Law be damned, Trump asserts unilateral control over executive branch, federal service (2 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

 

[MT15]

Here’s the end game for USAID. It’s a cash grab.

 

[Optimus Prime]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston found a group of labor unions didn’t have legal standing to challenge the program, commonly described as a buyout.

Trump wants to use financial incentives to encourage government employees to quit. According to the White House, tens of thousands of workers have taken the government up on its offer.

The deferred resignation program has been spearheaded by Elon Musk, who is serving as Trump’s top adviser for reducing federal spending. Under the plan, employees can stop working and get paid until Sept. 30.

Labor unions argued the plan is illegal and asked for O’Toole to keep it on hold and prevent the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, from soliciting more workers to sign up…….

Judge clears way for Trump’s plan to downsize federal workforce with deferred resignation program

A federal judge has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program.

apnews.com

 

[fooferdoggie]

I don’t know that USAID did anything “wrong”. Obviously the current administration believes there is a better use for those funds.

yep musk can use them. its funds that go to others besides Americans so that is all it takes. wait I see investors are going to get it.

 

[TampaJoe]

yep musk can use them. its funds that go to others besides Americans so that is all it takes. wait I see investors are going to get it.

Musk isn’t getting these funds. You don’t have to agree with him or his methods. I get it. But this is just baseless allegations and diminishes your argument.

 

[J-DONK]

Musk isn’t getting these funds. You don’t have to agree with him or his methods. I get it. But this is just baseless allegations and diminishes your argument.

This is all about serving billionaires. It's why USAID funds are going to private equity. It's speculation. I won't be shocked if Elon ends up with a multi-billion dollar Starlink contract to provide internet access to some random countries.

Conseratives on the board, should read up Curtis Yarvin's ideas. That's what's being implemented. The end goal is corporate autocracy.

Trump wants to be a dictator.

All this copium about audits, audits don't cut funding, and USGOV dept. @Sendai @el caliente @TampaJoe @SteveSBrickNJ can one you give a single reason as to why Elon is hellbent on unsurping the power of Congress for the executive? It's all incoherently babbling trying to defend your lord and savior. I've heard "both sidesing", and "audits". They are both clown car ideas.

On the flip side, Democrats need to find a voice right now.

Read up our trollish boys: https://www.thenerdreich.com/reboot-elon-musk-ceo-dictator-doge/

 

[bird]

The goal is money/power. Money/power for Musk and whoever wants in on the game.

For Trump it is the solipsist’s dream of attention. He will be discarded when he is no longer needed. The same applies to the religionists although it is possible that money/power will offer them some seat as long as their actions do not hamper wealth/power.

The tool is chaos/destruction.

For those who voted to return the orange mentally ill buffoon to office, those who voted for his enablers, those who couldn’t vote for an intelligent woman who despite claims to the contrary did lay out a vision for the country and those who voted for simpleton fools that stood no chance of being elected…This. Is. On. You.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Musk isn’t getting these funds. You don’t have to agree with him or his methods. I get it. But this is just baseless allegations and diminishes your argument.

Sure keep telling yourself that. I mean a billionaire that would never break laws or screw others to benefit himself. I am sure he is doing all this out of the goodness of his heart.

 

[MT15]

Musk isn’t getting these funds. You don’t have to agree with him or his methods. I get it. But this is just baseless allegations and diminishes your argument.

They may be allegations at this point, but they are certainly not “baseless”.

Explain why Musk immediately went after USAID, which makes up a tiny portion on the budget? Certainly looks like he had a 2-fold objective - squash a USIG investigation into him for what he did with StarLink during the Ukraine war. And now we see that the billionaires plan to privatize the USAID projects. Musk has been extremely good at only a couple of things, and one of them is getting the federal government to give him billions of dollars.

It’s really past time to quit defending this robber baron while he basically takes all our money.

 

[MT15]

I feel like there’s so much unethical and illegal BS going on that it’s hard to keep track. Here is at least one bit of good news. Evidently Trump has blinked at defying a court order.

 

[MT15]

And now I’ve found the self-dealing angle for why Musk went after the CFPB. He’s trying to make Twitter into a digital payment platform. Getting rid of the CFPB will remove a watchdog over abuses of these platforms. Bolding mine.

“But he started his career trying to disrupt consumer finance as a co-founder of a digital financial services company that later became PayPal. Now, he’s working to transform X.com, his social media platform, into a virtual wallet where people can send money to one another.

These types of digital payment platforms, which other tech companies like Apple and Meta also run, have come under intense scrutiny by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

But that scrutiny is likely to ease, largely because of Mr. Musk, who has been empowered by the Trump administration to reshape federal agencies like the consumer bureau.”

Elon Musk’s Attacks on CFPB Remove Obstacle to Building ‘X Money’

Former officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Elon Musk’s payment-business aspirations were driving his efforts to hobble the agency.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

International health organizations have warned that Donald Trump’s push to dismantle US foreign aid and orders barring diversity, equity and inclusion are destroying programs that once provided healthcare to millions of women and girls worldwide.

Providers said a 90-day stop work order imposed by the Department of State to “review” contracts for compliance with the new administration’s orders means many clinics, which operate on shoestring budgets, will never reopen – pausing services for everything from cervical cancer screenings to HIV treatment to the removal of intrauterine contraceptive devices.

“The whole ecosystem is crumbling,” said Dr Carole Sekimpi, a doctor in Uganda and senior director for Africa with MSI Reproductive Choices, a UK-based non-profit that provides family planning services around the world, and which expects to lose $14m in US funding.

“Ninety days later – we’re going to be rebuilding from the ground … Because of the extensive damage done to the ecosystem for reproductive health and rights.”


The pause has also sown distrust, she said, as women had scheduled healthcare only to find clinics closed: “Women and girls walked up one morning and there was no care.”

The US provides $8.2bn each year for foreign humanitarian aid, around 1% of total US spending. That money supports programs that touch the lives of tens of millions of people globally, particularly in countries with weak health systems or which are strategically important, such as Sudan, Uganda and Ukraine.

For nearly a decade, Congress has appropriated $607.5m in foreign aid for family planning, funding that experts estimate would have provided modern contraceptives to 47 million women and girls.…….

‘A fight for our lives’: Trump’s USAid freeze is harming millions of women and girls

A 90-day stop-work order means many clinics around the world will shut and vital care will be withheld

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The US Department of State is planning to spend $400m buying new Tesla armoured vehicles, even as the carmaker’s boss Elon Musk leads efforts to slash government spending under president Donald Trump.

A procurement forecast produced by the department showed the $400m (£320m) proposed spending on “armoured Tesla (production units)”. They are likely to be Cybertrucks, the newest model of the company’s electric pickup, given Musk’s claims that the vehicle is bulletproof.

The revelation raises the possibility of more conflicts of interest for Musk, who is one of the biggest beneficiaries of US government contracts through the companies he controls.


Musk’s stake in Tesla accounts for the bulk of his $383bn wealth, but his rocket company, SpaceX, is the most important contractor providing space launch services to the US government……..

US Department of State plans to spend $400m on Tesla armoured vehicles

Plan raises possibility of more conflicts of interest for Elon Musk as he leads efforts to slash government spending

www.theguardian.com

 

[superchuck500]

With the way we have forest fires these days, this is really, really stupid

 

[wardorican]

With the way we have forest fires these days, this is really, really stupid

It's bigger.

All probationary employees. If you got a job with the federal govt in the last year or so, you're probably being let go.

Trump administration tells federal agencies to fire probationary employees

The move could affect hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[bird]

The goal is destruction of the government. The collateral damage aka unintended consequences will be destruction of our society.

 

[DaveXA]

It's bigger.

All probationary employees. If you got a job with the federal govt in the last year or so, you're probably being let go.

Trump administration tells federal agencies to fire probationary employees

The move could affect hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

www.nbcnews.com

That's what I'm hearing. I'm gonna be beyond pissed if they fire all probationary employees in DOD because our team absolutely can't afford to lose the people who have been hired in the last 2 years. Probation is 2 years in our agency. That will hit a lot of people. I'm already literally doing the job of 2-3 people because I just inherited a program that one of our team members left when she got offered a better position within the agency.

They're literally breaking the government. So forked up. And too many people are swallowing the BS that Trump and Elon are spewing. Maddening beyond words.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The goal is destruction of the government. The collateral damage aka unintended consequences will be destruction of our society.

Here’s a theory I read a while back

GOP has been banging the drum about how bad government, and in particular, big government is, for decades

You have that famous Reagan quote “the scariest phrase in the English language: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’”

Cue 2020 and the pandemic and people saw how helpful and vital big government could be

Between the protocols, the stimulus checks, free tests, free medical care (for awhile), the vaccine research, the vaccine roll out

Big government worked

And it broke something deep in the heart in the GOP to pieces then set the rubble on fire

They then double and triple downed on how bad, evil and unnecessary government is and are hellbent on tearing it down to prove it

Maybe there’s something to that, maybe not

But I thought it was interesting

 

[bird]

Here’s a theory I read a while back

GOP has been banging the drum about how bad government, and in particular, big government is, for decades

You have that famous Reagan quote “the scariest phrase in the English language: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’”

Cue 2020 and the pandemic and people saw how helpful and vital big government could be

Between the protocols, the stimulus checks, free tests, free medical care (for awhile), the vaccine research, the vaccine roll out

Big government worked

And it broke something deep in the heart in the GOP to pieces then set the rubble on fire

They then double and triple downed on how bad, evil and unnecessary government is and are hellbent on tearing it down to prove it

Maybe there’s something to that, maybe not

But I thought it was interesting

I can’t argue.

While there have been anti-government individuals, groups and waves since before there was a country and really since the concept of democratic government the iteration in the US has been growing since the late ‘40’s/early ‘50’s and the writings of Buckley and Strauss. It is interesting that Sayyid Qutb had his seeds of hatred of the west sprouting at that time as well. Buckley and Strauss were, imo, authoritarians who covertly hated their country. They couched their hatred in words that drew and were palatable to people who saw the tectonic shifts of the Cold War and civil rights as dangerous to a deity approved system of hierarchy.

The difference between then and now is equally tectonic change in technology, specifically computers and the internet on one hand and automation on the other. There is also social change. Technology has created wealth concentrated in the hands of a group of men who have no use for a democratic society which might limit their power.