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

 

[Optimus Prime]

and MAGA isn't happy about it

 

[DaveXA]

So, Trump made actual DEI hires then? Shouldn't he be fired?

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Donald Trump administration has formally agreed to drop a landmark environmental justice case in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” region, marking a blow to clean air advocates in the region and a win for the Japanese petrochemical giant at the centre of the litigation.

Legal filings made public on Friday morning reveal that Trump’s Department of Justice agreed to dismiss a long-running lawsuit against the operators of a synthetic rubber plant in Reserve, Louisiana, which is allegedly largely responsiblefor some of the highest cancer risk rates in the US for the surrounding majority-Black neighborhoods.

The litigation was filed under the Biden administration in February 2023 in a bid to substantially curb the plant’s emissions of a pollutant named chloroprene, a likely human carcinogen.

It had targeted both the current operator, the Japanese firm Denka, and its previous owner, the American chemical giant DuPont, and formed a central piece of the former administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) efforts to address environmental justice issues in disadvantaged communities.

A trial had been due to start in April 2025 following lengthy delays.

Community leaders in Reserve had expressed grave concernsabout the case’s future following Trump’s return to the White House after the president moved to gut offices within the EPA and justice department responsible for civil rights and environmental justice.


On Friday, 84-year-old Robert Taylor, a resident in Reserve who has lost a number of family members to cancer, described the move as “terrible” for his community.

“It’s obvious that the Trump administrationdoesn’t care anything for the poor Black folk in Cancer Alley,” Taylor said. “[Trump’s] administration has taken away what protections we had, what little hope we had.”

Filings show that parties involved in the litigation, including lawyers for Denka and DuPont, met on Wednesday and agreed jointly with the US justice department to dismiss the case.…….

Trump administration to drop case against plant polluting Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’

Biden-era suit sought to curb emissions of the carcinogen chloroprene at Denka plant formerly owned by DuPont

www.theguardian.com

Air in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ likely more toxic than previously thought

New research reveals levels of ethylene oxide more than 1,000 times above previous measurements

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

Another unlawful act by Trump. Where are our “law and order” conservatives when we find out about all the illegal shirt Musk/Trump is doing?

Answer - they don’t give a shirt about the rule of law or about ethics or about morality or about due process and the Constitution.

What I want to know is why - why do they think any of these lawless acts are okay? Because they obviously do. They defend all of them.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Put this one in the ‘seems like an Onion headline but it’s real’ file:

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And lots of pure gold in the comments like :

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[Optimus Prime]

In a move that could upend a popular federal program, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday directing his education secretary to revise eligibility requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The program forgives a portion of the education debt held by people who work in the government and certain nonprofit jobs for a decade. Trump wants to exclude organizations that he says support “illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property and disruption of the public order.”

“The PSLF Program has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means,” the order says.

“The PSLF Program also creates perverse incentives that can increase the cost of tuition, can load students in low-need majors with unsustainable debt, and may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of a nonprofit designation and degrade our national interest.”

The order takes aim at nonprofit organizations that it says support gender-transition care for minors, engage in public protests that include blocking highways or fund groups that are designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

As it stands, nonprofit employees are eligible for student loan forgiveness if they focus on areas that serve the public good, such as education, public health or public interest law. According to the Education Department, there are more than 2 million people with eligible employment.

“The president claims to be committed to ‘free speech,’ but we’ve quickly discovered that pledge doesn’t apply to higher education and now, PSLF,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

“He wants to impose an ideological litmus test antithetical to American values and contrary to the statute at hand. It’s an illegal attack on millions of dedicated public service workers who placed their faith in PSLF’s bipartisan promise, only to see it ripped away.”……

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/03/07/public-service-loan-forgiveness-trump-executive-order/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Major Alzheimer’s disease research centers across the country face a $65m funding gap amid a Trump administration-imposed delay, with at least one struggling to retain highly trained staff.

Although courts have ruled a government-wide funding freeze is illegal, the administration has managed to delay research funding by cancelingscientific meetings and failing to publish forthcoming meetings in the Federal Register, both which are legally required.

“The applicants know what their scores are, they know if their scores are really good they’re very, very likely to be funded, but now they can’t be funded because the advisory councils haven’t met,” said Jeremy Berg, a former director of the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences.


As the Trump administration seeks to reshape government and cut costs in line with its priorities, scientific institutions, and in particular the $48bn-budgeted National Institutes of Health(NIH), have come under attack.

Funding delays have affected nearly every research field, from pediatric cancer to dementia, as part of a multi-pronged strategy of draconian cuts. Government cost-cutting measures come ahead of an expected push to extend Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which overwhelmingly enriched the wealthy.

For Alzheimer’s research, the stakes are high. The degenerative condition affects 6.7 million Americans with diagnoses expected to double by 2060. Although it most often affects older adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not consider Alzheimer’s a normal part of aging.

At least $65m slated for 14 of the nation’s 35 Alzheimer’s disease research centers is now in limbo. Funding for all 14 centers is expected to run out on 30 April.…….

Alzheimer’s research centers face Trump-imposed $65m funding delay across the US

Researchers report difficulties retaining staff as White House cost-cutting stresses US medical research system

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Having a going out of business fire sale?
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The Trump administration has designated the headquarters of multiple cabinet departments and federal courthouses across the country as nonessential properties that can be sold off.

A website for the General Services Administration — the agency responsible for managing the government’s office space — detailing “buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations” now includes the headquarters of the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the federal courthouse in Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city.

The GSA also says a large swath of prime real estate near the White House, including the Office of Personnel Management’s Theodore Roosevelt Building HQ, the building used to house offices of the United States Trade Representative, the headquarters of the American Red Cross, and the Old Post Office building — a national historic landmark that was formerly leased by President Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate company for use as a hotel — are “non-core” and therefore ripe for disposal as well.

In addition, the agency has also designated its own headquarters, as well as the headquarters of the Department of Labor, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Transportation as unnecessary and potentially for sale.

Outside of Washington, GSA has also marked for potential sale the headquarters of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn, Maryland, the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland, and buildings used by the Food and Drug Administration in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Trump administration also wants to dispose of the John F Kennedy Federal Building and the Thomas P O’Neill Federal Building, both located in Boston, and the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center in Georgia, the largest single federal building in the southeast which currently houses the Federal Railroad Administration. Federal courthouses in Florida, Georgia, and Indiana would also be up for sale under the GSA proposal.

Overall, the administration’s plan would mean the vast majority of cabinet departments and scores of other agencies would lose their own headquarters buildings and be at the mercy of private landlords and developers when it comes to finding space for their operations in the future.…….

Trump admin wants to sell off DOJ headquarters and courthouses

The General Services Administration says the DOJ headquarters building and the FBI building across the street are ‘not core to government operations’ and can therefore be sold off

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

The New York Times is reporting that Michael Grimes, a former Morgan Stanley banker who now works as a senior official at the Department of Commerce, has been ruffling feathers with workers at the CHIPS Program Office, which is responsible for overseeing grants to semiconductor manufacturers under the bipartisan CHIPS act.

According to the Times' sources, Grimes conducted "demeaning" interviews with employees at the office in which he demanded that they produce SAT or IQ scores as a way to "justify their intellect."

Grimes even asked some employees "to do math problems, like calculate the value of four to the fourth power or long division," reports that Times.

Grimes' demands on CHIPS Program Office employees come as President Donald Trump has been publicly disparaging the legislation that was passed under President Joe Biden three years ago and that aims to build up American semiconductor manufacturing capabilities so that the United States no longer has to rely on overseas producers.

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), who was one of the act's Republican champions, is expressing concern about the president's rhetoric about scrapping the program...........

'Demeaning' Trump official demanded federal employees produce SAT or IQ scores: NYT

The New York Times is reporting that Michael Grimes, a former Morgan Stanley banker who now works as a senior official at the Department of Commerce, has been ruffling feathers with workers at the CHIPS Program Office, which is responsible for overseeing grants to semiconductor manufacturers...

www.rawstory.com

 

[bird]

The New York Times is reporting that Michael Grimes, a former Morgan Stanley banker who now works as a senior official at the Department of Commerce, has been ruffling feathers with workers at the CHIPS Program Office, which is responsible for overseeing grants to semiconductor manufacturers under the bipartisan CHIPS act.

According to the Times' sources, Grimes conducted "demeaning" interviews with employees at the office in which he demanded that they produce SAT or IQ scores as a way to "justify their intellect."

Grimes even asked some employees "to do math problems, like calculate the value of four to the fourth power or long division," reports that Times.

Grimes' demands on CHIPS Program Office employees come as President Donald Trump has been publicly disparaging the legislation that was passed under President Joe Biden three years ago and that aims to build up American semiconductor manufacturing capabilities so that the United States no longer has to rely on overseas producers.

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), who was one of the act's Republican champions, is expressing concern about the president's rhetoric about scrapping the program...........

'Demeaning' Trump official demanded federal employees produce SAT or IQ scores: NYT

The New York Times is reporting that Michael Grimes, a former Morgan Stanley banker who now works as a senior official at the Department of Commerce, has been ruffling feathers with workers at the CHIPS Program Office, which is responsible for overseeing grants to semiconductor manufacturers...

www.rawstory.com

If said former banker had any involvement in the crash and Great Recession such as pushing CDOs as good investments then he should be in jail.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), who was one of the act's Republican champions, is expressing concern about the president's rhetoric about scrapping the program...........

'Demeaning' Trump official demanded federal employees produce SAT or IQ scores: NYT

The New York Times is reporting that Michael Grimes, a former Morgan Stanley banker who now works as a senior official at the Department of Commerce, has been ruffling feathers with workers at the CHIPS Program Office, which is responsible for overseeing grants to semiconductor manufacturers...

www.rawstory.com

I'm so glad he's concerned...

 

[Optimus Prime]

I'm so glad he's concerned...

Collins protégé'

 

[Huntn]

Our Civil Rights are on the line…

AOC Rips “Tyrannical and Un-American” Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a serious warning about the ICE arrest of Palestinian activist (and U.S. green card holder) Mahmoud Khalil.

newrepublic.com

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned ICE’s detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, calling it a “tyrannical” move.
“Violating rule of law, actually,” AOC wrote on Monday, responding to an assertion from Katie Miller, wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, that Khalil’s kidnapping was mere “rule of law.”

“You are shredding the Constitution of the United States to go after political enemies. Seizing a person without reason or warrant and denying them access to their lawyer is un-American and tyrannical,” she continued. “Anyone celebrating this should be ashamed.
“If the federal government can disappear a legal US permanent resident without reason or warrant, then they can disappear US citizens too,” she wrotein a separate post. “Anyone—left, right, or center—who has highlighted the importance of constitutional rights + free speech should be sounding the alarm now

 

[superchuck500]

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

hopefully we get more than a sternly worded letter.

 

[superchuck500]

hopefully we get more than a sternly worded letter.

Probably an adverse inference (meaning that the court will 'sanction' the government by presuming for purposes of the case that Ezell's testimony would have been adverse to the government's position).

You basically lose the case on that - but it's not the same as finding him in contempt.

 

[Optimus Prime]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights is known best for enforcing the right to disability services across America’s schools. But under President Donald Trump, it’s taking a frontline role in his political battles.

Trump appointees have halted thousands of pending cases while they open new investigations aligned with the president’s campaign promises. Career staffers have been sidelined and pressured to quit, and those who remain are being ordered to refocus priorities on antisemitism, transgender issues and anti-DEI complaints.

A memo Friday from the civil rights office’s chief announced antisemitism cases are now the top priority, taking aim at colleges where pro-Palestinian protests brought accusations of anti-Jewish bias.

That followed a decision to cut $400 million in federal money going to Columbia University, where on Saturday immigration officials arrested a Palestinian activist who was involved in leading student protests.

Hanging in the balance are the types of cases the office traditionally has focused on — students with disabilities who need services they aren’t getting, or students facing harassment tied to their skin color.

It’s normal for new presidential administrations to pause civil rights cases while they get acclimated, but this transition brought a longer and more rigid freeze than others. Trump officials lifted the freeze for disability cases on Feb. 20, and last week, new Education Secretary Linda McMahon said all cases could resume as normal.

During Trump’s first month in office, the Office for Civil Rights resolved about 50 cases, according to a staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. By comparison, the office resolved more than 3,000 complaints in the same window of Trump’s first term, and almost 500 under former President Joe Biden.

Even the most urgent cases, which are traditionally granted exceptions, sat idle during the freeze. Staff lawyers were told not to respond to outside calls or emails, leaving families in the dark.

Another staff member at the civil rights office described desperate emails from parents whose schools refused to make accommodations for their children’s disabilities. “We were just ignoring their emails,” said the person, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Tylisa Guyton of Taylor, Michigan, filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on Jan. 20 over her 16-year-old son’s repeated suspensions from a suburban Detroit school district, alleging a white administrator was targeting him and a group of other Black children. The teen has been out of school since Dec. 4. Even as investigations resume, she has heard nothing from the civil rights agency.

“He’s still asking every day, ‘When can I go back to school?’” Guyton said of her son.

The memo Friday told staffers antisemitism would be an “investigative and enforcement priority.” It added the memo should not be interpreted as "‘deprioritizing’ any other form of OCR enforcement activity.” But staffers said that’s the most likely outcome as dwindling ranks of employees face heavier caseloads tied to the president’s agenda...............

An office known for enforcing special education is now focused on Trump's political priorities

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is best known for enforcing disability rights across America’s schools, but under President Donald Trump it’s being reshaped into a frontline figure in the president’s political battles.

apnews.com

 

[MT15]

There just isn’t anything too petty for them, the party of freedom, am I right?