THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS HAS ARRIVED - UPDATED AGAIN

“There is simply no plausible argument that the president has the constitutional authority to refuse to spend appropriated funds because he doesn’t like how the money is being spent. The legality of policy impoundments is just not a close question. And it's hard to think of anything more destructive of our constitutional order than a claim that a president can either spend funds that have not been appropriated or refuse to spend funds that have.” - Josh Chafetz

I was definitely wrong. It only took President Fuckwit J. Traitor a week to get to the Main Constitutional Crisis with his whirlwind moves to establish his dictatorship.

We are at Complete FUBAR.

This action on his part is not meant to be a close question. The White House occupier doesn’t care how often he loses in court. The message of this is his belief that Congress will not stand up to him while the rest of us become numb to what’s going on as he boils us alive in his treasonous bullshit.

This has to be challenged.

The first paragraph of the January 27 OMB memo pausing disbursement of federal funds is nothing short of the declaration of a coup:

“The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans. Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending “wokeness” and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again. The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”

The memo further directs agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” beginning at 5 p.m. the following day, on January 28. Today.

In purporting to withhold federal funds already appropriated by Congress, the memo represents a direct challenge to the legislature’s power of the purse as stated in Article I of the Constitution. That is why this is a Constitutional Crisis of the first magnitude. The power of the purse has been the major point of the battles for democracy against autocracy going back to Magna Carta.

Even the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which tends to err on the side of the President in these kinds of separation-of-powers disputes, concluded in 1988 that the overwhelming weight of authority “is against such a broad power in the face of an express congressional directive to spend.” As OLC explained,

There is no textual source in the Constitution for any inherent authority to impound. It has been argued that the President has such authority because the specific decision whether or not to spend appropriated funds constitutes the execution of the laws, and Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution vests the “executive Power” in the President alone. The execution of any law, however, is by definition an executive function, and it seems an “anomalous proposition” that because the President is charged with the execution of the laws he may also disregard the direction of Congress and decline to execute them. Similarly, reliance upon the President’s obligation to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” Article II, Section 3, to give the President the authority to impound funds in order to protect the national fisc, creates the anomalous result that the President would be declining to execute the laws under the claim of faithfully executing them. Moreover, if accepted, arguments in favor of an inherent impoundment power, carried to their logical conclusion, would render congressional directions to spend merely advisory.

Following Richard Nixon’s use of impoundment, the Supreme Court declared his actions unconstitutional under Article I. Following that, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed, declaring that the president is prohibited from ordering rescission of Congressionally appropriated spending. The act does allow the president to request the rescission of specific discretionary spending, but requires that Congress approve any proposed rescissions within 45 days. That is a requirement that this memo does not address. The president is also permitted to propose “deferrals” of funds, but only according to a specified process also not followed here.

The memo specifies the pause applies to issuance and disbursement of funds and other “relevant agency actions” affected by the administration’s executive orders, including “foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” “to the extent permissible by law.” It specifies that Medicare, Social Security, and “assistance provided directly to individuals” will not be affected. Such a broad freeze on funding could potentially funding dedicated to healthcare, scientific research, education programs, and more.

State Medicaid programs across the country report they have lost access to federal payment portals. Today, state Medicaid programs reported that they have been blocked from accessing the portals that provide states with federal funding. Sen. Ron Wyden wrote on X, “My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night’s federal funding freeze. This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed.”

According to Medicaid.gov, nearly 80 million people in the U.S. were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in October 2024. Of those enrolled in either program, more than 37 million were children.

This action threatens to plunge the U.S. into economic crisis. Viewed exclusively through the pocketbook lens, it also threatens to depress demand, which, in turn, would achieve the supposedly pressing goal of lowering grocery prices.

The funding freeze could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the state attorneys general would be immediately suing Trump over his federal funding freeze. He said at a press conference:

“The Trump administration announced a halt to virtually all federal funds across the country. In an instant, Donald Trump has shut off billions, perhaps trillions of dollars that directly support States, cities, towns, schools, hospitals, small businesses, and most of all, American families.

“It's a dagger at the heart of the average American family in red states, in blue states, in cities, in suburbs, in rural areas. It is just outrageous. Funds for things like disaster assistance, local law enforcement, rural hospitals, aid to the elderly, food for people in need, all are on the chopping block in this new administration.

“Why? They need tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and these cuts. They think we'll fund them. Every one of our offices has been deluged with calls from people who are in panic. What is this going to mean? What if I have a hospital that has people on life support? What are we going to do? And just like the January 6th pardons, this decision is lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel.

“It's illegal. It's unconstitutional. I spoke to my Attorney General this morning. She's head of the State Attorneys General Association. They’re going to court right away on this horror.

“This is plain and simple: this is Project 2025 Project 2025 by another name. They knew how unpopular Project 2025 was, but the right wing ideologues are still in control.

“So they had to do it in a different way, but it is the same consequences and we'll have the same horrible, negative, overwhelming reaction.”

All of the Executive Orders that have been issued since the White House occupier instituted his occupation a week ago have been in furtherance of his goal of putting all power in this country under his personal control.

He told us he would be a dictator on Day One. Now we have to believe him.

UPDATE:

Court to President Asswipe J. Shitforbrains: Oh no you don’t!

The planned freeze on federal grants and loans was put on ice Tuesday afternoon just minutes before it was set to begin. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan, in Washington, issued an administrative stay to pause the freeze until at least Monday—a ruling that came as the Medicaid funding portals for states across the country were reported as down. The Shitforbrains Maladministration has insisted programs providing direct assistance to Americans would not be affected by the freeze, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans and food stamps. AliKhan said her ruling was intended to “maintain the status quo” and does not block him from halting funds to new programs, nor does it require the federal government to restart funding it already ended. AliKhan said next steps will be weighed in Monday’s hearing. A flurry of lawsuits to block such a freeze are expected to be filed in the coming days, with blue states like New York, California, and Massachusetts already indicating they will oppose the Administration’s directive.

2025 is the most important terrible year in our history since 1860. Resisting this unconstitutional attempt to destroy democracy is the central battle of all our lives. That’s Another Fine Mess needs your support as a paid subscriber to do this. It’s only $7/month or $70/year.

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