While we watch the mean meme exchange that has become American governance, let’s review just a few of the real-life things that are happening too during the shutdown.
On Wednesday, the first day of the government shutdown, employees at the DOE set their automatic out-of-office email responses to inform recipients that they would be unable to respond until after the shutdown.
Hours later, many DOE employees realized their response message had been altered to contain partisan language without their consent. The automatic reply now blamed Senate Democrats for the entire shutdown.
On day 3, the Trump administration froze $2.1B in Chicago transit funding on Friday, starving another Democratic city of funds. And DHS continued the terrorizing of citizens with over-produced dehumanizing militarized raids predicated on rhetoric rather than evidence.
Budget director Russ Vought said the money, earmarked for elevated train lines, had been put on hold to ensure it was not "flowing via race-based contracting."
WTF does that even mean? ICE can detain anyone they want based solely on race. Is it like that?
The administration has now frozen at least $28B in funding for Democratic cities and states. The president is using the power of the US government to punish political rivals.
He has also threatened to fire more federal workers, beyond the 300,000 he is forcing out this year, and a WH source speaking on condition of anonymity said dozens of agencies have submitted workforce reduction plans.
Trump has made Chicago, the nation's third-largest city, a regular rhetorical punching bag and has threatened to send in National Guard troops.
The Illinois funding freeze follows moves on Wednesday to halt transit projects in New York, home to the top two Democrats in Congress, and green-energy projects in Democratic-leaning states.
Speaker Johnson said he is not troubled by Trump's pressure campaign, even while it undercuts Congress' constitutional authority over spending matters.
"President Trump is just as anxious as we are to get the government back open," he told reporters. "Is he trying to apply pressure to make that happen? He probably is, yeah. And I applaud that."
That’s the kind of tepid acceptance of the unacceptable that’s gotten us to this point in our society.
Using the power of the presidency for financial revenge on states until they have little choice but to bend to autocracy is not merely political pressure. It is extortion with the intent to destroy.
Intent to destroy states by a president who was elected to protect the whole country. Not just the parts that please him at any given moment.
Dereliction of duty is the GOP mantle right now. And this president is dangerous.
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