'Constant vigilance': Analysis argues Trump wins by relentlessly exhausting his foes

Former President Donald Trump's team's decision to blow off a key step to ensure the peaceful transition of power highlights a disturbing campaign tactic that could prove fatal to democracy in the White House, according to a new political analysis.

MSNBC analyst Hayes Brown on Saturday morning raised concerns about Trump's multiple missed deadlines, as of Friday, that include an ethics plan and a list of people to vet for security clearances.

"Trump’s disrespect for the transition process isn’t a shock," wrote Brown. "But if Trump is as sold on Project 2025 as we suspect he is, his goal isn’t to have a smooth transition. It’s to upend the government as it exists."

Brown's concerns centered on the people Trump would bring into the White House and those he would push out of the federal government.

The columnist argued Trump is depending on a "fleet of lackeys who have experience pulling the levers of power and will enable his worst instincts."

ALSO READ: Dems fear Mike Johnson has laid the groundwork for a nightmare scenario on Jan. 6, 2025

Worse, according to Brown, he's already started.

"Efforts are underway to prepare a purge of many career civil servants tasked to carry out the continuity of government," Brown reported.

Brown argued Trump's ability to ignore a crucial deadline with decades of precedent creates a disturbing problem for those who would attempt oversight of his campaign or his potential presidency.

The problem, for Brown, is exhaustion from the "constant vigilance" Trump's refusal to submit to oversight norms requires.

"Something as banal as the transition process is meant to take place in the background, like stagehands in black changing out scenery between acts of a play, our eyes encouraged to glaze past them," Brown concluded.

"Instead, Trump forces us to scrutinize everything he does for signs of his misdeeds, a project that is as draining as it is necessary."