Law be damned, Trump asserts unilateral control over executive branch, federal service (6 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Following the Project 2025 playbook, in the last week, Trump and his newly installed loyalists have moved to (1) dismiss federal officials deemed unreliable to do his bidding (including 17 inspectors general) - many of which have protections from arbitrary dismissal, (2) freeze all science and public health activity until he can wrest full control, (3) freeze all federal assistance and grant activity deemed inconsistent with Trump's agenda, and (4) moved to terminate all federal employee telework and DEI programs.

The problem is much of this is controlled by federal law and not subject to sudden and complete change by the president through executive order. Most notably is the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 that simply codifies what is the constitutional allocation of resources where Congress appropriates money to the executive branch for a specific purpose, the executive branch must carry out that statutory purpose. This is indeed a constitutional crisis and even if Congress abdicates to Trump by acquiescing, the courts must still apply the law - or rule it unconstitutional.

And meanwhile the architect of much of this unlawful action is Russell Vought, Trump’s OMB nominee who the Senate appears ready to confirm.

120. The Impoundment Crisis of 2025

The Trump administration's Monday spending freeze is likely to provoke a crisis over the constitutionality of "impoundment"—one that the justices could well have to resolve *very* soon.

www.stevevladeck.com

 

[J-DONK]

No it isn’t. President Kennedy established it through an executive order as an independent agency.

From the Foreign Assistance Act 1961

(b) Under the policy guidance of the Secretary of State, the
agency primarily responsible for administering this part should
have the responsibility for coordinating all United States develop-
ment-related activities.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1071/pdf/COMPS-1071.pdf

Except it was formally established by congress in 1998. If you read anything but Fox News you would know this.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/02/02/g-s1-46007/usaid-web-site-trump-state-department

 

[DaveXA]

Except it was formally established by congress in 1998. If you read anything but Fox News you would know this.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/02/02/g-s1-46007/usaid-web-site-trump-state-department

Yep, that guy presenting incomplete facts is par for the course.

 

[coldseat]

No it isn’t. President Kennedy established it through an executive order as an independent agency.

From the Foreign Assistance Act 1961

(b) Under the policy guidance of the Secretary of State, the
agency primarily responsible for administering this part should
have the responsibility for coordinating all United States develop-
ment-related activities.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1071/pdf/COMPS-1071.pdf

I was wrong. They do receive policy guidance from the SoS. In any case, it's pretty obvious Trump can't just reorganize it to be under the SoS since it's an independent agency established by law.

 

[Incumbent]

I didn't think it was subtle at all... I quit the Republican party completely in 2008 when Sarah Palin was the VP nominee. The writing was on the wall at that point.

Same.

Though, there was also a shift happening in my personal views. Republicans had completely lost me on social issues and I had already started to reconsider my beliefs in other areas - the economy, fiscal responsibility, trustworthiness. I reached a breaking point in W's second term and Palin would be a nonstarter for me. I also had carryover enthusiasm for Obama going back to his speech at the 2004 convention. The circumstances converged to mark a political and ideological evolution for me.

 

[Sendai]

Except it was formally established by congress in 1998. If you read anything but Fox News you would know this.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/02/02/g-s1-46007/usaid-web-site-trump-state-department

No it wasn’t.

It’s simply referenced in a reorganization

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter74&edition=prelim

“6581. Reorganization of Agency for International Development​

(a) In general​

The Agency for International Development shall be reorganized in accordance with this chapter and the reorganization plan transmitted pursuant to section 6601 of this title.

(b) Functions to be transferred​

The reorganization of the Agency for International Development shall provide, at a minimum, for the transfer to and consolidation with the Department of State of the following functions of AID:

(1) The Press office.

(2) Certain administrative functions.

(Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. A, title XV, §1511, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–793.)”

There is no official declaration as independent agency

 

[Sendai]

I was wrong. They do receive policy guidance from the SoS. In any case, it's pretty obvious Trump can't just reorganize it to be under the SoS since it's an independent agency established by law.

Yep, that guy presenting incomplete facts is par for the course.

You might want to show the facts. The legislation that establishes it as an independent agency.


This is what happened in 1998

6581. Reorganization of Agency for International Development​

(a) In general​

The Agency for International Development shall be reorganized in accordance with this chapter and the reorganization plan transmitted pursuant to section 6601 of this title.

(b) Functions to be transferred​

The reorganization of the Agency for International Development shall provide, at a minimum, for the transfer to and consolidation with the Department of State of the following functions of AID:

(1) The Press office.

(2) Certain administrative functions.

(Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. A, title XV, §1511, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–793.)

It remains an agency created by Executive Order.

 

[J-DONK]

No it wasn’t.

It’s simply referenced in a reorganization

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter74&edition=prelim

“6581. Reorganization of Agency for International Development​

(a) In general​

The Agency for International Development shall be reorganized in accordance with this chapter and the reorganization plan transmitted pursuant to section 6601 of this title.

(b) Functions to be transferred​

The reorganization of the Agency for International Development shall provide, at a minimum, for the transfer to and consolidation with the Department of State of the following functions of AID:

(1) The Press office.

(2) Certain administrative functions.

(Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. A, title XV, §1511, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–793.)”

There is no official declaration as independent agency

I know you like to think you know it all:

Here ya go, straight from Forbes about this very topic:

Can Trump Dissolve USAID? 10,000 Jobs Hang In The Balance

Elon Musk leads the charge to overhaul USAID, with Trump’s approval. As 10,000 jobs at risk, can Musk and the administration dissolve the agency without legal consequences?

www.forbes.com

According to Just Security, Trump can drastically curtail USAID with executive actions alone; however, he “may not unilaterally override” a statute by executive order. USAID was established by statute as its own agency via Congress in 1998 after first being created by executive order in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. Since an act of Congress established it as an independent agency, an act of Congress would be necessary to dissolve it.

Also, can you please stop giving your "expert" legal opinion.

 

[RobF]

You might want to show the facts. The legislation that establishes it as an independent agency.


This is what happened in 1998

6581. Reorganization of Agency for International Development​

(a) In general​

The Agency for International Development shall be reorganized in accordance with this chapter and the reorganization plan transmitted pursuant to section 6601 of this title.

(b) Functions to be transferred​

The reorganization of the Agency for International Development shall provide, at a minimum, for the transfer to and consolidation with the Department of State of the following functions of AID:

(1) The Press office.

(2) Certain administrative functions.

(Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. A, title XV, §1511, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–793.)

It remains an agency created by Executive Order.

You'll all be shocked to hear that Sendai appears to be wrong.

https://www.justsecurity.org/107267/can-president-dissolve-usaid-by-executive-order/ (excuse formatting of following quote, I'm on my phone):

In 1961, USAID was created by an E.O. issued by President John F. Kennedy (E.O. 10973), based in part on authority provided in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. But a later act of Congress (The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, 22 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) established USAID as its own agency. In a section titled “Status of AID” (22 U.S.C. 6563) it states:

(a) In general​

Unless abolished pursuant to the reorganization plan submitted under section 6601 of this title, and except as provided in section 6562 of this title, there is within the Executive branch of Government the United States Agency for International Development as an entity described in section 104 of title 5. (emphasis added)

The key language here is “there is within the Executive branch of Government [USAID]” (see sections 6562/6563). Those are the words Congress uses to establish an agency within the executive branch. It would take an act of Congress to reverse that – simply put, the president may not unilaterally override a statute by executive order.

The 1998 statute also transfers only certain functions of USAID to the State Department, and in essence requires USAID to handle all other pre-existing USAID functions described in the Foreign Assistance Act. This means that, at a minimum, Congress asserted a role for itself in such transfers of functions as well as early as 1998.

Also in the 1998 Act, Congress gave the president a near-term, time-limited opportunity to reorganize these departments (22 USC 6601). Specifically, the Act provides, among other things, that within “60 days after October 21, 1998,” the president may, in a “reorganization plan and report” to be provided to Congress:

“(1) … provide for the abolition of the Agency for International Development and the transfer of all its functions to the Department of State or (2) in lieu of the abolition and transfer of functions . . . provide for the transfer to and consolidation within the Department of the functions set forth in section 6581 of this title; and may provide for additional consolidation, reorganization, and streamlining of AID . . .”

President Bill Clinton submitted the statutorily-envisioned report to Congress on Dec. 30, 1998, within Congress’ specified 60-day window. In that report, the Clinton administration explicitly chose to retain the independence of USAID as its own agency (while providing for certain forms of coordination and resource sharing). It stated:

(d) United States Agency for International Development. Effective April 1, 1999, the United States Agency for International Development shall continue as an independent establishment in the Executive Branch.

Congress provided the president the opportunity to modify or revise that plan (6601(e)) until the effective date of the reorganization plan, which the 1998 Act specified as no later than April 1, 1999 with respect to some USAID functions, and Oct. 1, 1999, with respect to the opportunity for abolition of the agency (6601(g)(2)). No prospective modification or reorganization authority was granted to the president beyond those effective dates.

 

[efil4]

You'll all be shocked to hear that Sendai appears to be wrong.

https://www.justsecurity.org/107267/can-president-dissolve-usaid-by-executive-order/ (excuse formatting of following quote, I'm on my phone):

In 1961, USAID was created by an E.O. issued by President John F. Kennedy (E.O. 10973), based in part on authority provided in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. But a later act of Congress (The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, 22 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) established USAID as its own agency. In a section titled “Status of AID” (22 U.S.C. 6563) it states:


The key language here is “there is within the Executive branch of Government [USAID]” (see sections 6562/6563). Those are the words Congress uses to establish an agency within the executive branch. It would take an act of Congress to reverse that – simply put, the president may not unilaterally override a statute by executive order.

The 1998 statute also transfers only certain functions of USAID to the State Department, and in essence requires USAID to handle all other pre-existing USAID functions described in the Foreign Assistance Act. This means that, at a minimum, Congress asserted a role for itself in such transfers of functions as well as early as 1998.

Also in the 1998 Act, Congress gave the president a near-term, time-limited opportunity to reorganize these departments (22 USC 6601). Specifically, the Act provides, among other things, that within “60 days after October 21, 1998,” the president may, in a “reorganization plan and report” to be provided to Congress:


President Bill Clinton submitted the statutorily-envisioned report to Congress on Dec. 30, 1998, within Congress’ specified 60-day window. In that report, the Clinton administration explicitly chose to retain the independence of USAID as its own agency (while providing for certain forms of coordination and resource sharing). It stated:


Congress provided the president the opportunity to modify or revise that plan (6601(e)) until the effective date of the reorganization plan, which the 1998 Act specified as no later than April 1, 1999 with respect to some USAID functions, and Oct. 1, 1999, with respect to the opportunity for abolition of the agency (6601(g)(2)). No prospective modification or reorganization authority was granted to the president beyond those effective dates.

so he stopped reading at 22 USC 6601.

 

[DaveXA]

You'll all be shocked to hear that Sendai appears to be wrong.

https://www.justsecurity.org/107267/can-president-dissolve-usaid-by-executive-order/ (excuse formatting of following quote, I'm on my phone):

In 1961, USAID was created by an E.O. issued by President John F. Kennedy (E.O. 10973), based in part on authority provided in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. But a later act of Congress (The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, 22 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) established USAID as its own agency. In a section titled “Status of AID” (22 U.S.C. 6563) it states:


The key language here is “there is within the Executive branch of Government [USAID]” (see sections 6562/6563). Those are the words Congress uses to establish an agency within the executive branch. It would take an act of Congress to reverse that – simply put, the president may not unilaterally override a statute by executive order.

The 1998 statute also transfers only certain functions of USAID to the State Department, and in essence requires USAID to handle all other pre-existing USAID functions described in the Foreign Assistance Act. This means that, at a minimum, Congress asserted a role for itself in such transfers of functions as well as early as 1998.

Also in the 1998 Act, Congress gave the president a near-term, time-limited opportunity to reorganize these departments (22 USC 6601). Specifically, the Act provides, among other things, that within “60 days after October 21, 1998,” the president may, in a “reorganization plan and report” to be provided to Congress:


President Bill Clinton submitted the statutorily-envisioned report to Congress on Dec. 30, 1998, within Congress’ specified 60-day window. In that report, the Clinton administration explicitly chose to retain the independence of USAID as its own agency (while providing for certain forms of coordination and resource sharing). It stated:


Congress provided the president the opportunity to modify or revise that plan (6601(e)) until the effective date of the reorganization plan, which the 1998 Act specified as no later than April 1, 1999 with respect to some USAID functions, and Oct. 1, 1999, with respect to the opportunity for abolition of the agency (6601(g)(2)). No prospective modification or reorganization authority was granted to the president beyond those effective dates.

Thank you. That should settle that. So it's a pretty clear overreach of executive power. The real question is will they be held accountable? I suspect not.