Trump is illegally incorporating USAID into the State Department, in direct contravention of the Foreign Assistance Act. Any such re-organization needs congressional approval. This is just the start . . .agencies like EPA will be next.
Before last week I thought the Senate would care enough about retaining their own power to keep Trump from doing crazy shit like this, but this . .. impoundments, firing IGs, taking over the Treasury software systems (the biggest story of the week, and mostly crickets from the supposed liberal media). . .crickets from Senate Republicans. I know lots of folks use panicky, hyperbolic language regarding politics, especially Trump, but this is CODE RED time. People are talking about elections and I honestly aren't sure we're going to have another round of free and fair federal elections.
Everyone needs to call their congressman/Senators and let them know how serious this is. This is honestly how many authoritarian regimes starts . . playbook to a T. And by the time any of the squisky "moderates" realize they need to do something, it's going to be too late.
I honestly don't see this presidency ending in any way other than a coup or impeachment after he's sent the country into a depression. Sorry I hate to be Mr. Dark Clouds on a Saturday, but I think a lot of folks REALLY don't understand how serious this has gotten in just the last 3-5 days.
I will add this . . should we ever get unified government again, we're going to need to SERIOUSLY curtail presidential powers so nothing like this could ever happen again. The constitutional and legal framework presumed you wouldn't have someone in the executive who legit wanted to just break the system, but the current guardrails are not at all strong enough to prevent that from happening.
Yes . . .I heard suits against the freeze in grant funding but not about the aid halts, but that is just as illegal; statutes passed by Congress and signed by the President entail those funds need to be spent as directed.
A President doesn't just get to halt contractual agreements to review and then only spend the money if he agrees with it. Doing so means not only any congressional spending deal is worth nothing, but any financial agreement the U.S. signs with an entity isn't worth the paper its printed on either, because we are not a trustworthy partner. It destabilizes everything.
I mean, are Republicans really thinking this through? With this precedent, a hypothetical future POTUS AOC could pass a bipartisan funding deal, and then just axe huge components of the defense spending, as well as any funding directed to the oil/gas industry, because it doesn't align "with the goals of her administration." Do they really want to go down that road??
I mean, the more establishment ones at least try to play some prevent defense though re: institutional norms. It's why they haven't killed the filibuster, because come the next D trifecta with a 51 seat Dem Senate majority, Dems would pass the wishlist to Santa and add the asks for the Easter Bunny for dessert.
I mean, yes that was my first thought-they'll pray the courts do their job for them. But what if he defies the courts (as I expect is likely) . . . then what?
Then weтАЩre over the Rubicon. My suspicion is that the bulk of the GOP (wrongly) thinks it wonтАЩt come to that, especially since a lot of them are cozy with FedSoc
Paleo, youтАЩre absolutely right: This has to he taken to court.
The probably-insurmountable problem is that President Musk is moving at lightning speed, with a carefully-prepared blueprint and playbook, and throughout the entire government. (!!!) And American courts move far too slowly, as we saw (by design) in all the cases against Trump.
At some point, SCOTUS is going to have a case before them where they'll have to decide between Donald Trump and the Constitution, as much as the conservative justices in the bench don't want that.
Considering their "official acts" immunity ruling, I'm not optimistic about how that will turn out when it happens.
They'll twist themselves into knots to create a standard that is inherently arbitrary so that republicans can violate the constitution but democrats cannot repeat the same action.
I have a hard time seeing Barrett, Roberts or Kavanaugh saying the Executive can just flat out ignore statute and impound funds. That turns us into a banana republic.
A career official tried to undo TrumpтАЩs purge at USAID. He was then purged, too.
"The dramatic purge and counter-purge played out in emails obtained by The Washington Post, as TrumpтАЩs pause on aid upends humanitarian work around the world."
My wife has a family member who work for USAID abroad. All of her colleagues there have just lost their jobs тАУ and she knows she is next. Above is gift link to a key article in The Washington Post on these developments.
As Toiler On the Sea clearly indicates тАУ with alarm that cannot be overstated тАУ is that what we see at USAID is just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm so sorry for you all . . .USAID is a pittance of the budget and yet it's getting this treatment. Pure cruelty; they don't deserve this and most tragic of all are the millions of people who'll now suffer because the head of the richest country on Earth decided he doesn't give a shit.
While Americans businessmen are overfocused on quarterly results, annual reports and stock prices, the Chinese are trying to fulfill five-year plans and planning 20тАУ30 years ahead.
During the financial crisis of 2007тАУ2008, Chinese diplomats and trade representatives were traveling the world, offering aid/contracts to various struggling countries in return for ensuring a steady supply of essential minerals and other resources that China would need during the next decades.
Trump is playing Russian roulette, not checkers. If he were deliberately trying to sabotage the country, would he have done anything differently from what he's done?
Well, in Russian Roulette, you point the gun at your own head. ThatтАЩs definitely not where Agent Orange is pointing the gun. Sabotage the country? YouтАЩre right about that.
I really do wish there was a Deep State available to intervene against Donald, Elon, Kash, Russell, Tulsi, Stephen Miller & Co.
Edit (in response to Jonathan): There is, right now, a coup happening. This is the sort of thing our intelligence and defense establishment is supposed to protect us against.
Trump is illegally incorporating USAID into the State Department, in direct contravention of the Foreign Assistance Act. Any such re-organization needs congressional approval. This is just the start . . .agencies like EPA will be next.
Before last week I thought the Senate would care enough about retaining their own power to keep Trump from doing crazy shit like this, but this . .. impoundments, firing IGs, taking over the Treasury software systems (the biggest story of the week, and mostly crickets from the supposed liberal media). . .crickets from Senate Republicans. I know lots of folks use panicky, hyperbolic language regarding politics, especially Trump, but this is CODE RED time. People are talking about elections and I honestly aren't sure we're going to have another round of free and fair federal elections.
Everyone needs to call their congressman/Senators and let them know how serious this is. This is honestly how many authoritarian regimes starts . . playbook to a T. And by the time any of the squisky "moderates" realize they need to do something, it's going to be too late.
I honestly don't see this presidency ending in any way other than a coup or impeachment after he's sent the country into a depression. Sorry I hate to be Mr. Dark Clouds on a Saturday, but I think a lot of folks REALLY don't understand how serious this has gotten in just the last 3-5 days.
I will add this . . should we ever get unified government again, we're going to need to SERIOUSLY curtail presidential powers so nothing like this could ever happen again. The constitutional and legal framework presumed you wouldn't have someone in the executive who legit wanted to just break the system, but the current guardrails are not at all strong enough to prevent that from happening.
Once again, this needs to be taken to court
Yes . . .I heard suits against the freeze in grant funding but not about the aid halts, but that is just as illegal; statutes passed by Congress and signed by the President entail those funds need to be spent as directed.
A President doesn't just get to halt contractual agreements to review and then only spend the money if he agrees with it. Doing so means not only any congressional spending deal is worth nothing, but any financial agreement the U.S. signs with an entity isn't worth the paper its printed on either, because we are not a trustworthy partner. It destabilizes everything.
I mean, are Republicans really thinking this through? With this precedent, a hypothetical future POTUS AOC could pass a bipartisan funding deal, and then just axe huge components of the defense spending, as well as any funding directed to the oil/gas industry, because it doesn't align "with the goals of her administration." Do they really want to go down that road??
Yes, because they are in power. They don't have any principles and fight anything any Democrat does. You already know that.
I mean, the more establishment ones at least try to play some prevent defense though re: institutional norms. It's why they haven't killed the filibuster, because come the next D trifecta with a 51 seat Dem Senate majority, Dems would pass the wishlist to Santa and add the asks for the Easter Bunny for dessert.
The тАЬvote no, hope yesтАЭ coward caucus once again expects Ds to bail them out from the lunacy of their own base, this time via lawsuits and TROs
I mean, yes that was my first thought-they'll pray the courts do their job for them. But what if he defies the courts (as I expect is likely) . . . then what?
Then weтАЩre over the Rubicon. My suspicion is that the bulk of the GOP (wrongly) thinks it wonтАЩt come to that, especially since a lot of them are cozy with FedSoc
Paleo, youтАЩre absolutely right: This has to he taken to court.
The probably-insurmountable problem is that President Musk is moving at lightning speed, with a carefully-prepared blueprint and playbook, and throughout the entire government. (!!!) And American courts move far too slowly, as we saw (by design) in all the cases against Trump.
They move fast when they issue injunctions.
At some point, SCOTUS is going to have a case before them where they'll have to decide between Donald Trump and the Constitution, as much as the conservative justices in the bench don't want that.
Considering their "official acts" immunity ruling, I'm not optimistic about how that will turn out when it happens.
They'll twist themselves into knots to create a standard that is inherently arbitrary so that republicans can violate the constitution but democrats cannot repeat the same action.
Roberts is going to have to make a choice; surprisingly, Barrett may vote with the liberals
I have a hard time seeing Barrett, Roberts or Kavanaugh saying the Executive can just flat out ignore statute and impound funds. That turns us into a banana republic.
Don't put them above approving that if they get a cut. Maybe not Barrett, but the others.
I tend to agree but I want proof
A career official tried to undo TrumpтАЩs purge at USAID. He was then purged, too.
"The dramatic purge and counter-purge played out in emails obtained by The Washington Post, as TrumpтАЩs pause on aid upends humanitarian work around the world."
https://wapo.st/4aGbSA5
My wife has a family member who work for USAID abroad. All of her colleagues there have just lost their jobs тАУ and she knows she is next. Above is gift link to a key article in The Washington Post on these developments.
As Toiler On the Sea clearly indicates тАУ with alarm that cannot be overstated тАУ is that what we see at USAID is just the tip of the iceberg.
I'm so sorry for you all . . .USAID is a pittance of the budget and yet it's getting this treatment. Pure cruelty; they don't deserve this and most tragic of all are the millions of people who'll now suffer because the head of the richest country on Earth decided he doesn't give a shit.
The repercussions, just of the USAID intervention, are monumental. WaPoтАЩs article, which is well worth reading, delineates how and why.
Moreover, China will substitute for the U.S. aid. Watch.
yup; it's all about future market potential, and Xi is a million times more shrewd than Trump
While Trump is playing Checkers, Xi is playing Wei Ch'i (Go).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)
While Americans businessmen are overfocused on quarterly results, annual reports and stock prices, the Chinese are trying to fulfill five-year plans and planning 20тАУ30 years ahead.
During the financial crisis of 2007тАУ2008, Chinese diplomats and trade representatives were traveling the world, offering aid/contracts to various struggling countries in return for ensuring a steady supply of essential minerals and other resources that China would need during the next decades.
Trump is playing Russian roulette, not checkers. If he were deliberately trying to sabotage the country, would he have done anything differently from what he's done?
Well, in Russian Roulette, you point the gun at your own head. ThatтАЩs definitely not where Agent Orange is pointing the gun. Sabotage the country? YouтАЩre right about that.
I really do wish there was a Deep State available to intervene against Donald, Elon, Kash, Russell, Tulsi, Stephen Miller & Co.
Edit (in response to Jonathan): There is, right now, a coup happening. This is the sort of thing our intelligence and defense establishment is supposed to protect us against.
I don't
Ultimately, I think it'll have military implications, too.
absolutely