Trump's Executive Decisions and Republican Party Dynamics

In just the past week, Donald Trump has illegally fired over a dozen federal anti-corruption watchdogs, installed Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, and then claimed the power to arbitrarily withhold congressional appropriation—an unconstitutional maneuver called “impoundment.”

In this episode, Matt and Brian discuss:

* What are inspectors general, and why does Trump want to fire them?

* How does his desire to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse oversight interact with his attempt to impound federal grant, loan, and aid spending?

* What Democrats can do to try to force Trump and the GOP back into compliance with the law before it’s too late.

Then, behind the paywall, are these just indiscriminate power grabs, or is there a method here? Why did Elon Musk, the country’s biggest defense contractor and political donor, take a special interest in getting a lightweight like Pete Hegseth confirmed as defense secretary, at a department that suddenly has no watchdog? Did the fact that Trump had limited success abusing and corrupting the civil service in his first term trick people into letting their guard down?

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Further reading:

* Matt on congressional Republicans’ war against the poor.

* Brian on how Democrats can use their leverage to insist on compliance with the law and constitution.

* Days after saluting just exactly like a Nazi would, Elon Musk tells German neo-Nazi party that Germans should get over their holocaust guilt.