NY, Feb 6 : CNN has reported, that, a month into Donald Trump’s first term, the president’s then-political sage Steve Bannon coined a doctrine to explain the conservative wrecking ball now demolishing the US government: “the deconstruction of the administrative state.”

It took eight years, but the theory is becoming reality, and could portend a fateful reshaping of American governance under a mighty presidency that was never envisaged by the founders.  Trump and his merchant of chaos Elon Musk are pummeling federal agencies, targeting bureaucrats, clawing back spending approved by Congress, buckling the world order and busting trade pacts.

They are following a playbook developed by movement hardliners, dismayed at the missteps and lost focus of Trump’s first term, who are determined to use a potentially short window on power to forge irrevocable change.

Once again, Trump is raising questions at a velocity that leaves other branches of government, his opponents and voters struggling to grasp what’s happening and unable to resist.

Five key questions or trends are emerging that will help to define his second term.

• Is growing outrage and fear justified? To what extent are the shocks rattling Washington simply the signs of a hyper-committed new administration implementing a mandate to transform how the country is run and who runs it?
• Or, are Trump’s tactics becoming an all-out assault on the Constitution from a president who believes he has unlimited authority and who mocks checks and balances meant to ensure commanders in chief are not kings?
• Musk, wielding vast, mostly invisible power, working deep beneath the hood of the federal government, is especially problematic. He’s not elected or confirmed by Congress and seems accountable to nobody — perhaps not even Trump.
• And there are multiple and growing signs that institutions like the FBI, CIA, DOJ and federal agencies that Americans have relied upon to deliver justice and keep them safe, prosperous and healthy are now mere tools of Trump’s whims.
• Who is going to stop any of this? After last fall’s widespread defeat, Democrats are toothless. Republicans who run Congress have neutered their own branch of government to appease an all-powerful president. Court cases are coming but can’t keep up with Trump.