'Some GOPers Are Queasy About Trump Lawlessly Moving Money Around During Shutdown'
"President Trump and White House officials have been picking and choosing what programs to fund while the federal government is shut down — and they’re doing it without permission from Congress...A bipartisan handful of lawmakers aren’t happy."
"Here’s how the cycle has gone in recent weeks: The White House and Republican lawmakers will engage in public hand-wringing about the troops not getting paid or mothers on WIC losing access to the supplemental nutrition program. The Trump White House then, days later, decides that it’s going to pull some funding from supposed tariff revenue to fund WIC, or from some unspent pocket of Pentagon research to cover the paychecks of active duty service members. Most of the public outcry over troops not getting paid or low-income families not getting their WIC or SNAP benefits has been used as a cudgel to attack Democrats and blame them for the shutdown (which ignores the fact that Republicans could easily earn their votes to reopen the government if they engaged with Dems’ requests to extend Obamacare subsidies set to expire in December)."
"The White House has also been politically selective about what programs they’re using to attack Dems, and which they’re quietly keeping funded, too. Last week, for example, it was reported that the White House planned to find a way to continue paying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents throughout the shutdown, despite funding lapses. Trump reportedly plans to continue lawlessly moving money around to cover military paychecks if the government doesn’t reopen by the end of the month, according to Politico."
"This is all unlawful. The White House is supposed to seek approval from Congress and follow a process called 'reprogramming' in order to legally shift funds that have been appropriated by Congress around within an account. That has, of course, not happened, per Politico...Trump administration officials have not provided top congressional appropriators with details about how much cash the White House believes is available for use, nor have they submitted requests to Capitol Hill to reprogram any money."
“ 'Look, I want the troops to be paid,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) told Politico. 'But, as usual, they find the most illegal way to do everything.' "
Continued at link:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things-stand/some-gopers-are-queasy-about-trump-lawlessly-moving-money-around-during-shutdown
Is "queasy" worse than "concerned"?
= new reply since forum marked as read
