Law be damned, Trump asserts unilateral control over executive branch, federal service (8 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]

Then I fully expect him to leave the offices vacant if he cannot put toadies in them.

 

[DaveXA]

Then I fully expect him to leave the offices vacant if he cannot put toadies in them.

I'd be just fine with that actually. The article posted by RobF makes it pretty clear that Trump can't just replace them on a whim, and just leaving them vacant simply makes the "first assistant" the de facto IG. The article also states...

The practical bottom line is that a career official high up in the office of each IG will by law become the acting IG, and Trump can replace that person only with someone already in the IG cadre.

So in theory, Trump is really limited in terms ot trying to stack favorable IGs. Now if he skirts the law, whether Congress does their responsibilities and pushes back against clear rules violations is an open question.

 

[Lapaz]

I'd be just fine with that actually. The article posted by RobF makes it pretty clear that Trump can't just replace them on a whim, and just leaving them vacant simply makes the "first assistant" the de facto IG. The article also states...


So in theory, Trump is really limited in terms ot trying to stack favorable IGs. Now if he skirts the law, whether Congress does their responsibilities and pushes back against clear rules violations is an open question.

Enforcement of Trump’s illegal actions has been my main concern. He runs the enforcement agencies and congress won’t impeach him, and he has immunity from executive actions, so why do laws matter to him? I envision him appointing whoever he wants for IG, and Congress will acquiesce. The law is irrelevant. We are in a post law world.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[superchuck500]

 

[RobF]

This is apparently happening, https://faa.gov/ is down now.

 

[wardorican]

This is apparently happening, https://faa.gov/ is down now.

Many others are up. NASA, FDA, USDA, HHS, etc.

 

[wardorican]

Oh, she's fired now. lol.

 

[RobF]

Many others are up. NASA, FDA, USDA, HHS, etc.

Yes, I was just saying that FAA.gov isn't. Its DNS entry appears to have been removed, so it's possible where that's the case sites would appear to go down at different times for different people depending on how long cached entries take to expire.

I saw elsewhere that https://www.census.gov is down, but that appears to be up for me, just not loading much.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[RobF]

Musk does appear to be doing to the OPM what he did to Twitter, complete with locking people out, and putting in sofa beds:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Childless cat ladies and basement dwelling incels welcome to pot hole city

 

[wardorican]

Musk does appear to be doing to the OPM what he did to Twitter, complete with locking people out, and putting in sofa beds:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/

Hope no one needs to get their W2s.. oh, wait.

 

[MT15]

 

[MT15]

Musk didn’t pay what he promised in his Twitter “severance” either.

 

[DaveXA]

While I don't agree with the letter and under no circumstances would I submit my resignation that way, federal pay is governed by federal law and they can't not pay that severance, even considering CR and such. Any non-payment of that severance would be considered a theft of wages and would cost the government more than its worth in litigation.

This is a scare tactic to get people to not respond to thr letter. Anyone dumb enough to respond to that letter probably don't deserve a severance, but that's not how federal law works.

 

[MT15]

Musk is apparently being aggressive about getting into every nook and cranny of federal government.

Elon Musk’s Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency

Elon Musk’s former employees are trying to use White House credentials to access General Services Administration tech, giving them the potential to remote into laptops, read emails, and more, sources say.

www.wired.com

 

[MT15]

While I don't agree with the letter and under no circumstances would I submit my resignation that way, federal pay is governed by federal law and they can't not pay that severance, even considering CR and such. Any non-payment of that severance would be considered a theft of wages and would cost the government more than its worth in litigation.

This is a scare tactic to get people to not respond to thr letter. Anyone dumb enough to respond to that letter probably don't deserve a severance, but that's not how federal law works.

I think his point is that they can’t be held to that letter, can they? It’s anonymous, vaguely worded and may not be on the up and up. Musk was known to renege famously on severances offered to Twitter employees. And yeah, they are suing him, and it’s dragging into the second year of litigation. Meanwhile nobody got their money.