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.

Welcome to 538's politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

Congressional Republicans have managed barely a whimper as President Donald Trump wages a historic push to expand executive branch power, steamrolling them along the way and unleashing anxiety across the federal government.

With his dizzying moves to slash spending, abolish government departments and lay off much of the federal workforce, Donald Trump has upended the US constitutional order in an unprecedented assertion