writ large, which includes weapons sales. So we have other law. I go through this in the report, the fact that there are other laws on the books, things like the Leahy laws, which would limit security assistance to a specific unit of a military that engages in gross human rights violations. You have 620i of the foreign Assistance act, which stipulates that if a country is blocking humanitarian aid, they're no longer eligible for security assistance. But all of these are kind of piecemeal below the broader law which says if a government has engaged in gross violations of human rights, they're no longer eligible for U.S. security assistance. And. And yet that, again, that law has never been applied because that undermine so much of how we conduct our foreign policy.

Dr. Anel Sheline (40:55)

Exactly. So, yeah, the timing is interesting. It came about kind of as the country was reacting to Nixon's imperial presidency and then Ford and the lack of accountability and the Vietnam War. And grappling with what it was that the United States had enabled, had pursued in Vietnam. But in particular, it was actually the public recognition or realization of the fact that the US Government had been involved in overthrowing Salvador Allende, Chile, and installing Pinochet as a brutal dictator that got a lot of attention. And it was in that context that you had activists, various groups pushing for this idea that then Congress did legislate that the United States should not sell weapons to a country engaged in gross violations of human rights. And this is why the human rights reports exist. And one thing that was ironic is while I was at the State Department working in the human rights office, a huge part of our time was putting together these human rights reports. There was never any acknowledgement of the idea that the reason Congress mandated these reports in the first place was to determine a country's eligibility for weapons sales. Instead, the reports were sort of seen as an end in and of themselves, that they're useful for NGOs, which is, you know, that. That may well be. But the original reason Congress required them had to do with weapon sales, and yet they've never been used for that purpose. So, you know, for me, as someone who had gone into State and was working on this, to then come out and look more into the history of it and to just develop a better understanding of what the law actually says here. I mean, in many ways, it's not that surprising. And maybe, you know, shifting to Israel, because Israel is such a glaring example of where we have actually relatively clear laws on the books that we simply ignore. But that's also the case for so many other countries. You think of US Support for Saudi Arabia or the UAE or Egypt. I mean, I focus on the Middle east, but obviously it's not limited to the Middle east, where the US Government is. Is happy to call out the human rights abuses of adversaries like Iran or Syria because we're not endangering weapons sales to those countries, but we are. The State Department or the US Government is much less interested in publicly calling out human rights abuses by the Israelis, by the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Egyptians, because a. That might necessitate legal measures and a shift in policy, but it's just. It's seen as not actually conducive to US national security because these partnerships are seen as more important, especially now in this context of great power competition, which was a leading motivator for the Biden administration. Arguably still for Trump, although under Trump, because he's all over the place, it's less coherent Sometimes hard to parse, but clearly, I mean, China is still a major concern for Trump as it was for Biden.

Dr. Anel Sheline (49:22)

Right, Right. And they're generally pretty open about, you know, this is what the Bible says. I mean, what's, what's wild? And I may have brought this up before because it's still just, I find it mind boggling is that even people like Bill Clinton stating these kinds of talking points, the idea that, well, God gave them this land and it's like, are we basing our foreign policy on biblical, on like the Bible? Like, is that really what you want? Because if we're going back to that, that is completely contradictory to our entire Constitution. You know, like, that is not what this country was set up to be. And so just the ways in which Israel is sort of this unconditional support, you know, that insane level of support that that graph shows, which again only goes up to October of last year and doesn't account for money sent since then. Including under the Biden administration. And credit to Stephen Semler for that excellent graph that we used that it's sort of justified by, like, well, this. This is necessary to our foreign policy, when really it's just a matter of domestic policy, which is somewhat similar to understanding the power of the military industrial complex or even, as you said, you know, weapons production or military defense production is such an important part of our economy. But in fact, it's not actually that big. It's just that they have a very powerful lobby. And so when you have these massive wars, the CEOs of these companies, the shareholders of these companies make. Make so much money, but they maintain this myth that this is a core, you know, this is core to America's, you know, labor. You know, if you support labor, you support American labor, you have to support weapons production, which is really not true. And in part just because when you actually break it down and look at things like, where is weapons production happening? These districts are more likely to deal with higher levels of poverty. These are not jobs that are kind of bringing people up by their bootstraps. And if you look dollar for dollar at something like, if the US Government invested in something like education or green energy or health care, dollar for dollar, as much as they sort of our industrial policy invests in the military industrial complex and supporting, you know, subsidizing weapons production, the outcome, like the return on investment would be so much higher for our economy as well as for these workers themselves. So, again, it's this sort of myth that the US has to continue to support Israel because it's necessary for our approach to the Middle east and our ability to sort of maintain our military footprint in the Middle east, which is nonsense. And this idea that the U.S. you know, that it's in our U.S. national interest to continue to provide, you know, now a trillion dollars a year to the DOD and defense contractors to manufacture these weapons because that's good for the American, like the American worker. Like, both of those are just. Are false. And so. And that kind of both of them are also still justified under this notion that without the United States, human rights would fall by the wayside. You know, it is the United States to hold other countries accountable for human rights or that it is up to US Military power without US Military primacy, you know, China and Russia would be in charge. And, you know, clearly they don't care about human rights. And just like, well, clearly our country doesn't care about human rights.

Dr. Anel Sheline (58:48)

Right, right, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. But backing up to your point about, like, the lack of democracy in US Foreign policy, I mean, this is, this is also a big part of what Quincy tries to do. We have a whole program called democratizing foreign policy, which is partly just about tracing the influence of dark money in our, you know, in Congress and in foreign policy decision making, you know, especially like foreign lobbies. But I do think that, I mean, for all that it has taken a genocide to get us here, which is appalling, I do think that people are waking up to some of this. And you think about the ways that for so long the Israel lobby, in cahoots with the defense lobby, were able to maintain this bipartisan, unconditional support for Israel and to maintain the censorship. Even someone like me studying, getting a PhD focused on the Middle East, I was warned away from studying Palestine because it was described as a career killer by a scholar who studied Palestine, who was able to do it and come through and have tenure on the other side. But it was like, it's just not worth it. And so the fact that they were able to maintain that for so long without kind of the coercion showing and that now they have to show, like what it is actually that maintains that censorship of support for Palestine and it is police brutality. It is deporting people who express solidarity with Palestine. It is taking away funding, defunding universities that provide like Middle east studies program, you know, like professor, you know, people like Rosie Bashir at Harvard, who doesn't even study this stuff but has like lost her tenured job. Like, again, I'm an academic, so I'm especially alarmed by the assaults on universities and academic freedom, but also just the assaults on freedom of speech writ large or the millions of dollars poured into the primaries to oust Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush from Congress and that Democrats didn't speak up for them is just appalling. But I do think that because they are losing the narrative and because actually at this point, the pro Palestine side has the numbers, but they are intimidating people. The Trump administration is scaring people. People are understand, especially non citizens, are understandably unwilling to speak up, as maybe they used to be. And so I do think it is up to American citizens to speak up about this. And again, it's not just about Palestine. It's about free speech writ large because we know that it's just going to get worse. This is what authoritarian governments do all over the world. We know Trump is a bully, and if you stand up to a bully, he's less likely to come after you again. But if you show that, oh yeah, okay, I can be intimidated by this, it's just going to get worse. So, you know, I just, I hope that people are not losing hope because I do think that this is the time to stand up and speak out again, whether it's about Palestine or just about the assault on our constitutional rights, including the rights of non citizens. Like freedom of speech isn't limited to citizens. It's just, you know, Congress shall not make a law abridging the freedom of speech.