berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
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Since he returned to office, Donald Trump and his allies have used a series of illegal tactics to withhold federal funding and strangle administrative agencies. The administration has tried to freeze federal funding with an agency memorandum, turned over control of the government’s payments systems to an unelected and unaccountable actor in Elon Musk, and withheld appropriations from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Reportedly, the administration is also preparing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education in the coming weeks.
Trump’s actions are stunning, but they’re not entirely unprecedented. Richard Nixon used a similar strategy in an attempt to unilaterally shut down the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the federal agency created under President Lyndon Johnson to implement the War on Poverty. Mobilization by unionized federal workers and the courts eventually put an end to Nixon’s efforts. This history highlights how opponents of Trump’s power grab can potentially fight back—and protect one of the most sacrosanct principles embedded in the Constitution.
time.com
Dems need to be clear in their messaging (something they are terrible at) when it comes to opposing trump's total government takeover. Especially how Don is using the fraud and abuse tag line to cover for his greater ambitions. They run the risk of being pigeon holed as the party trying to block efforts to reduce the deficit. When in reality it is more accurate to say the objection they are raising has more to do with the illegal way trump is going about it.
Over the weekend trump as much as admitted he is breaking laws to meet his objectives. Rationalizing it by claiming he should be allowed to break laws if, in his opinion, it's for the good of the country. Following a pattern of open admissions he believes he should possess autocratic power.
In so doing, vindicating what some of us have been predicting would happen. Not that it required any great insight. He's been telegraphing it for years. Previously, those efforts have entailed probing for and exploiting weaknesses in our democracy in ways that had never been contemplated. Our defenses having been oriented to repel foreign enemies, not internal ones. The enemy is now, as the saying goes, inside the gate. The next 4 years will be a test of our fortitude to fight against it.
Trump’s actions are stunning, but they’re not entirely unprecedented. Richard Nixon used a similar strategy in an attempt to unilaterally shut down the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the federal agency created under President Lyndon Johnson to implement the War on Poverty. Mobilization by unionized federal workers and the courts eventually put an end to Nixon’s efforts. This history highlights how opponents of Trump’s power grab can potentially fight back—and protect one of the most sacrosanct principles embedded in the Constitution.
The Playbook for Stopping Trump From Shuttering Agencies
Presidents can't shutter an agency Congress created by statute. Only Congress has this power.
Dems need to be clear in their messaging (something they are terrible at) when it comes to opposing trump's total government takeover. Especially how Don is using the fraud and abuse tag line to cover for his greater ambitions. They run the risk of being pigeon holed as the party trying to block efforts to reduce the deficit. When in reality it is more accurate to say the objection they are raising has more to do with the illegal way trump is going about it.
Over the weekend trump as much as admitted he is breaking laws to meet his objectives. Rationalizing it by claiming he should be allowed to break laws if, in his opinion, it's for the good of the country. Following a pattern of open admissions he believes he should possess autocratic power.
In so doing, vindicating what some of us have been predicting would happen. Not that it required any great insight. He's been telegraphing it for years. Previously, those efforts have entailed probing for and exploiting weaknesses in our democracy in ways that had never been contemplated. Our defenses having been oriented to repel foreign enemies, not internal ones. The enemy is now, as the saying goes, inside the gate. The next 4 years will be a test of our fortitude to fight against it.
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