“Guardrails”

The New Dishonest Word of the Moment

BILL ASTORE

FEB 09, 2026

I’ve been noticing a new word of the moment: “guardrails.” President Trump is smashing the guardrails of democracy. At the same time, new guardrails are the answer to ICE murders in Minneapolis, at least according to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

If guardrails are so easy for Trump to smash, how are new ones going to restrain the power of ICE and prevent abuses?

Remember when we used to talk about laws? That you had to obey the law of the land else be prosecuted for violating it? We need clear and enforceable laws and a system that upholds them, not more “guardrails.”

I suppose “guardrail” is a metaphor that’s easily understood—they help keep us on the road, right? Yet cars and trucks do smash through them, so are they really the answer to restraining Trump and ICE?

As Stephen Semler notes here, Schumer and Jeffries promote “guardrails” for ICE even as they propose to fully fund the agency, making it easy for ICE to say, sure, we’ll respect your guardrails even as they drive their SUVs and surplus military equipment through them.

America is supposed to be a nation of laws, not guardrails. If ICE and Trump are like out-of-control trucks, no metaphorical guardrail is going to restrain them. A strong Constitutional system upheld and enforced by officials of integrity and courage, however, could and should.