Is there nothing in the federal government that Donald Trump doesn’t want to pull apart and destroy, behaving as though his election victory gives him unlimited authority? Internally, he has stripped or threatened to strip the Justice Department and the FBI of professional staff members whom he believes are biased against him, with no evidence. Gone are the 13 inspectors general who are tasked with providing as independent eye on the operations of the most major departments. Sweeping pronouncements about ending the presence of the undocumented have been undefined, causing consternation among authorities and fear among immigrants of all levels. Will churches and schools be raided along with companies? It’s a poor reflection of the United States when Native Americans are cautioned by tribal leadership to be sure to carry proof of identity.
Treasury Department payment data – it dispenses the trillions in annual U.S. spending – is apparently in the hands of the unelected Elon Musk.
The humanitarian aid that USAID conveys, mostly nutrition and health, is said to be 40% of worldwide aid. For decades it has reduced hunger and prevented or treated diseases for millions, in doing so showcasing the strength and generosity of the United States. USAID is not all sacks of wheat and rice; it teaches more productive small scale farming and plans electrical grids. To be ended in a few days, with no support for employees and contractors. Corruption and waste? No proof is being cited. Russia and China won’t hesitate to shout what the U.S. has done, and each will claim that an alliance with their country will be stronger.
To make clear Trump’s actions are not all about reducing the government’s size, or what he and his supporters see as ending woke culture, by eliminated the security coverage of a military general and foreign policy advisers – and Dr. Anthony Fauci – who have received credible foreign and domestic threats against their lives, he is showing cruel spite. Gone this weekend is the director of the National Archives and Records Administration; that she arrived after the initiation of the effort to properly claim the federal documents he improperly took to Mar-a-Lago made no difference. And, gone early on was the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, told so at the event for military leadership to meet the newly inaugurated president. She was too focused on DEI, Trump said.
Inserted himself as leader of the government owned John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts? Yes, he did, with observers saying that it’s a response to in his first term feeling slighted by arts advocates.
Terms such as “elected monarch” are being applied to Trump. He is certainly behaving like it, with Musk looking to have free hand as his administrator (when Musk is out of favor, and he will be eventually, without looking back he’ll return to space travel and battery-making, leaving layers of chaos behind him).
Federal courts have so far blunted a few of Trump’s initiatives, temporarily postponing USAID leadership firings and saying no to Trump’s dictate to end birthright citizenship (never mind that it’s in the Constitution).
Meanwhile, no reaction from Republicans either in the House or in the Senate. They all are comfortable with what is transpiring? Trump is destroying government operations without their involvement, which by law the president cannot do, and he is refusing to spend funds they’ve authorized, also in the Constitution.
Democrats cannot end this. It will require Republicans to say no, this is not what should be taking place in this country. What will the tipping point be and when will it occur? Until then, American is suffering.
