Letters from an American October 16, 2025
39 snips
Oct 17, 2025 The podcast dives into recent actions by the Trump administration, questioning the legality of reallocating RDTE funds to pay furloughed troops. It explores historical perspectives on congressional control over spending, tracing back to the Boston Tea Party. The potential undermining of the separation of powers is examined, along with the real-world impacts of fund withholding. Political implications of budget cuts in Democratic districts are discussed, alongside issues of executive overreach and its threats to democracy.
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Executive Seizure Of The Purse Undermines Democracy
- Heather Cox Richardson argues that Trump’s reallocation of RDTE funds to pay troops violates the Anti-Deficiency Act and undermines congressional control of the purse.
- She ties this to a founding-era principle that taxes and spending must be controlled by representatives to prevent executive power grabs.
Boston Tea Party As A Warning
- Richardson recounts the Tea Act and Boston Tea Party as a historical example of resisting taxation without representation.
- She links colonists' tea protest to founding principles that limited executive and parliamentary financial power.
Partisan Withholding Of Appropriations
- The administration has withheld appropriated funds and used the shutdown to target Democratic districts, showing partisan control over federal spending.
- Richardson highlights that Congress members, including Republicans, report being kept out of the loop on these funding cuts.
