With the current frenzied issuance of dozens of executive orders by Donald Trump and with the attempted termination of governmental entities, employees and funding of grants, a basic social science review tells us what should be happening with our federal government.
The Founding Fathers guide us through what is legal and not legal in the United States. They authored the Constitution, which forms the basis for our government and which all presidents of our country, including Donald Trump, have been sworn to uphold.
Article I of the Constitution vests the establishment of all laws in the hands of Congress, meaning the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress is directed to make all laws relating to the government of the United States and its departments and officers. In addition, the Constitution specifically requires that no monies shall be taken from the Treasury unless a legal appropriation has been made by Congress.
We have now endured close to four weeks of a hyperactive Trump administration regularly violating the constitutional requirements of Article I. You should ask yourselves:
Shouldn’t all congressional appropriations of grants for medical research, for our communities’ nonprofits, for our universities, for educational contributions to our local school districts and for the support of our local police departments be honored? The funds have already been legally appropriated, not awarded through our chief executive, Donald Trump, who won with 49.94% of the popular vote (a mandate, but hardly a resounding one) and Elon Musk, with no elected mandate, but a foreign-born personage with billions of dollars earned through government contracts and simply a crony of Donald Trump. This week, a federal judge found that Trump continues to delay and make inaccessible these funds.
Shouldn’t Congress, rather than Donald Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk, establish governmental departments, including the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? The Congress could then require any department to properly disclose its powers, to provide proper credentials and necessary security clearances, thus, validating any demands or reforms on any department of the government. Instead, the Trump and Musk duo have adopted a “slash and burn” policy toward the Treasury, the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. Agency of International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and soon, as announced by Trump this week, the Department of Defense.
Shouldn’t Congress be the branch of government dealing with public civil servants? After all, many can only be fired for cause. Neither Donald Trump nor Elon Musk have the power to change this legal requirement. Despite their status as billionaires, they are probably not well-versed in the daily responsibilities of civil servants, who are tasked with working for the public, not themselves.
In fact, shouldn’t Congress supervise and approve the requirements for any buyout of civil servants? No monies have been appropriated for the buyouts in return for immediate resignations as offered by Trump and Musk. Can the thousands of workers who have accepted this resignation offer even trust that this offer will be funded by Congress? Based on past behavior, it seems unlikely that either Trump or Musk will step forward with voluntary contributions to the Treasury Department to honor their offer.
We should be asking these questions and many more. The Constitution, the highest law in the land, establishes our democracy and our values. The Preamble of the Constitution calls for the furtherance of justice, tranquility, defense of our county, the general welfare, and the liberty of our people. Are Donald Trump and Elon Musk really acting in furtherance of these goals?
Pamela Shaddock is a retired attorney. Her additional past employment includes work as a Social Studies teacher, a Greeley City Council member and a Federal Government civil servant.
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