Romney Warns U.S. ‘Drifting Toward Authoritarianism’ at IOP Forum

Former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) warned Monday that the United States is drifting toward authoritarianism, citing a Congress that has ceded power to the executive branch and a federal judiciary increasingly viewed through a partisan lens.

Speaking at an Institute of Politics forum, Romney — the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and a Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School graduate — offered a sweeping critique of the state of American democracy in a conversation moderated by History professor Jill Lepore.

The forum was the second installment of the Harvard Kennedy School’s “Consent of the Governed” series, a set of discussions marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Romney faulted both parties for weakening checks on presidential power, arguing that lawmakers now follow their party’s president “almost in lockstep.”

“The legislative branch is following pretty much what the president tells them,” Romney said. “That was true when President Biden was president, the Democrats did almost in lockstep what he told them. And when President Trump is president, the Republicans are doing almost in lockstep what he tells them.”

He pointed to the Senate’s elimination of the 60-vote threshold for judicial confirmations as a turning point that had politicized the courts.

“Now we have a judiciary increasingly recognized as being political,” Romney said. “If you hear about a case that goes against President Trump, someone always says, ‘Oh, I’ll bet it was an Obama judge or a Biden judge.’”

“We didn’t used to say that,” he added.

Romney said the 25th Amendment — which clarified presidential succession — was unlikely to serve as a meaningful check on a sitting president, and proposed a constitutional amendment barring presidents from pardoning donors who had given more than $1 million to their campaigns.

He faulted former President Joe Biden for unilaterally forgiving student debt and said Trump has done “far more than his share” to expand executive power.

Throughout the conversation, Romney returned to what he described as structural threats to democratic governance — an increasingly closed primary system that rewards ideological extremes, a fragmented information environment, and the growing influence of billionaire donors like Elon Musk.

“What happens if he said, ‘I’m going to take $2 billion and put it behind someone who I want to have as the next president, because he agrees not to do anything on AI?’” Romney asked. “This is a kind of challenge we haven’t really faced before.”

He said social media has eroded a shared factual baseline among voters.

“We don’t have common facts because we’re getting our news curated for us on social media,” Romney said. “That’s a huge problem.”

Romney pushed back on the suggestion that rising income inequality was driving political polarization, arguing instead that Americans were frustrated by unmet expectations.

“I think a lot of people feel that the American dream is not real for them,” he said, pointing to college graduates burdened by loans who struggle to find work.

On artificial intelligence, Romney said Congress was ill-equipped to regulate the rapidly evolving technology and called for presidential leadership to convene experts from government and industry.

“You’re talking about a bunch of people my age,” Romney said of his former Senate colleagues. “I’ve got friends of mine who say, ‘Look, I can’t text you because my thumbs are too big.’ And so you’re asking us to figure this out.”

Romney also criticized Trump’s foreign policy, singling out his treatment of Canada and his rhetoric on Greenland as strategically incoherent at a moment when the U.S. should be shoring up allies to counter China.

“To say you’re going to invade Greenland, I don’t get that,” he said.

Romney attributed much of Washington’s dysfunction to lawmakers who prioritize political survival over policymaking. He recounted a prayer breakfast early in his Senate tenure when a colleague he declined to name outlined how senators weigh legislation.

“First of all, will it help me get reelected?” Romney said, describing the colleague’s priorities.

He closed on a note of cautious optimism, saying that American democracy had historically recovered from periods of crisis through strong leadership or generational change.

“A crisis, a great leader, or a rising generation that says, ‘enough,’” Romney said, outlining the forces that could restore national unity.

“I have faith in America,” he added. “I’m convinced that our best days are ahead.”

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.