Trump Preparing for a Long Shutdown by Using Tariffs for Funding
The government has been shut down for two weeks now.
Interesting.
Also, I agree with Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey. The move is constitutionally suspect, but a brilliant strategy.
Punchbowl News reported that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been “working on ways” to fund programs and pay federal law-enforcement officers during the shutdown.
Trump has already directed tariffs to fund the Women & Infants, and Children Food Program (WIC). He also instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to utilize all available funds to compensate the troops.
Presidents typically have access to some funding, including tariff revenue.
The government has been shut down for two weeks now.
The Treasury Department manages the general fund that holds the tariffs.
According to CNN, the department calls the fund “America’s Checkbook” since the government uses it to “pay some of the government’s pre-existing bills, such as distributing tax refunds.”
Don’t forget that the government used tariffs to fund itself before it added that awful 16th Amendment.
So, can Trump use money in that general fund?
Well..Trump and Congress could pass “a measure designating the tariff revenue for a specific use, like paying employees who are furloughed.”
CNN said neither party wants to do that. I’m shocked the Republicans wouldn’t do it. I believe it would need a simple majority in the Senate to pass, unlike the continuing resolution, which requires 60 votes.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai told CNN: “We don’t need any novel solutions to reduce the blow of the Democrats’ government shutdown — all that needs to happen is the Democrats reopening the government by passing a clean continuing resolution as they’ve done many times before.”
Again, the CR needs 60 Senate votes to pass. The Republicans have a majority, but not enough to pass it. I know Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) won’t vote for it, so eight Democrats need to vote for the CR.
If Trump can pay the military and fund critical programs, then the Democrats will look even worse.
Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to slap tariffs on numerous countries and items.
Yes, Congress has the purse, but as we’ve seen for years, the legislative branch has given the executive branch way too much power.
If Trump wants to use tariffs, he had better do it now. The Supreme Court will hear arguments that Trump exceeded his authority in ordering those tariffs during the first week of November.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit already ruled that most of the tariffs exceeded Trump’s authority under the emergency provisions.
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Comments
These tariffs should be used to pay down the national debt…in other words by the highest interest bonds back.
In a sane world, maybe. But we are not there.
This is a brilliant strategy. And if it goes to court, then let the leftist lawyers and politicians explain why they are not wanting to pay federal employees, not once but twice!
What even more brilliant about it is that Trump is now not only doing his own job, but Congress’s.
“Congress has the purse, but as we’ve seen for years, the legislative branch has given the executive branch way too much power.”
The Executive Branch is now keeping America running using its own slush fund.
How embarrassing this must be for any congressman who isn’t entirely asleep.
I love that he nullified the Leftist’s number one screaming point by funding WIC before they could even begin – If they close off this funding he’s not the one depriving poor children of food.
D’s need these shutdowns to be as painful as possible in order to “win”.
The gaslighting by the left is unbelievable.
that’s all they do so they have gotten very good (bad) at it. It’s lazy.
I’m not sure how this ends
Schumer is terrified of AOC and Jeffries
He’s older than methuselah
“White House spokesperson Kush Desai told CNN: “We don’t need any novel solutions to reduce the blow of the Democrats’ government shutdown — all that needs to happen is the Democrats reopening the government by passing a clean continuing resolution as they’ve done many times before.”
I have to disagree, novel solutions are exactly what is needed. I think the White House is failing to read the room. Like it or not, truthful or not, the economic cost of this shutdown and the tariffs will be laid at the White House’s door. The Democrats are clever crooks and they know how to manipulate public opinion. After all they have an army of media carrying water for them.
The suggested novel solutions need to happen quickly because I just know (strong feeling) suits are already being planned to prevent tariffs being used to fund WIC. We need to remember Democrats don’t care about the pain their or any government policies cause in the short term. They care about winning in the long term. For now the best way for them to do that is convince voters that Trump owns their financial woes.
So, wait. We care that the democrats are going to commit suicide by trying to prevent Trump from funding WIC?
I mean, we want him to cave to them to prevent that?
What are you, nuts?
I’ve been tested and was found very, closely, nearly, and watch out for her sort of nuts but not full fledged nuts. Just wanted to get that out of the way. Never did I write for Trump and his Republican allies to cave. I wrote that this is a time to use novel solutions. You and others (and often myself) may not like the reality that Democrats and the media are very apt at spinning D.C. machinations to put Trump in a bad light. Making sure needed funding goes forward via novel solutions is one way for Trump to show he has average Joe and Jane’s back. I honestly believe Trump does care about the hardship the shutdown causes the voters. The Democrats don’t.
The Democrats don’t look at keeping Trump from using tariffs for WIC funding as committing suicide. I mean a party that is proud of the millions of abortion victims and desires to doom even more preborn to such a violent end is not gonna quibble over a temporary halt to WIC. They will play victim and make sure the world knows Trump wanted to take health care and WIC away from deserving families and they tried to stop him! I know that is a bunch of bunk what matters though in politics is not just reality but perception. We should recognize that reality and care about it.
“I was sending you your checks regularly, until the Democrats told me I couldn’t. I don’t know why they did that. You should ask them.”
An own so simple Joe Biden could have uttered it without getting lost.
Ah, but that isn’t the way that the MSM will spin it. Suzie Soccermom and Joe Sixpack don’t follow the news, they only listen to it superficially. When those harpies on The View, and some commentator that comes on during the Football Report on ESPN tells them that Trump is starving babies, they believe it.
End the filibuster for budget bills, don’t bother with a CR, vote on a budget that slashes gov’t spending by 50%. Zero out funding for the Department of Education and so on.
Why only 50%? I would prefer somewhere in the neighborhood of 98% (excluding military funding)
Opps, wasn’t paying attention and accidently did a down vote when I meant to vote up.
I could see room for a rule allowing a majority vote on specific type of CR under specific circumstances. Say a 60 day CR but it must be a ‘clean CR’ (no add on) with funding at 95% of current spending and only offered up after maybe ten legislative days attempting to bring it to the floor.
Junking the filibuster entirely on budget bills is, IMO, a horrible idea that will cause all sorts of bad consequences down the road.
‘The government has been shut down for two weeks now.’
I hadn’t noticed.
Wait, what?!
Organ Pipe National Monument was so peaceful, and fully open for our enjoyment.
I could use more of this shutdown thing.
Historically the way “shut-downs” have worked when (D)s and (R)s cant agree enuf to DO THEIR JOB and pass a budget or at least a continuing resolution…..
“Unessential Workers” get furloughed – but after one side or the other eventually folds they then pass a resolution to turn that into a free paid vacation – as to “not punish the workers”.
F That. The real reason is so that the workers don’t get angry at congress – and specifically at the minority party trying to blackmail the majority into letting them pass spending they dont have the votes to pass otherwise.
If (in this case) Schumer and the (D)s think they can threaten govt workers, govt recipients, and military folks with hardship to get their way – F Schumer et alia and break the paradigm open like a piñata. With mexican hats.
Schumer and his stooges are LYING about the provisions they insist MUST be in the bill – as usual. Until they pass a clean bill with no silly add-ons like medicaid-fraud friendly provisions for Illegals and other wish list items – do not back down this time.
When someone threatens to “shoot a puppy” if you don’t do what they tell you to do compliance just leads to more endangered puppies in the future.
Trump: Frees hostages from Hamas.
Democrats: Hold my beer, amateurs. We’re holding all of America hostage.
The CR itself only needs a simple majority to pass. The hold up in the Senate is the 60 vote threshold required to end debate and more to the actual up/down vote.
Clearly Trump can b/c he’s gonna do it. Who has standing to challenge directing funds to WIC and military payroll? Congress as an institution would have standing b/c that’s whose institutional power is being usurped and I don’t think the GoP majority in the HoR or Senate will seek to prevent it. IMO it would take a majority vote in either HoR or Senate to assert a legitimate Article I claim on behalf of ‘Congress’ as an institution.
I don’t know what the rules are, but it seems that a Reconciliation Budget would solve the problem. It only requires a majority vote in each house and as I understand it can only be used a limited number of times and its provisions are restricted to budget issues only.
Seems like it would solve multiple problems.
There are only 53 R Senators.
A reconciliation budget would require a CBO score showing that it reduces the deficit.
The problem is there aren’t 50 R Senators (with VP tiebreak) that are willing to vote on a budget that has actual cuts.
So, here we are, at the mercy of Schumer’s primary dilemma.
The Democrats behavior is indefensible but I really don’t see how this doesn’t violate the constitutional principle of congress being the source of all revenues.
The majority being obstructed by the senate Democrats won’t object but I am concerned about what happens when Democrats again have the trifecta.
I’m not worried about this at all. After the “no kings” nationwide riots this coming Saturday, Schumer will give permission to enough Senate D’s in swing states to cross over to help the R’s pass the CR for it to pass.
My guess is, end of next week.
In the meantime, I’m incredibly disappointed in how little Russ Vought is actually permanently cutting while he has the power to do so.
I won’t end next week. I predict the Democrats will continue to hold out at least until Nov 5, when the results of elections in VA, NJ, and NYC are known. And some of them have said they will hold out “until planes fall from the sky”, and they probably mean it. Wouldn’t it be ironic if some of them were on those planes?
Vought is cutting so little because most of the RIFs that Trump wanted have already been done. The Democrats know this. They are not concerned about a few thousand here and there – RIFs that won’t be complete for several months anyway. There are over 2M federal Employees. 4K-10K RIFs are in the background noise. And remember, a RIF eliminates a position, not a person.
“The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit already ruled that most of the tariffs exceeded Trump’s authority under the emergency provisions.
‘
Trump needs to grasp every opportunity to counter Dem slugs as possible. I am thankful that the tariff is available.