It’s a Lovely Day For a Coup
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@CHAS said in It’s a Lovely Day For a Coup:
Musk is not a cabinet member. Doge is not a government agency. The legislature creates and funds government agencies, not the imagination of a president and his benefactor. Musk has no more standing to take those actions than you do.
Exactly!! We need to be repeating this over and over again.
In fact, I'm going to borrow your words, if you don't mind!
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After reading this thread, I wrote short notes to both of my US Senators and my US Representative urging them to do whatever they could to stop this usurpation of authority. Then I made a cash donation to Public Citizen.
Every day seems to bring a fresh outrage.
Big Al
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And today we have… the Sovereign Wealth Fund!
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/what-to-know-trump-sovereign-wealth-fund
Should require congressional approval so may not happen.
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Please do more than send an email. Go down to their local offices in person. Or call on the phone and question whoever answers about what your representative is doing and is going to do to address your concerns. Emails just get deleted. Phone calls and the issues they are about get tallied.
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Of course it's a coup
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@Rontuner I think you're right on the money.
Musk is a bigger risk than Trump because he is a technology guy and now has untethered access to systems and data and can do anything he damn well pleases. He could wreak havoc and no one will be able to stop him. He's crazy enough to do it.
I can't believe that the bean-brained Republicans can't see that. And I'm sure Trump has no clue what he's setting the country up for.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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Things just get crazier and crazier. I read a great substack yesterday (sorry I didn't save the link) that talks about what leverage we have in this situation, and the author explained that there are four prongs of attack: Congress, Courts, Politics, and Public. (I am paraphrasing, not quoting):
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Congress cannot do anything except put out the narrative. And that is important. They can tell the story of what is happening, and how it will impact us, and express outrage in a coherent way that creates a record that will be useful in the midterms. Because the Ds are in the minority, there is nothing substantive they can do. But we do need them speechifying about this.
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Courts: even if Trump and Musk--let's call them Mump, shall we?--ignore court orders (which, face it, they probably will), it's still important to bring the lawsuits and have the judges issue the orders.
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Politics--can't remember how this one manifests
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Public--it's essential that everyone makes as big a stink about this as possible. Calling representatives, spreading info on social media, joining in-person protests. Standing up and being seen and heard--especially if these policies will affect you personally--but also if they won't, because the people who are at risk need the rest of us to raise our voices for them.
fear is the thief of dreams
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If you haven't seen this:
"And none of Trump’s actions since January 20th have surprised me. He is the most “honest” President we’ve had in our lifetime. He has announced over and over what he was going to do should the American people let him back into the White House. He is transparency on steroids. He hasn’t just given us the facts and the blueprint of his long-promised coup, he has done the most audacious thing any autocrat in history has attempted — he has openly BRAGGED about exactly how he was going to pull it off. The more he performed his schtick, the more people thought either “I can’t wait for him to shut down the FBI, the CIA, the Deep State and AOC” or “Everybody should calm down, it’s just Trump! Haha!”"
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Apparently the kids installed a server...
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A federal judge in Rhode Island has found that the Trump administration has continued to improperly freeze some federal funds, despite a temporary restraining order issued late last month blocking its efforts to pause payments for grants and other federal programs.
In a five-page order issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell, Jr. wrote that the administration, in several instances, has continued "to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds."
President Trump speaks to journalists in the Oval Office on Friday. A federal judge in Rhode Island has issued an order blocking the administration’s efforts to freeze some federal spending.
The Trump administration has said the freeze is necessary in order to review federal funding to make sure it aligns with the president's agenda. But in his order, McConnell said the freeze was "likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country."
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/10/nx-s1-5292342/trump-federal-funding-freeze-restraining-order
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Meanwhile, Vance says judges can't restrict executive power. Harumph.
Liz Cheney, a former Republican House representative who campaigned in the presidential election against Trump, snapped back at Vance.
"If you believe any of the multiple federal courts that have ruled against you so far are exceeding their statutory or constitutional authority, your recourse is to appeal," Cheney wrote on X.
"You don't get to rage-quit the Republic just because you are losing. That's tyranny."
Vance has previously suggested that the president can directly challenge judicial rulings that seek to curb White House power.
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The coup rolls on.
Tuesday's order provides new details on how government agencies will work with DOGE to reduce the size of the federal workforce, and calls on the heads of federal agencies to "promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force." The order did not specify a range of how many workers may be affected and lose jobs.
The order also sets out new guidelines around hiring. It says each agency should hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart. Additionally, the order calls on agency heads to consult with a "DOGE Team Lead" around hiring approvals.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293504/trump-musk-doge-oval-office
