Donald Trump’s Latest Abuses of Our Checks and Balances
In the third week of Trump’s presidential term, the Trump administration has resorted to dismantling federal agencies and ordering investigations into corporations and broadcast networks to implement Trump’s agenda even further. Even the few parts of his agenda that courts have held in check continue to cause ripple effects, with his court-paused federal grant funding freeze continuing to cause health center closures across the country. In one of the more egregious moves, led by Elon Musk, the Trump administration moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development – leaving 10,000 employees uncertain about their futures, threatening money for American farms and businesses, pausing dozens of medical trials across the world, and all without a single vote from Congress.
Trump and his administration have made it evident that they are ready to continue weakening democratic checks and balances on executive power and force through his agenda, no matter the cost.
Here are some of the lowlights of the Trump Administration’s weaponization of government this week:
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Admin Moved To Dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development
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Associated Press: “The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk moved to eradicate the agency that provides crucial aid that funds education and fights starvation, epidemic and poverty overseas, sparking a showdown with congressional Democrats who blasted the effort as illegal and vowed a court fight. […] Trump told reporters Monday that shutting down USAID ‘should have been done a long time ago.’ Asked whether he needs Congress to approve such a measure, the president said he did not think so.”
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Forbes: “What will happen to 10,000 employees? Elon Musk said early Monday morning that President Donald Trump agreed to ‘shut down’ the U.S. Agency for International Development. A few hours later, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration had closed USAID headquarters. This all comes after several days of speculation and reporting that Trump wants to dissolve the agency and fold some or all of its functions into the State Department. The question is — can the president do this? Can President Trump legally shut down USAID? And if so, what happens to its more than 10,000 employees?”
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Admin Plans To Dismantle the Department of Education
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Wall Street Journal: “The order would be a step toward fulfilling a Trump campaign promise to eliminate the department, limit federal involvement in education and give more authority to the states. Conservatives were sharply critical of the Education Department under the Biden administration, particularly decisions to forgive student loans and to extend sex-discrimination protections in education to LGBTQ people. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 also called for eliminating the department.”
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DOJ Investigations Into Companies With DEI
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Slate: “One astonishing memo, seen by Slate, puts the DOJ at the center of President Donald Trump’s widespread efforts to destroy any traces of initiatives that would create inclusive and diverse workspaces, otherwise known as DEIA. The new memo claims that it will target private-sector diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives for potential “criminal investigation.”
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FCC Investigations Into The Free Press
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The New York Times: “The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has waded into the politicized debate over NPR and PBS, ordering up an investigation that he said could be relevant in lawmakers’ decision about whether to continue funding the public news organizations.”
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Media Matters For America: “Carr authored Project 2025’s chapter on the FCC and has notably refused to reject Trump’s repeated calls for the commission to yank the licenses of broadcast networks whose reporting he dislikes. […] And on Wednesday, Carr announced a new FCC probe of underwriting announcements produced by NPR and PBS, ‘with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.’”
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Court-Paused Federal Grant Funding Freeze Causing Health Center Closures
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Roll Call: “Funding delays have pushed several community health centers nationwide to close or cut back on staff, citing issues accessing federal funding. The financial problems, the centers say, appear to stem from last week’s temporary domestic funding grant freeze and the implementation of new executive orders.”
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Newsweek: “Following an order by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to freeze grants and loans, some of the community health centers in Virginia have been forced to close their branches. ‘The National Association of Community Health Centers continues to actively monitor and respond to reports of Community Health Centers experiencing delays in drawing down grant funds,’ Amy Simmons Farber, the associate vice president of communications and public relations, told Newsweek. ‘Our ongoing engagement with bipartisan Congressional leaders and the Trump administration focuses on maintaining stable funding for the Health Center Program, which provides essential care to 32.5 million Americans.’”
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More Key Headlines:
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The Atlantic: Trump’s Assault on USAID Makes Project 2025 Look Like Child’s Play
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New York Times: Trump Brazenly Defies Laws In Escalating Executive Power Grab
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The Guardian: Trump Personally Ordered Firings of Special Counsel Prosecutors
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NBC News: Some nonprofits say they still can’t access federal funds despite rulings blocking Trump’s freeze