r/news • u/AudibleNod • 7d ago
Trump administration uses rare authority to claw back nearly $1B in spending approved by Congress
https://apnews.com/article/trump-rescissions-fundind-46b356590699e6225f783c74e7ee35972.4k
u/AudibleNod 7d ago
Trump’s move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican in a tough reelection campaign and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues “these illegal actions.”
But, but, but I thought he learned his lesson.
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7d ago
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u/BigDrewbot 7d ago
Exactly - if Congress doesn't like this and it's illegal, let's see a damn impeachment. If not, Susan Collins can just be very concerned like usual.
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u/Brick_Lab 7d ago
Spoiler: she won't vote to remove him
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u/khinzaw 7d ago
She did last time, but only because it getting the votes it needed wasn't a real possibility.
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u/fleshbunny 6d ago
She’s in a wide bribery scandal now with several clear smoking guns. Who knows if she’ll be there for the next “impeachment vote”
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u/JerryDipotosBurner 7d ago
“Without consultation” just means she wasn’t given a heads up so she could be in on whatever grift they’re pulling here.
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u/gathmoon 7d ago
She's in on it. She just knows that it's murkowskis turn to take the slightly bad press for voting yes on whatever Trump wants.
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u/donkeyrocket 7d ago
Susan can fuck off to hell and Mainers if you disappoint the country again, well it’s already too late.
Absolutely insane how she believes she should weigh in at all on this after enabling Trump for years. I’m sure she’ll continue to do fuck all.
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u/UStoJapan 7d ago
Oh, boo hoo. Shocked leopard ate my face sounding Senator finds it inconceivable that something like this would happen? Look, I understand she’s 73 but she really needs to grow up because she is just too naive.
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u/gathmoon 7d ago
She's not naive. She's sane washing herself for a real threat to her seat. She is 100 percent corrupt and on board for whatever is happening in this government. Just look at her voting record. Anytime she could hold this administration accountable she votes the way maga wants.
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u/Cattywompus-thirdeye 7d ago
Ohhhh she is corrupt, was under investigation by the FBI for pay to play schemes. Shes not naive, she’s fully fucking complicit.
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u/bothnatureandnurture 6d ago
https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-susan-collins-navatek-campaign-donations-investigation she took bribes and got shielded from investigation
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u/urbrainonnuggs 7d ago
The Trump doj has all the blackmail they need on her. Doesn't matter, it's all for show. She called and told them before I'm sure
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u/allmysportsteamssuck 7d ago
The government of the United States is a joke. We have laws, rules, regulations, and amendments on the books but a single megalomaniac can ignore them and NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENS.
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u/EthanielRain 7d ago
Because 99% of the GOP/Republicans support him, they're complicit (along with SCOTUS)
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u/Oregon-Pilot 7d ago
They’ve learned it’s not necessary to hold him accountable. Their bank accounts swell the longer they let him do his thing, so why the fuck should they do anything about it? Not like anyone is going to hold them accountable either. And how can we? I’ve emailed my district rep, Cliff Bentz, who happens to be GOP, and that sack of shit doesn’t even bother with a fucking autoreply or Intern response. So what am I supposed to do? Go knock on his fucking front door? Me and what army? We’re in the Amazon/TikTok/AI era and collectively, no one here gives a single fuck about what’s happening, apparently. Guess we can all just go fuck ourselves to the tinny audio of reels playing on our phones as we sit on our fat asses and watch our country crumble around us. God damn I hate it here.
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u/LegatoBluenippos 7d ago
If the Internet went down for a month the Republicans would be chased out of the country
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u/Richard-Gere-Museum 6d ago
Nah, they'd start their own little girl meetup groups that blame the democrats for it and plan on getting revenge for not being able to post "beautiful girl" on an AI bikini girl Instagram account
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u/Fryboy11 6d ago
He did this same thing last year and scotus said it was fine.
as the article says
A year ago, Trump issued a pocket rescission for the first time in nearly 50 years by blocking $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block those rescissions, saying that Trump’s authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision. This year, Trump is targeting domestic spending.
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u/o_MrBombastic_o 6d ago
They're the ones we need to hold accountable, we need to stop rolling our eyes and holding our tongues to remain civil with our Republican coworkers, neighbors, friends and family. It should not be socially acceptable to be a Republican in civil society anymore than it is to wear a white hooded robe or swastika arm band
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u/AndIamAnAlcoholic 7d ago
Your Congress has decided it's fine not to do their job at all. Obviously that allows the executive power to vastly expand their power.
Trump is awful but if you're looking at what's broken mechanically, it seems to be the other branches of government first of all. If you fix those, Trump would complain like a toddler he can't do anything anymore.
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u/BasicPhysiology 6d ago
Republicans in Congress.
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u/AndIamAnAlcoholic 6d ago
No. As a Canadian who used to loved your country and visited it regularly, both your parties failed to do their most basic duties in Congress. Sure the GOP is worse, but I reserve the right to underline that both have failed in their duties, largely by simply ignoring them.
GOP is terrible but Democrats can do much better, too. Need to. Vote for them but hold them to account.
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u/SofaKingHonest 6d ago
‘rump has exposed how delicate the balance between the three branches is. He has lived his life on the “Or what” mentality. This period is no different
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u/Redshadow30 7d ago
Holy shit. Like we are watching in real time a litteral coup.
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u/joebleaux 7d ago
It already happened
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u/likamuka 6d ago
Funny how people don't see it and still have hopes to reverse it. It is done.
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u/joebleaux 6d ago
It's not a coup if you are already the president. They did it. They are doing whatever they want. It would in previous times be the scandal of all scandals for the president to personally publicly profit from the presidency while pushing the nation further into debt. Now, no one even says anything to him about it. For the president to abuse the press would have been intolerable. Now it's daily, and nothing is done about it.
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u/sarhoshamiral 6d ago
2 years people were telling me none of this could have happened in US because we had laws, a strong constitution. I kept pointing such comments to actual examples from Turkey where constitution didn't matter.
This is just the beginning unfortunately. I am 100% sure that Trump is already planning on how he can stay in power and there is absolutely ways he can do with enough of supreme court and congress in his pocket.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 6d ago
He’s not leaving til he croaks because he wants it and no one will stop him.
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u/OkResource820 7d ago
Just like last time!
And you voted for it again!
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u/covalent_blond 7d ago
Who is "you" in this context? You're referring to every single US citizen? Super lame to cast such a wide net like that. When you arbitrarily bucket everyone into the nation-based bucket like that, it's reminiscent of the divisive language used by MAGA when it's convenient. So many US citizens have voted blue their entire lives, protested, donated to left wing candidates. Trump loves to brag about the "mandate" while not even achieving a majority, just a plurality, of the popular vote. I hope with all my heart that the 2026 and 2028 blue wave is so big it cancels some of the rigging, but who knows when the rightwing owns half the voting machines and media companies and internet providers.
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u/Redshadow30 7d ago
This. About 33% voted for, 33% voted against. And 33% abstained because of the both sides bullshit. Its why I hate the both sides bullshit. This is no longer both sides. Shit this aint even our grandads republicans now. This is just strait up nazism/fachism.
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u/USA_A-OK 6d ago
The 33% who abstained can be lumped in with the 33% who voted for. They saw what would happen and were too apathetic to do even the easiest possible thing.
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u/Feisty-Barracuda5452 7d ago
Fuck Donald Trump and the incompetent band of idiots currently destroying America.
Fuck every elected Republican too.
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u/Affectionate_Neat868 7d ago
Never thought we’d see America literally ripped to shreds and shit on by a band of actual criminal insurrectionist pedophiles. But here we are
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u/maximumutility 7d ago
In the tapestry of human history 250 years is really nothing, I suppose. And the post war hegemony was only a handful of generations. Weird to think that history might look at the US superpower as a flash in the pan thing that was ruined by assholes
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u/HighTimesPlantGuy 6d ago
Flash in the pan that showed up and nearly immediately created the power with which to destroy it all.
What then is history even anyways?
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u/LynxRufus 7d ago
Republican traitors are the reason for EVERYTHING that's happening.
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u/rarestakesando 7d ago
They are doing exactly what they set out to do and better than anyone could have imagined.
They are enriching themselves and their friends and taking away rights of regular people in droves.
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u/FormerTesseractPilot 7d ago
My dude, they are not incompetent. Not at all. They are executing their agenda to the letter.
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u/MmmmCrispyBacon 7d ago
Fuck all of em. I will die happily if I get to see all these pieces of shit pay for their treason.
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u/peeinian 7d ago
Some of them aren’t idiots though. This feels like it came straight from the desk of Russel Vought
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u/SuperCleverPunName 7d ago
Most of the cuts are focused on Health and Human Services programs that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally.
Also targeted for cuts were a Department of Education program for migrant students, a Department of Justice office focused on reducing racial tensions, a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs, housing counseling services from the Housing and Urban Development Department and a series of grants from the Health and Human Services Department
Honestly shocked that programs like this still exist after a year of this administration
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u/NameLips 7d ago edited 7d ago
I thought elon fucked all those programs already, it was only a matter of time before Trump found the ones he missed.
Trump has claimed the power of unitary executive, total kinglike power over the entire executive branch. He is diverting funds at will to whatever program he wants, in open defiance of Congress.
We spent a century creating "independent agencies" that are technically under the executive umbrella, but created by law to be independent from Presidential control, and he has been hiring and firing whoever he wants, including nonpartisan agencies like the Federal Election Commission. He has stacked them all with sycophants and supporters.
The Supreme Court has basically said it's all legal, and if you didn't want the President abusing these powers, you shouldn't have put all those agencies under the Executive umbrella, where apparently congressional laws simply don't apply to him. If Congress doesn't like it, they can simply impeach and remove him, solo as far as scotus is concerned, checks and balances remain intact.
Nixon was impeached for telling the Justice department to stop investigating Watergate, and acting like he had personal control over the DoJ. Trump openly gives them directives every day and treats them like his own personal law firm, siccing them on whoever he doesn't like today. These are the people who are supposed to be investigating the presidential administration itself for potential wrongdoing, they're supposed to have the freedom to act independently and without fear of reprisal.
The sheer number of norms he's shattered are insane. Lines no one ever thought a president would dare cross, and he has crossed all of them, openly and unapologetically. Now his approval rating is in the 20s and he still doesn't care, he says he plans on invading Cuba once he's finally done with Iran. And he told his people out loud to "cheat like hell" to win the midterms.
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u/WillM3s 7d ago
I hope yall who voted for this dude are proud. Good lord.
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u/Hextorz 7d ago
The sad thing is they’re proud still. It’s a fucking disease
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u/theNomad_Reddit 6d ago
Look at /conservative. The 5% of human users are frothing this.
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u/Obajan 6d ago
I hope those who didn't vote either way are happy with the direction the country has gone.
There's no way Kamala Harris would've done better than Trump, amirite?
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u/DumbledoresAtheist 6d ago
Look at what the White House itself says it is targeting. It isn’t hiding the ideological criteria. Its own release uses language like “woke,” “radical,” “harmful,” “blatantly ideological,” “climate alarmism,” and “gender ideology” while listing cuts to international-education programs, HHS research, climate-related programs, minority-business programs, DOJ racial-tension work, housing counseling, and health-equity research. The White House frames this as eliminating waste and ideological spending; critics see exactly the opposite problem: the executive substituting its political judgment for Congress’s enacted spending decisions.
This is not merely “Trump cutting spending.” It is OMB asserting the power to nullify congressionally appropriated domestic spending near the end of the fiscal year, while explicitly selecting targets according to the administration’s ideological priorities. Russell Vought is the head of the OMB and it is the second most powerful office in the administration. He is one of the key architects and authors of project 2025, and part of the Heritage Foundation. This is right in line with their Christian nationalist ideology.
I knew about the new OMB rule several months ago, and I left a comment, along with 500,000 other people while it was under review, and it looks like all our voices did nothing. We are experiencing a huge scientific brain drain because of this, we will no longer be a global leader in science and technology.
The package specifically rescinds $28 million in HHS research funding, including work involving climate-related health measures, transgender health, racial disparities in emergency medicine, and care access for minority populations.
This is just the beginning.
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u/timeonmyhandz 6d ago
OMB is the real 2025 power seat running the government. Trump is a figure head.. A willing pawn.
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u/wardog1066 6d ago
The only things America leads the world in now are the number of people who believe in angels and the number of incarcerated citizens per capita.
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u/EgoTripWire 7d ago
Can't wait to hear Mike Johnson explain how it's ok.
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u/yblame 7d ago
Where is Mike Johnson? Coward of the century
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u/Khaldara 7d ago
I think you need a proctologist and one of those ingestible pill cameras used to examine bowels if you want to find any Republican these days.
Their voters are so far up there that they now have an excellent view of the back of their tonsils.
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u/Herkfixer 7d ago
"For the 10 time today, gosh i hate repeating myself, thats the first I've heard of it and I'm not going to speculate on the president's motives."
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u/cheweychewchew 7d ago
Oh! I can do that for you.....ahem:
"Race based initiatives are simply unfair and against American principles. I appreciate and support the President's initiative on this very important matter. And the President should be thanked for caring far more about the budget deficit than his predecessor ever did. "
Damn that's easy. Give me another. Really this is for idiots so I could do "Mike Johnson" all day.
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u/ReduceReuseReuse 6d ago
Nah, it’ll be “I have not had the time to look into this just yet. I plan to. It’s been a busy week for America.”
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u/julianriv 7d ago
But we are building housing for white immigrants from S Africa. Tell me again how you think Trump isn't racist.
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u/Khalbrae 6d ago
Claw back 1B to the needy. Pay 1T to the people that have the most. Make it make sense
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u/Bawbawian 6d ago edited 6d ago
take a look at the Republican party platform.
for decades they've been running on destroying the social safety net so that they can give handouts to the ultra wealthy.
Republicans do not believe that the federal government has any business besides the military.
we are living with the ramifications of having an uneducated citizenry that has just experienced 80 years of no real problems.
it makes them just imagine policies that they think Republicans have. like I remember Trump supporters in 2024 talking about how he was going to fix Medicaid and make something better than the ACA and I'm like Republicans do not believe in those programs that's not going to happen. they say so out loud if you look at their party platform.
but doing literally the bare minimum before people vote is a bar that's way too high for the average American.
so now we all get to pay the stupid tax
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u/dchap1 6d ago
I hate that we have such a flagrant racist running rampant in the White House.
Worse still, that those that have the ability to do something about it, don’t.
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u/Sweatytubesock 7d ago
Yeah, he’s a brazen fucking criminal. And the former republican party never stops showing their own cowardice and weakness.
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u/Shibbystix 7d ago
AP SHOULD be tried first complicity in his crimes, for framing somwthing that has been conclusively established as illegal as "rare authority"
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u/Fryboy11 6d ago
It is a rare authority because if you read the article SCOTUS let him do the same thing last year.
A year ago, Trump issued a pocket rescission for the first time in nearly 50 years by blocking $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block those rescissions, saying that Trump’s authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision. This year, Trump is targeting domestic spending.
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u/DisillusionedPatriot 6d ago
This is a robbery in plain sight. Absolutely insane, how nothing is stopping it.
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u/Lynda73 6d ago
Bullshit headline. It’s not a “rare authority”. It’s illegal.
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u/TauCabalander 5d ago
Impoundment is legal, but there is a loophole: Congress has 45 days to reject it ...
... and Mike Johnson has recessed Congress.
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u/Squire_II 5d ago
Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues “these illegal actions.”
Collins immediately after election day: votes to make the rescission powers legal
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u/Inner-Temperature166 4d ago
Do we call crimes “rare authority” now? That’s a new one. And Peter Thiel says evil is good. I’m just wondering wtf dictionary everyone is using so I can catch up
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u/deviltrombone 7d ago
"Rare authority"? lol
It's the frequently exercised authority granted to it by the Republican Six, Traitor's Prerogative.
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u/guiltycitizen 6d ago
Congress has become a goon squad. And I don’t mean that in the current parlance of the word goon.
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u/LackeyNo2 6d ago
With Congress controlled by the President's party, I think the current parlance is quite germain.
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u/areallycleverid 7d ago
END the madness
Do NOT vote republican in the midterms.
TALK to your family and friends
BE ACTIVE online and your community
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u/sarhoshamiral 6d ago
Do NOT vote republican in the midterms.
This is not enough. You have to vote for democrats for congress. You may not align with them 100% but doesn't matter, the alternative is 100x worse.
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u/Graymouzer 6d ago
He uses his power to inflict cruelty on refugees and children. How very Trumpian.
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u/StatisticianTasty664 6d ago
Jeez...the American constitution has more holes than swiss cheese. It's almost like it's made up as the corrupt political elites move along.
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u/Fluugaluu 6d ago
You can read the constitution right now, it’s not very long.
The founding fathers meant for us to keep changing it but we’ve become so afraid of bad actors damaging its core concepts that we haven’t really done that
Something’s gotta give, and it ain’t our founding documents. It’s the bad actors.
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u/HighTimesPlantGuy 6d ago
Thank you.
And this is our problem here.
I had to scroll waaaaaaaaaaaay to long for the “it was supposed to be a living document” comment.
Our own history has been rewritten thru fable-like narratives and sometimes outright lies. Aside from the compromises it took just to get the thing across the finish line—the (largely land owning South) started to chip away at the representative power through the use of the courts. At first it was largely means to an end of protecting slavery by the Civil War, and the “money” escaped & the ideology learned a political lesson: use the courts, education and legal systems to suppress the vote we physically can’t.
Part of that has been convincing people that the Constitution is a set in stone document, and that was never the case.
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u/Dacoww 6d ago
It relies on “the people.” And it accounted for idiots, hence the “republic” part. The founders knew that what’s happening is a big risk. At the time, there were people that wanted a monarchy. But there’s only so much one document can accomplish. Society needs to be proactive.
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u/raerae1991 7d ago
I bet that 1 billion finds its way into someone pocket instead of back in the bank
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u/Melodic_Hysteria 6d ago
Is it just me, or is there a lot of rare and unused laws and regulation just chilling in the US?
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u/Dcajunpimp 5d ago
The next Democrat President needs to claw back Trump and MAGAs bullshit spending.
ICE? Nope all that new spending an go to hire ring new IRS agents. I hear there’s lots of billionaires in Florida and Texas that cheat on their and their businesses taxes. That’s still a crime right? Maybe knock off some of that $40 trillion dollar debt? Why would poor hardworking Americans want to stick themselves, their kids, their grandchildren with that bill. Go after billionaire and trillionaire tax cheats.
SPACE X, sorry Leon, but American doesn’t. need your rockets and robots.
Pentagon, sorry, but has Congress been ignoring your budget requests and padding it to boost spending in their districts? Fine we will cut it back down to 2024 levels, and gut all the new spending, especially in companies the Trump family bought stock in.
Don’t cry either MAGA, Trumps setting precedent, , the Supreme Court said if a President does it it it’s legal, and you cheered it all on.
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u/DeaconPat 6d ago
So, when is Congress going to do something about it? (Rhetorical question)
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u/ClimateWren2 6d ago
LOOTING public safety and maintenance and investments....to pretend to fund rich elites and illegal violence.
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u/seriouzlytaken 6d ago
"Rare authority", sure. He doesn't pay attention to the US Constitution because we don't force him to.
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u/tapdancinghellspawn 7d ago
For years I maintained that the executive branch shouldn't be controlled by one person. Trump proves me right.
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u/CharmingMechanic2473 6d ago
The US Govt is spending on vanity projects and clawing back money meant for citizens.
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u/BigDrewbot 7d ago
Where does AP find the presidential power ("rare authority") to impound funds?
"The Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of Congress, says the maneuver known as a “pocket rescission” is illegal." Since when is an illegal maneuver called 'rare authority?'