The Great Grovel: Elite Institutions Cut Deals with Trump Administration

The Phenomenon of "The Great Grovel"

• 💡 An increasing number of elite institutions are cutting deals with the Trump administration to avoid potential retaliation.
• 🎯 This phenomenon, dubbed "The Great Grovel" by Politico, includes major Washington D.C. law firms, universities, and news organizations.
• 🔑 The administration is using executive orders and the threat of them to pressure these institutions into compliance.

Institutional Vulnerability to Executive Power

• 🧠 The ease with which institutions are yielding suggests they are more interwoven with the federal government than commonly realized.
• ⚠️ Institutions like Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown have been threatened with the withholding of federal funds.
• 📈 These universities are now negotiating to avoid losing crucial research and other forms of federal funding.

Law Firms and Pro Bono Deals

• 💰 Some prominent law firms have agreed to significant amounts of pro bono work for administration-favored causes, with one deal reportedly starting at $40 million and escalating.
• 🤝 The first firms to comply may have received a discounted rate, indicating a rush to "bend the knee."
• ⚖️ This trend raises questions about the future implications for legal practices and their relationship with political power.

Broader Implications for Power and Accountability

• 🧐 The aggressive use of presidential power by the Trump administration, and the institutions' response, highlights the expanding powers of the presidency.
• 🌍 These expanded powers, once established, could be wielded by future administrations, regardless of party, posing significant questions for the accountability of power.
• 📉 The article suggests that the increasing size and corporate nature of institutions, including law firms and news organizations, paradoxically leads to more perceived vulnerabilities rather than insulation.

Institutional Independence and Future Considerations

• ⚡ While some institutions are suing to resist these pressures, many are choosing to settle, prioritizing avoiding hassle over potential short-term losses.
• 🧩 The calculation for large corporations, like Disney owning ABC News, involves weighing minor settlements against larger economic interests.
• ⚠️ The long-term echo effects of these concessions and the potential for future administrations to leverage these precedents remain a critical concern.