Day of Drifts, 28th of Childwinter, 525 M.E. (Deneb): An internal memo sent by the White House on Monday instructs agencies to pause all federal grants while evaluating their compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting policies that promote "DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal."
Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the OMB (the same organization that issued the narc-on-DEI-supporters snitch line), wrote “Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
The memo is not only unconstitutional, it has its facts wrong, claiming funds spent to advance "Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve." The money, it says, should be used instead for the administration's priorities.
The memo is poorly written and includes some vague caveats, including that agencies pause grants “to the extent permissible under applicable law,” although it is not at all clear how the agencies will interpret that. The ham-fisted, partisan nature of the memo gives itself away with its Fox News talking points - "woke gender ideology" and "Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies" are not terms serious federal administrators use but MAGA shorthand for "shit we don't like or understand."
However, the funds are in fact Congressionally directed spending, and Trump is ordering people to violates the constitution itself, which gives Congress, not the Executive Office, control of spending. Compliance with the memo would mean overthrowing the most fundamental constitutional checks on authoritarianism and balances of power. "Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
It's a blatantly unconstitutional power grab by the President, arguably even a coup. No wonder he couldn't put his hind on a Bible when he took the oath of office to defend the constitution - he was busy keeping his fingers crossed.
The memo could impact billions of dollars of federal grant money for state, local and tribal governments. This includes universities, the non-profit sector, cancer research, food assistance, suicide hotlines, hospitals, community health centers, non-profits that help disabled veterans, disaster relief aid, education and transportation funding, and loans to small businesses. It does explicitly exclude Social Security and Medicare and "assistance provided directly to individuals," although Medicaid portals across the country were reportedly not working today.
Funding for research and monitoring of climate change is certainly at risk, as are studies on the health effects of chemicals and pollutants. Health research at both the CDC and in universities will be affected, which is alarming as avian flu is on the rise. The price of eggs is now over $5 per dozen in some markets due to the flu. The entire egg shelf was empty at my local supermarket because no one will buy eggs at that price and the supermarket doesn't want to be left with unsellable stock. And oh, look
here - a second human case of avian flu just emerged in England as the virus mutates and crosses over to humans, but who needs research, amiright?
The memo says the freeze begins at 5:00 pm today.
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