President Donald Trump is overwhelming the political system in his attempt to fold the US to his will, adding broad sectors of the federal bureaucracy in chaos and leaving the opposition overwhelmed by the scope of its measures.
The White House offered on Tuesday night compensation to federal workers who did not want to end their remote contracts. He also warned that the government planned additional aggressive cuts to the Federal Labor Force.
Shortly before, the government had sent a wide radical order that froze subsidies and federal loans. The memorandum, and a subsequent explanatory document issued by the Office of Administration and Budget, said that the individual benefits would not be affected. But the lack of clarity wreaked havoc on key programsand left the status of potentially miles of millions of dollars in payments in the air.
On Tuesday night, a federal judge issued a temporary suspension of the measure, but the mere threat of freezing affected federal employees, state and local governments and organizations without profit fines that fear that the financing of vital services will be revoked. What increases the concern is that it would only be the first attack in a constitutional battle on the power of Congress to have funds, and that will test if Trump can fulfill his promise to personally control the expense.
The announcement followed measures to fire federal workers in roles of diversity, equity and inclusion, officials of the Department of Justice who investigated Trump and more than a dozen general inspectors.
In a few days, Trump also revived his request for general tariffsuspended foreign aid, released Elon Musk about the Federal Labor Force, pardoned the uproarist of January 6, 2021 and tried to end the right of citizenship by birth.
It has been too much for the opposition. The Democrats in Congress scheduled an “emergency meeting” on the freezing of funds for Wednesday, two days after the OMB emitted its guidelines. Democratic officials said they faced an avalanche of questions from voters and associated organizations. As soon as a controversy seemed to gain political strength, another absorbed it, stealing political and media attention.
These are examples of the strategy of “flooding the area”, an approach adopted by Trump Steve Bannon’s ally: to move quickly to disorient and wear out critics, who are helpless to respond.
The White House Cabinet Subrice, Stephen Miller, said Tuesday at the CNN that “It is essential for him to take control of the government, establish a comprehensive government process for the political appointments of Donald Trump, review discretionary spending subsidies.” ”
Trump is better prepared to sow chaos in the government that eight years ago, in his first presidency. As an example of the amplitude of its reforms, An order to close a little known US Army Office focused on reducing civilians in wars was sent at 9 pm on the day of possession, according to a memorandum obtained by Bloomberg News.
Anonymous Democrats
Some Democrats say they should have been prepared for the onslaught.
“He campaigned with that, that he was going to do all these things, the pardons and all this pile of executive orders,” said Pensylvania Senator John Fetterman in an interview. “He’s doing exactly everything he has been saying, so he doesn’t surprise me.”
Although Trump’s impulse aims to be strategic, some movements are marked by the random and risky behavior of his first mandate.
The freezing of funds was made public through press reports late on Monday night and caused confusion in Washington and state capitals. It was not clear if it affected programs such as food coupons. Officials in several states reported that they had blocked access to the Medicaid payment system, although the business administration that the technical problem was related. On Tuesday, the White House was forced to clarify that freezing did not affect “individual assistance” measures, but some Republican legislators were upset about their reach.
Although the directive does not affect social benefits programs such as Social Security and Medicare, it could affect the money for veterans, it helps in case of disasters, medical care providers, education and dozens of other functions. Agencies directors have until February 10 to present reports on whether their initiatives comply with Trump’s orders on DEI, climate change and other issues.
The 1974 embargo control law prevents the presidents unilaterally annulling the financing decisions of the Congress. LThe Democrats said that the freezing was illegal while Trump’s defenders said that a “temporary pause” is allowed, subject to a review. Trump’s election to direct the budget office, Russell Vought, has said that the limits of the law are unconstitutional.
Republican senator Jerry Moran de Kansas, who is part of the Senate Committee with jurisdiction on discretionary spending, said Trump must still spend the money assigned by Congress before the end of the fiscal year unless legislators recover the funds.
“That is the law and perhaps also the Constitution,” he said in an interview.
However, Trump bet too fast for the opposition. On Tuesday, the Democratic senators held a press conference on the pardons of January 6 last week. Meanwhile, the president continued at full speed with the dismissal of more public officials, expanded immigration raids to New York City and prohibited transgender people in the Armed Forces.
Some of his actions, such as the one that denies citizens by birth, were blocked in court. Less members of his cabinet have been confirmed that their predecessors to the same date of their respective governments, and has not yet addressed fundamental fundamental issues such as inflation and war in Ukraine.
Federal workers
The Administration is sightd by the Government Human Resources Agency, the Personnel Management Office, to install its allies in Washington.
The interim director of that entity, Charles Ezell, ordered the leaders of federal agencies to send lists of easy -to -fire employees who are still in the test period to Amanda Scales, the new head of the entity’s cabinet. Scales worked until recently at the artificial intelligence company of Musk, XAI. Ezell also ordered federal agencies to “determine if those employees must be retained.”
The Republican Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley joined his Democratic pair Dick Durbin when asking Trump to justify the layoffs of general inspectors, as required by law. But it is not clear if Congress can do more to force accounts. The president has the mandate to give Congress a 30 -day warning to expel an independent control agency.
“The freezing of federal subsidies, the dismissal of all general inspectors, the immunization of political violence: do not see what is happening?” The Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote in X. “In a lightning attack, Trump is trying to land our democracy – and probably our economy – to take control.”
