However, I notice that you did not mention at all - unless I missed it & if I did, do correct me - the impact that “…possibly creating long stretches of intermediate confusion…” will have on individual lives. Millions of individual lives.
Do you realize that musk’s “…intermediate confusion…” tactics are taking away money that people need to live their lives? That once the South African Nazi and his equally traitorous underlings start halting Social Security payments, Medicare & Medicaid benefits and veterans benefits and payments, people’s actual lives will be severely impacted? As in immediately. What are they supposed to do while all these lawsuits work their way through our lopsided court system? What are they supposed to eat? Where will they live once they can’t pay their mortgage or rent and they are evicted? All of these things will begin to happen while we are all sitting around waiting for lawsuits to be filed and judges to act.
Has anyone at all considered this - why is musk being allowed to take over government departments? Do you know what would have happened to me if I had ever showed up at the Treasure Dept, walked in, sat down at a desk and started typing away, breaking into the systems and making changes? How long before I was wearing handcuffs? How long before my ass was in a jail cell for the duration after being denied bail? Shouldn’t this have happened right away? Why didn’t it?
Are the federal marshals and DC police too afraid to do their jobs or are they all in trump’s pocket already? It certainly seems so.
Why isn’t anyone asking these questions?
I won’t find any comfort at all in knowing a lawsuit to return my veteran’s disability and healthcare is winding its way through courts while my cat and I try to survive while living in my car after losing my home. And what if the far-right Supreme Court rules in trump & musk’s favor - which is entirely likely. What then?
This right here! I financially supplement my parents and disabled brother . They live in SSN and VA benefits- I’m terrified the next payment doesn’t happen on the 8th like it is supposed to and immediately they are out of money, and I have to find a way to pay for everything. Like how does that actually work - all the old people in nursing homes in Medicaid - do they go in the street to die. Do I bankrupt myself to save my parents? I have teens and on the brink of college - what happens to all of this while we wait for hopefully so court case to save us????
I am sorry you too are dealing with the same stress and unknowns.
My son received SSI due to permanent, multiple disabilities. He had a very small life since SSI is calculated to give a person as little as possible, which makes it imperative that they find government subsidized housing. (They can’t work beyond the barest part-time job because after about 750.00 a month from a job you lose more from your SSI than you earn and you lose your Medicaid.) He was very worried about trump regaining office. He knew he would lose his income, healthcare & housing. He also knew trump said all disabled people “should just die”. We texted the day of the election & he was deeply upset. Several hours later the stress over trump’s win brought on a massive seizure which killed him. I have no doubt trump would find this deeply satisfying and also blame my son for being born with disabilities.
We are all in for it until - and that’s an if I’m sorry to say - this mess gets straightened out.
In 2016 just two months after trump’s inauguration I received a letter saying my compensation was going to be cut by 50% immediately because the government decided I was overpaid. At that time all the veterans groups got it stopped right away. trump was worried about maintaining his BS lie about being a macho guy who just loved “his military”. They don’t care this time.
If you are in a blue city or state I imagine there are groups who will help as much as they can with housing and food. Seek them out if you need to - there is no shame in getting help. Especially when it’s our very government taking our income, stealing it, for themselves.
I am out of luck on that. I live in an extremely red town in an equally red state. We used to have a homeless shelter in town that also served a daily dinner open to anyone. It was run by a pastor. He became sick with cancer. Within days after his death the mayor and council closed the shelter with no help to those they evicted. The mayor interestingly calls himself “an upright Christian”. (He’s a trump Christian, not a Jesus Christian.)
We all have to look after each other to get through this. I hope your community is one of the good ones. All my best to you & your family.
Oh my goodness - I am so, so sorry this happened to you. The loss of your son is devastating and so unfair. My gosh what a good person you are to write me such a loving note when you have every right to be the angriest person. It’s so wrong what happened to you. I hate the way people are treated in these difficult situations. The benefits you get are so little but at least it is something. My brother is severely mentally ill - had two hospitalizations last year and my mom is dying of head cancer so it’s just a lot right now. But everyone is alive and at least my husband and I have our jobs and our daughter works 2 jobs. I live in a red state but an area that likes to help the “poor” so we can be someone’s charity case if we have to - no shame! It’s just all so unnecessary and so frustrating- like why they can’t see how bad this is or could be!
I am sorry for what you are going through. My father had brain cancer years ago. It is a difficult to go through for those with it of course but also for the family. I hope you have a caring support group of friends and family to help everyone get through this.
I am angry about how my son died. I will always blame trump and his cult for their hatred and deliberate spewing of ugliness towards the most vulnerable of our society. The day before the election my son sent me the video where trump actually says “why don’t they just die?” where he was referring to those with disabilities. I tried to talk with him, to redirect him, to remind him that not everyone is such a despicable, evil person. But then trump won the next day. It was just too much all at once. Even though he was on seizure medication, the onslaught of the worry and stress was too much. (It is a medical fact that stress can bring on seizures as well as cause other medical issues to worsen.) I grieve for my son and I will not forget just how ugly our society has become and what it costs people.
I am glad to hear that your area looks after those who are in need. That is reassuring. You won’t be a “charity case” if you need to ask for help. You are a human being who would be in need of help. That is all that matters. Period.
You are correct. This is all “…so unnecessary and so frustrating”. Absolutely! Sadly, they - those doing this - are very aware of how bad it is and could be. They don’t care. Their lack of humanity reveals them all to be lacking in humanity and empathy, completely beyond redemption. What I call a complete waste of space. The dreck of society.
I am so sorry for your loss. As a SOCIETY we are expected to assist those who need help, not to stress them unto an untimely demise. Where will we go before this terrible tide reverses? Hopefully we can retain our humanity.
I normally agree with Godwin’s law…but the man did “Heil Hitler” twice. On stage. In public. And did not apologize.
If this isn’t a Nazi…what is? And EVEN IF you disagree, can you not extend any understanding to us who think he is a Nazi? I mean you dismissed the comment out of hand. Surely you can understand why people think he’s a Nazi.
Again, if you take your social cues from Adolph Hitler, then Hitler wins. Hitler wanted to overlay his imprint, to culturally appropriate, a Roman salute, a politician's common wave of respect to a crowd. Reject that. I thought we already had in the 50's and 60's when War Vets and their hippy liitle brothers both wore and displayed and wielded to their motorcycles Nazi sacred symbols like the war booty it was.
Why do I need to allow musk to revive a dead Roman salute? Why am I in the wrong for seeing and interpreting a nod to hitler with my own eyes? Why am I in the wrong for not understanding archaic hand signals? I think he knows who he is and what he’s doing. I want to be reasonable but this interpretation is wildly unreasonable by any standard.
Here’s maybe a better question. Who or what would a fascist look like today? How do I spot them?
Me too. Cannot overlook this kind of thinking anymore. You don’t have to be a bodhisattva to understand that fighting hate with hate is a fundamental part of our problems in America.
No, he does not. And that salute does NOT belong to the Nazis. It did and we took it back. In the clearest way possible. If you yourself are a Nazi and are annoyed at prominent figures treating "your" totem with such irreverence .. then good.
Technically, there is no way Trump or Musk can hurt the SC unless some of the judges are receiving "extra" benefits for doing what Trump wants. I don't know how you discover that and stop it. It would be a hard process, and by then Musk would have broken everything since he doesn't work for the government, but is allowed to act under Trump's power, there is no recourse to stop him.
Is there no legal remedy for commandeering the building and using officers from homeland security to prevent access by employees of that office as well as Senators themselves? How do you conclude that this is not “exactly” a constitutional crisis when these same 5 individuals, all unvetted and under the age of 25, supervised by Musk, are still there, accessing and purportedly rewriting code via AI using private data of all of us? You appear to be intentionally underestimating the threat, first, and second, ignoring the damage and disregard of the judicial order as outlined in your own words. Doctors ability to access reporting across a multitude of medical and statistical websites has been impaired as well as scientific and environmental data which has been collected over the years being deleted. Your response doesn’t reflect the degree of damage already sustained and this merits another look into the damage done here and abroad. Add to the mess, Gaza plans and the fact that immigrants have already been sent to Guantanamo for detention. That was supposed face a barrage of legal issues before it could happen. Do what happened? The legality was ignored?
By all means, please continue to report on judicial restraint being executed but don’t neglect to acknowledge the urgency and degree of harm inflicted across the board by these individuals. It comes across as being utterly patronizing in tone, and I’m certain that is not what you intended.
An incredible amount of damage can still be done while we wait for all of this (plus whatever happens in the mean time) to make it's way through the courts... hopefully they will reign things in, but it just doesn't feel like enough...
Have you read what these people are capriciously and arbitrarily spending money on or don't you care? USAID was set up by Executive order and congress decided to fund it, but I'm sure NOBODY has a clue where all this money is going. Did you complain when Biden cancelled student debt or broke the law by letting in people illegally on purpose? Or when he mandated vaccines? NOT spending money is not the same as SPENDING MONEY by unelected people that benefits radical progressive agendas. What about that?
You must be kidding. For one thing, it was created by Executive Order, not congress even though congress has once again condoned spending it has no idea of and certainly the American people don't; and/or advances progressive ideas and not America's interests as a whole. So the whole thing can be dismantled, but there is no way funds should be spent like this: (Oh, and headlines today say Politico got some of it): According to Realclearpolitics and this is just a drop in the bucket: "Some of the most flagrant examples of USAID waste, Trump, Musk, and others have cited include: $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbian workplaces, $70,000 for the production of a DEI musical in Ireland, $47,000 for a trans opera in Colombia, and $32,000 for a trans comic book in Peru. The agency also sent millions to EcoHealth Alliance, which was involved in research at the Chinese state-controlled Wuhan lab that the CIA now says is likely responsible for the release of COVID-19"
Hi there — first off, here’s my piece criticizing executive overreach during the student loans debate: https://www.wakeuptopolitics.com/p/july-6-2023. Secondly, I would note that “arbitrary and capricious” is less about the merits of a policy themselves, but more about the process that must be followed. So, for example, you may take issue with USAID funding going towards a musical in Ireland, but as far as the APA is concerned, what really matters is that the proper process was followed in awarding it (which also means the proper process must be followed in undoing actions as well). This doesn’t mean USAID’s decisions shouldn’t be debated and criticized — they should, that’s important in a democracy. But important to clarify what is and isn’t *illegal*, as opposed to merely controversial policy choices. Third, it’s important to note USAID was created by an executive order originally, but has more recently been enshrined as law by Congress.
Procedure. No matter how corrupt or out of line all this is in, you are following corrupt procedures. He PAUSED it until they could actually see what they were doing (and how they are perpetrating these abuses we know nothing about), which they have no right to do. Politico apparently got money, too, we'll see where that goes. And Eco Health Alliance. And if he needs to get congress to stop the EO or stop payment, he will. What about illegal immigration? Biden w as purposely breaking laws. Did you complain about that? The bottom line here is that this government is loaded with crap like this and that should never happen. Do you care about that or just "procedures?" Which I'm sure they will address here in some way?
Almost totally agree with Lekimball. We all know that there are limitless feel good causes which a lot of us would agree to support if we have virtually limitless funds and an open checkbook, and the great majority of both politicians and bureaucrats in DC are only too happy to spend even more of the taxpayers’ money than they collect. It is logrolling known as you scratch my back and vote for my favorite project and I’ll then vote for yours. We as a nation only have some combination of three choices. Reduce. Spending , raise already high taxes and reduce growth, or adopt policies that increase growth . I choose what is behind doors #1 and #3.
I think if we sat down together and had coffee, we could have a really good exchange. I would want to learn more about what you find harmful about any of these. Sure, maybe we should save this money for using in our own country, but I do believe that $32,000 to make trans people a bit more visible and accepted in Peru is a tiny amount for us and a valuable use of our power to make other countries more aligned with our values (and I do believe trans acceptance is aligned with American values, though we may disagree).
Exactly, people/groups apply for grants and they are required to define and explain the purpose for that money. If it falls under certain guidelines, then they receive it. Just like billionaires are allowed a variety of legal ways to lower their tax bill, and they use all of them. No one complains.
They complained about his letting in immigrants in but didn't stop them because of the need for businesses to hire cheap labor after Covid. For example, the workers in the construction industry in Texas are 95% from south of the border. I haven't heard that ICE agents are looking into that.
I believe they are looking into it and/or will put these people on work visas which Trump was never against, but they don't get to STAY or have a path to citizenship. Or disappear. And we ought to ave paperwork and know where 325,000 children are.
But what about agricultural workers? They are seasonal and come and go. Or what about restaurant workers who stay for several months, go back home with their money and then come back. The reason they get jobs is because they are illegal and will work for much less than American laborers work. It is the Employers who hire them who should be fined.
Agricultural workers have traditionally gotten short term visas as I SAID. And if they come legally, they will get paid more. So what is your point? They should keep breaking laws and we should allow employers to do it? I lived in an orchard area where twenty years ago, they had short term visas and got paid well. Democrats were deliberately trying to change the electorate by doing it. The "employers" can go suck eggs.
Then there isn't any problem with what this article suggests. It may take longer than you want but all the fraud will be identified. Deciding something is fraud is a legal question. Doge can find it but the courts have to validate it.
Gabe, Excellent piece! Very clear and comprehensive. Could you address Musk's access to the federal databases which he and his staff can view, share, copy and with access to the code, modify. There are Congressional rules to preserve the security of this information. Notwithstanding that it may be too late how can Congree clas back secure access to our data?
Yes, executive branch non-compliance with court orders would be a clear constitutional crisis, but the continual abrogation of constitutional congressional authority to the executive branch is a slow-rolling, and now accelerating, constitutional crisis of its own. If not totally in substance, it goes against the spirit of the system the Founders intended. Even if Congress intentionally devolves some power to the president, Congress should be able to withdraw that assignment of power at any time, which is not the case today. Congress has simply not adequately guarded its prerogatives.
Please stop with the constitutional crisis dog whistle. Let Joy Reid make those hysterical and misinformed comments. We expect that from her. My greater interest is the comments after an article like this. We as a nation regardless of political affiliation understand that fiscally our country is a dumpster fire. We spend more than we make and collect. We complain about it every election cycle but never do anything about it. Now we have an elected official who is doing exactly what he campaigned on doing and its described as anarchy. This is like fake intellectual masturbation. I actually heard Jen Psaki say that “our government is under attack”. What she failed to mention is that it’s our elected government who is attacking our government. In reality it’s not an attack on the government, it’s more exposing what we’ve always known. What irritates the deranged is not the reckless illegal waste of our tax dollars it’s only about the people who are exposing it. Seems a bit petty and juvenile to me. But don’t stop what you’re doing. The fabricated hysterical accusations and fear mongering helped you out so much during the last election. Rational people see through these dog whistles. Perhaps you could focus your patriotic ire at the government officials from the last administration who lost 300,000 plus migrant children to who knows what fate over the last four years. Killing the messenger tells me you have no issues handing this fiscal dumpster fire on to your children. Can we just put a lid on the hysteria for a bit and attempt to legitimately fix our country’s fiscal irresponsibility? You can always go back to calling Trump Hitler. If that makes you feel better.
I wish I could say your post made me feel better today, Gabe, I don't. Thank You for the hard work, I know you put into the this article, you're the best, and will reStack ASAP 🙏💯👍
Hi Gabe - Thanks for this analysis which is very helpful. My greatest concern is that in spite of the APA meaning to protect against “arbitrary and capricious” decisions, Trump and Musk can simply cobble together any number of half-baked and bad-faith legal arguments as their reasoning, and SCOTUS and other partisan/ideological Trump-sympathetic judges like Aileen Cannon will simply accept them as valid.
My immediate thought was the 2019 SCOTUS case which blocked the citizenship question from the 2020 Census in a 5-4 ruling, with John Roberts being the deciding vote. Linda Greenhouse from NYT suggested that Roberts was initially amenable to the flimsy arguments about legal rationale for including the question and why these wouldn’t violate the APA, and may have changed sides a month after oral arguments when the bombshell report of Thomas Hofeller’s personal files were made public after his death, exposing the citizenship question push as an even more blatant bad faith move than anything that came up in the lower court cases.
And that was before RGB was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett. I just don’t feel very optimistic that a SCOTUS majority will be strong adherents to the APA, and they will accept a poorly-reasoned and bad-faith argument for Trump/Musk actions if they simply cite some other existing law as to why their actions are necessary and legal. How would you respond to this?
Ah Gabe lots have folks have already talked about the incredible pain this chaos will cause. And others have talked about the illegality of folks like the muskrat and his crew having access to all of our private information. all of that is true and I totally agree. But the real constitutional crisis is happening. The courts can say what is right according to the constitution and the apa but who is responsible for actually enforcing the courts’ decisions? All of that apparatus is in the hands of the executive branch. If the executive branch is the branch running amok of the constitution who stops that? You know and We all know that Homeland is preventing employees and members of congress from entering federal buildings. We all know that some are getting access to payment sites and others aren’t. I don’t have any confidence that this is the result of some technical glitch. We need to investigate the who and why. But that investigation activity is also in the executive branch—you know the ones breaking all the rules. So who is going to enforce the rules or the court orders? Who is going to do that if all those folks are in the executive branch controlled by the ones breaking the law and controlled by incompetent bad actors closely aligned with the law breakers?
Gabe we are definitely in a constitutional crisis and you’re ignoring the signs of fascist control of the executive branch. Does it have to come down to US Military personnel being deployed against protestors who are trying to wrest control from the bad actors. No I’m not either predicting or embracing violence. I’m telling you that the refusal of the executive branch to enforce decisions by the judicial branch and the laws passed by the legislative branch is a constitutional crisis whether or not you want to call it one. This is something that I would absolutely expect you to see. We are there it is happening
So Gabe it appears that muskrat, et al and the 🍊💩 are not complying with the TROs. Can you face the reality that this is definitely a coup, or more specifically an autogolpe?
Terrific piece, Gabe. I wish other members of the media were as careful and precise as you are — and that they explained issues and laws as well. Thank you.
Well written piece.
However, I notice that you did not mention at all - unless I missed it & if I did, do correct me - the impact that “…possibly creating long stretches of intermediate confusion…” will have on individual lives. Millions of individual lives.
Do you realize that musk’s “…intermediate confusion…” tactics are taking away money that people need to live their lives? That once the South African Nazi and his equally traitorous underlings start halting Social Security payments, Medicare & Medicaid benefits and veterans benefits and payments, people’s actual lives will be severely impacted? As in immediately. What are they supposed to do while all these lawsuits work their way through our lopsided court system? What are they supposed to eat? Where will they live once they can’t pay their mortgage or rent and they are evicted? All of these things will begin to happen while we are all sitting around waiting for lawsuits to be filed and judges to act.
Has anyone at all considered this - why is musk being allowed to take over government departments? Do you know what would have happened to me if I had ever showed up at the Treasure Dept, walked in, sat down at a desk and started typing away, breaking into the systems and making changes? How long before I was wearing handcuffs? How long before my ass was in a jail cell for the duration after being denied bail? Shouldn’t this have happened right away? Why didn’t it?
Are the federal marshals and DC police too afraid to do their jobs or are they all in trump’s pocket already? It certainly seems so.
Why isn’t anyone asking these questions?
I won’t find any comfort at all in knowing a lawsuit to return my veteran’s disability and healthcare is winding its way through courts while my cat and I try to survive while living in my car after losing my home. And what if the far-right Supreme Court rules in trump & musk’s favor - which is entirely likely. What then?
This right here! I financially supplement my parents and disabled brother . They live in SSN and VA benefits- I’m terrified the next payment doesn’t happen on the 8th like it is supposed to and immediately they are out of money, and I have to find a way to pay for everything. Like how does that actually work - all the old people in nursing homes in Medicaid - do they go in the street to die. Do I bankrupt myself to save my parents? I have teens and on the brink of college - what happens to all of this while we wait for hopefully so court case to save us????
I am sorry you too are dealing with the same stress and unknowns.
My son received SSI due to permanent, multiple disabilities. He had a very small life since SSI is calculated to give a person as little as possible, which makes it imperative that they find government subsidized housing. (They can’t work beyond the barest part-time job because after about 750.00 a month from a job you lose more from your SSI than you earn and you lose your Medicaid.) He was very worried about trump regaining office. He knew he would lose his income, healthcare & housing. He also knew trump said all disabled people “should just die”. We texted the day of the election & he was deeply upset. Several hours later the stress over trump’s win brought on a massive seizure which killed him. I have no doubt trump would find this deeply satisfying and also blame my son for being born with disabilities.
We are all in for it until - and that’s an if I’m sorry to say - this mess gets straightened out.
In 2016 just two months after trump’s inauguration I received a letter saying my compensation was going to be cut by 50% immediately because the government decided I was overpaid. At that time all the veterans groups got it stopped right away. trump was worried about maintaining his BS lie about being a macho guy who just loved “his military”. They don’t care this time.
If you are in a blue city or state I imagine there are groups who will help as much as they can with housing and food. Seek them out if you need to - there is no shame in getting help. Especially when it’s our very government taking our income, stealing it, for themselves.
I am out of luck on that. I live in an extremely red town in an equally red state. We used to have a homeless shelter in town that also served a daily dinner open to anyone. It was run by a pastor. He became sick with cancer. Within days after his death the mayor and council closed the shelter with no help to those they evicted. The mayor interestingly calls himself “an upright Christian”. (He’s a trump Christian, not a Jesus Christian.)
We all have to look after each other to get through this. I hope your community is one of the good ones. All my best to you & your family.
Oh my goodness - I am so, so sorry this happened to you. The loss of your son is devastating and so unfair. My gosh what a good person you are to write me such a loving note when you have every right to be the angriest person. It’s so wrong what happened to you. I hate the way people are treated in these difficult situations. The benefits you get are so little but at least it is something. My brother is severely mentally ill - had two hospitalizations last year and my mom is dying of head cancer so it’s just a lot right now. But everyone is alive and at least my husband and I have our jobs and our daughter works 2 jobs. I live in a red state but an area that likes to help the “poor” so we can be someone’s charity case if we have to - no shame! It’s just all so unnecessary and so frustrating- like why they can’t see how bad this is or could be!
Thank you Meegan. I appreciate your kind words.
I am sorry for what you are going through. My father had brain cancer years ago. It is a difficult to go through for those with it of course but also for the family. I hope you have a caring support group of friends and family to help everyone get through this.
I am angry about how my son died. I will always blame trump and his cult for their hatred and deliberate spewing of ugliness towards the most vulnerable of our society. The day before the election my son sent me the video where trump actually says “why don’t they just die?” where he was referring to those with disabilities. I tried to talk with him, to redirect him, to remind him that not everyone is such a despicable, evil person. But then trump won the next day. It was just too much all at once. Even though he was on seizure medication, the onslaught of the worry and stress was too much. (It is a medical fact that stress can bring on seizures as well as cause other medical issues to worsen.) I grieve for my son and I will not forget just how ugly our society has become and what it costs people.
I am glad to hear that your area looks after those who are in need. That is reassuring. You won’t be a “charity case” if you need to ask for help. You are a human being who would be in need of help. That is all that matters. Period.
You are correct. This is all “…so unnecessary and so frustrating”. Absolutely! Sadly, they - those doing this - are very aware of how bad it is and could be. They don’t care. Their lack of humanity reveals them all to be lacking in humanity and empathy, completely beyond redemption. What I call a complete waste of space. The dreck of society.
Very sorry for your loss.
Thank you kindly.
I am so sorry for your loss. As a SOCIETY we are expected to assist those who need help, not to stress them unto an untimely demise. Where will we go before this terrible tide reverses? Hopefully we can retain our humanity.
Thank you kindly.
I stopped reading at "Nazi". What is wrong with you? Not cool. Also by Godwin's Law, you lost any argument before you began.
I normally agree with Godwin’s law…but the man did “Heil Hitler” twice. On stage. In public. And did not apologize.
If this isn’t a Nazi…what is? And EVEN IF you disagree, can you not extend any understanding to us who think he is a Nazi? I mean you dismissed the comment out of hand. Surely you can understand why people think he’s a Nazi.
Again, if you take your social cues from Adolph Hitler, then Hitler wins. Hitler wanted to overlay his imprint, to culturally appropriate, a Roman salute, a politician's common wave of respect to a crowd. Reject that. I thought we already had in the 50's and 60's when War Vets and their hippy liitle brothers both wore and displayed and wielded to their motorcycles Nazi sacred symbols like the war booty it was.
Why do I need to allow musk to revive a dead Roman salute? Why am I in the wrong for seeing and interpreting a nod to hitler with my own eyes? Why am I in the wrong for not understanding archaic hand signals? I think he knows who he is and what he’s doing. I want to be reasonable but this interpretation is wildly unreasonable by any standard.
Here’s maybe a better question. Who or what would a fascist look like today? How do I spot them?
I suspect Bob’s out to lunch.
I appreciate your comments.
The same way you spot a ghost.
Me too. Cannot overlook this kind of thinking anymore. You don’t have to be a bodhisattva to understand that fighting hate with hate is a fundamental part of our problems in America.
There’s nothing wrong with me. musk spouts Nazi views and throws Nazi salutes. Ergo, Nazi.
I am far more concerned with the overthrow of our government than appearing “cool”.
No, he does not. And that salute does NOT belong to the Nazis. It did and we took it back. In the clearest way possible. If you yourself are a Nazi and are annoyed at prominent figures treating "your" totem with such irreverence .. then good.
🙄
far right?
Very well written. That said you have more faith in SCOTUS to do the right thing than I do.
Technically, there is no way Trump or Musk can hurt the SC unless some of the judges are receiving "extra" benefits for doing what Trump wants. I don't know how you discover that and stop it. It would be a hard process, and by then Musk would have broken everything since he doesn't work for the government, but is allowed to act under Trump's power, there is no recourse to stop him.
Is there no legal remedy for commandeering the building and using officers from homeland security to prevent access by employees of that office as well as Senators themselves? How do you conclude that this is not “exactly” a constitutional crisis when these same 5 individuals, all unvetted and under the age of 25, supervised by Musk, are still there, accessing and purportedly rewriting code via AI using private data of all of us? You appear to be intentionally underestimating the threat, first, and second, ignoring the damage and disregard of the judicial order as outlined in your own words. Doctors ability to access reporting across a multitude of medical and statistical websites has been impaired as well as scientific and environmental data which has been collected over the years being deleted. Your response doesn’t reflect the degree of damage already sustained and this merits another look into the damage done here and abroad. Add to the mess, Gaza plans and the fact that immigrants have already been sent to Guantanamo for detention. That was supposed face a barrage of legal issues before it could happen. Do what happened? The legality was ignored?
By all means, please continue to report on judicial restraint being executed but don’t neglect to acknowledge the urgency and degree of harm inflicted across the board by these individuals. It comes across as being utterly patronizing in tone, and I’m certain that is not what you intended.
An incredible amount of damage can still be done while we wait for all of this (plus whatever happens in the mean time) to make it's way through the courts... hopefully they will reign things in, but it just doesn't feel like enough...
It isn’t.
Great article - this impelled me to upgrade to paid - thanks Gabe!
Thank you so much for your support, Cathy!
Have you read what these people are capriciously and arbitrarily spending money on or don't you care? USAID was set up by Executive order and congress decided to fund it, but I'm sure NOBODY has a clue where all this money is going. Did you complain when Biden cancelled student debt or broke the law by letting in people illegally on purpose? Or when he mandated vaccines? NOT spending money is not the same as SPENDING MONEY by unelected people that benefits radical progressive agendas. What about that?
I do not believe that a court would find USAID’s spending capricious or arbitrary. What examples have you seen that you see that way?
You must be kidding. For one thing, it was created by Executive Order, not congress even though congress has once again condoned spending it has no idea of and certainly the American people don't; and/or advances progressive ideas and not America's interests as a whole. So the whole thing can be dismantled, but there is no way funds should be spent like this: (Oh, and headlines today say Politico got some of it): According to Realclearpolitics and this is just a drop in the bucket: "Some of the most flagrant examples of USAID waste, Trump, Musk, and others have cited include: $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbian workplaces, $70,000 for the production of a DEI musical in Ireland, $47,000 for a trans opera in Colombia, and $32,000 for a trans comic book in Peru. The agency also sent millions to EcoHealth Alliance, which was involved in research at the Chinese state-controlled Wuhan lab that the CIA now says is likely responsible for the release of COVID-19"
Hi there — first off, here’s my piece criticizing executive overreach during the student loans debate: https://www.wakeuptopolitics.com/p/july-6-2023. Secondly, I would note that “arbitrary and capricious” is less about the merits of a policy themselves, but more about the process that must be followed. So, for example, you may take issue with USAID funding going towards a musical in Ireland, but as far as the APA is concerned, what really matters is that the proper process was followed in awarding it (which also means the proper process must be followed in undoing actions as well). This doesn’t mean USAID’s decisions shouldn’t be debated and criticized — they should, that’s important in a democracy. But important to clarify what is and isn’t *illegal*, as opposed to merely controversial policy choices. Third, it’s important to note USAID was created by an executive order originally, but has more recently been enshrined as law by Congress.
Procedure. No matter how corrupt or out of line all this is in, you are following corrupt procedures. He PAUSED it until they could actually see what they were doing (and how they are perpetrating these abuses we know nothing about), which they have no right to do. Politico apparently got money, too, we'll see where that goes. And Eco Health Alliance. And if he needs to get congress to stop the EO or stop payment, he will. What about illegal immigration? Biden w as purposely breaking laws. Did you complain about that? The bottom line here is that this government is loaded with crap like this and that should never happen. Do you care about that or just "procedures?" Which I'm sure they will address here in some way?
Almost totally agree with Lekimball. We all know that there are limitless feel good causes which a lot of us would agree to support if we have virtually limitless funds and an open checkbook, and the great majority of both politicians and bureaucrats in DC are only too happy to spend even more of the taxpayers’ money than they collect. It is logrolling known as you scratch my back and vote for my favorite project and I’ll then vote for yours. We as a nation only have some combination of three choices. Reduce. Spending , raise already high taxes and reduce growth, or adopt policies that increase growth . I choose what is behind doors #1 and #3.
I think if we sat down together and had coffee, we could have a really good exchange. I would want to learn more about what you find harmful about any of these. Sure, maybe we should save this money for using in our own country, but I do believe that $32,000 to make trans people a bit more visible and accepted in Peru is a tiny amount for us and a valuable use of our power to make other countries more aligned with our values (and I do believe trans acceptance is aligned with American values, though we may disagree).
Exactly, people/groups apply for grants and they are required to define and explain the purpose for that money. If it falls under certain guidelines, then they receive it. Just like billionaires are allowed a variety of legal ways to lower their tax bill, and they use all of them. No one complains.
They complained about his letting in immigrants in but didn't stop them because of the need for businesses to hire cheap labor after Covid. For example, the workers in the construction industry in Texas are 95% from south of the border. I haven't heard that ICE agents are looking into that.
I believe they are looking into it and/or will put these people on work visas which Trump was never against, but they don't get to STAY or have a path to citizenship. Or disappear. And we ought to ave paperwork and know where 325,000 children are.
But what about agricultural workers? They are seasonal and come and go. Or what about restaurant workers who stay for several months, go back home with their money and then come back. The reason they get jobs is because they are illegal and will work for much less than American laborers work. It is the Employers who hire them who should be fined.
Agricultural workers have traditionally gotten short term visas as I SAID. And if they come legally, they will get paid more. So what is your point? They should keep breaking laws and we should allow employers to do it? I lived in an orchard area where twenty years ago, they had short term visas and got paid well. Democrats were deliberately trying to change the electorate by doing it. The "employers" can go suck eggs.
Why are you against DOGE demonstrating that the spending is fraudulent or wasteful?
Who are you talking to? I'm all for it.
Then there isn't any problem with what this article suggests. It may take longer than you want but all the fraud will be identified. Deciding something is fraud is a legal question. Doge can find it but the courts have to validate it.
Gabe, Excellent piece! Very clear and comprehensive. Could you address Musk's access to the federal databases which he and his staff can view, share, copy and with access to the code, modify. There are Congressional rules to preserve the security of this information. Notwithstanding that it may be too late how can Congree clas back secure access to our data?
Yes, executive branch non-compliance with court orders would be a clear constitutional crisis, but the continual abrogation of constitutional congressional authority to the executive branch is a slow-rolling, and now accelerating, constitutional crisis of its own. If not totally in substance, it goes against the spirit of the system the Founders intended. Even if Congress intentionally devolves some power to the president, Congress should be able to withdraw that assignment of power at any time, which is not the case today. Congress has simply not adequately guarded its prerogatives.
Please stop with the constitutional crisis dog whistle. Let Joy Reid make those hysterical and misinformed comments. We expect that from her. My greater interest is the comments after an article like this. We as a nation regardless of political affiliation understand that fiscally our country is a dumpster fire. We spend more than we make and collect. We complain about it every election cycle but never do anything about it. Now we have an elected official who is doing exactly what he campaigned on doing and its described as anarchy. This is like fake intellectual masturbation. I actually heard Jen Psaki say that “our government is under attack”. What she failed to mention is that it’s our elected government who is attacking our government. In reality it’s not an attack on the government, it’s more exposing what we’ve always known. What irritates the deranged is not the reckless illegal waste of our tax dollars it’s only about the people who are exposing it. Seems a bit petty and juvenile to me. But don’t stop what you’re doing. The fabricated hysterical accusations and fear mongering helped you out so much during the last election. Rational people see through these dog whistles. Perhaps you could focus your patriotic ire at the government officials from the last administration who lost 300,000 plus migrant children to who knows what fate over the last four years. Killing the messenger tells me you have no issues handing this fiscal dumpster fire on to your children. Can we just put a lid on the hysteria for a bit and attempt to legitimately fix our country’s fiscal irresponsibility? You can always go back to calling Trump Hitler. If that makes you feel better.
Unfortunately once things are broken, like Humpty Dumpty, they may not be able to be put back together again.
Gabe, Musk and his techie posse are out of control and breaking laws.
Maybe you are correct in waiting to call it a Constitutional Crisis; I will give you that one.
But come on and call a spade a spade—this is a coup by a nutcase and a group of kids barely out of college.
I wish I could say your post made me feel better today, Gabe, I don't. Thank You for the hard work, I know you put into the this article, you're the best, and will reStack ASAP 🙏💯👍
Hi Gabe - Thanks for this analysis which is very helpful. My greatest concern is that in spite of the APA meaning to protect against “arbitrary and capricious” decisions, Trump and Musk can simply cobble together any number of half-baked and bad-faith legal arguments as their reasoning, and SCOTUS and other partisan/ideological Trump-sympathetic judges like Aileen Cannon will simply accept them as valid.
My immediate thought was the 2019 SCOTUS case which blocked the citizenship question from the 2020 Census in a 5-4 ruling, with John Roberts being the deciding vote. Linda Greenhouse from NYT suggested that Roberts was initially amenable to the flimsy arguments about legal rationale for including the question and why these wouldn’t violate the APA, and may have changed sides a month after oral arguments when the bombshell report of Thomas Hofeller’s personal files were made public after his death, exposing the citizenship question push as an even more blatant bad faith move than anything that came up in the lower court cases.
And that was before RGB was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett. I just don’t feel very optimistic that a SCOTUS majority will be strong adherents to the APA, and they will accept a poorly-reasoned and bad-faith argument for Trump/Musk actions if they simply cite some other existing law as to why their actions are necessary and legal. How would you respond to this?
Ah Gabe lots have folks have already talked about the incredible pain this chaos will cause. And others have talked about the illegality of folks like the muskrat and his crew having access to all of our private information. all of that is true and I totally agree. But the real constitutional crisis is happening. The courts can say what is right according to the constitution and the apa but who is responsible for actually enforcing the courts’ decisions? All of that apparatus is in the hands of the executive branch. If the executive branch is the branch running amok of the constitution who stops that? You know and We all know that Homeland is preventing employees and members of congress from entering federal buildings. We all know that some are getting access to payment sites and others aren’t. I don’t have any confidence that this is the result of some technical glitch. We need to investigate the who and why. But that investigation activity is also in the executive branch—you know the ones breaking all the rules. So who is going to enforce the rules or the court orders? Who is going to do that if all those folks are in the executive branch controlled by the ones breaking the law and controlled by incompetent bad actors closely aligned with the law breakers?
Gabe we are definitely in a constitutional crisis and you’re ignoring the signs of fascist control of the executive branch. Does it have to come down to US Military personnel being deployed against protestors who are trying to wrest control from the bad actors. No I’m not either predicting or embracing violence. I’m telling you that the refusal of the executive branch to enforce decisions by the judicial branch and the laws passed by the legislative branch is a constitutional crisis whether or not you want to call it one. This is something that I would absolutely expect you to see. We are there it is happening
So Gabe it appears that muskrat, et al and the 🍊💩 are not complying with the TROs. Can you face the reality that this is definitely a coup, or more specifically an autogolpe?
Your grift get stepped on?
Terrific piece, Gabe. I wish other members of the media were as careful and precise as you are — and that they explained issues and laws as well. Thank you.