As the federal government shutdown drags on—in no small half as a result of President Donald Trump is determined to cover his connections to Jeffrey Epstein—he’s now choosing and selecting who will get paid.
Unsurprisingly, it’s precisely who you’d assume. Lively-duty navy? Verify. Air marshals? Verify. FBI brokers? Verify. ICE brokers? Verify.
You get the purpose.
ICE brokers detain a protester in Chicago on Oct. 14.
As a result of we not have any significant perception into the workings of presidency, it’s robust to determine precisely how many individuals are drawing paychecks, nevertheless it’s not a small quantity.
There are round 1.3 million active-duty navy members. And in keeping with the Washington Submit, there are about 70,000 folks between the Departments of Justice and Homeland Safety who’re additionally getting paid, presumably together with FBI, ICE, and Border Patrol personnel.
Mainly, if a federal worker is fascist or fascist-adjacent, they’re getting paid.
As for the individuals who guarantee that these staff get their paychecks? They’re not getting paid in any respect.
“We are called support staff, but I’d argue that we drive them. Just because they have a gun, badge, and authority doesn’t make them more important than us,” one ICE staffer informed the Submit. “It shows that the administration only cares about the gun holders.”
Nicely, sure.
In the meantime, The New York Occasions, in case you had been questioning, isn’t assembly the second on this one. As an alternative, it’s framing the Trump administration’s fully unlawful diversion of presidency cash to pay fascists as a “budgetary twister,” and that Trump is “stretching the limits” of his authority.
The Occasions additionally claims that Trump is “reprogramming” {dollars} allotted by Congress, however that isn’t a factor. Trump can’t use the federal government shutdown as an excuse to allocate authorities funding to no matter he desires and nothing else. However on condition that the Occasions referred to as it “expanding his authority to spend federal money” a few weeks in the past, this tracks.
A cartoon by Jack Ohman.
Because the shutdown enters its third week, federal staff are lining up at meals banks as they attempt to preserve their heads above water whereas not getting paid. That’s about 1.4 million folks.
And all of that is occurring whereas Trump calls for the federal government to present him $230 million as a result of being investigated for his myriad crimes and impeachment-worthy offenses made him unhappy.
He’s additionally actually tearing down the White Home so he can construct a monstrous ballroom, which is supposedly paid for by shadowy personal donors who’re lining as much as bribe the president in trade for private favors.
Congress may cease Trump from diverting cash to favored staff tomorrow, however the Republicans in management have no real interest in doing so. And the Supreme Court docket has had ample alternative to rule towards Trump’s efforts to deal with the federal government and taxpayer {dollars} as his private playthings.
However like so many issues in Trump’s second time period, the shutdown has highlighted that checks and balances aren’t magically self-executing. There are not any guidelines, simply norms to be fully ignored.
