The independent agency embedded within the legislative branch that is designed to review federal spending and make recommendations to Congress on cost savings and waste, as well as investigate policy implementation (the real one, not DOGE), has released a new finding that none of us will find surprising.
As part of its 39 different investigations into various actions the Trump administration has taken in the last four months that could qualify as Impoundment Control Act violations, the Government Accountability Office determined this afternoon that the Trump administration has, in fact, done just that.
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Big picture, the non-partisan congressional watchdog is expected to issue more rulings in coming months as it works its way through nearly 40 other similar investigations into whether the Trump administration has violated the 51-year-old law in other ways. The Trump White House has already called the GAO finding “wrong” and GAO opinions are, in general, considered nonbinding recommendations to Congress. Such a finding might matter more in an era where congressional Republicans were not already so willing to choke down all of Trump’s DOGE cuts.
Tag Archives: President Biden
New York Times: As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi [Bimbo #3] Embraces Role of TV Messenger
Attorney General Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] has adopted a conspicuously performative approach, willing to execute White House directives with little fuss.
Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3], the attorney general of the United States, circled the Roosevelt Room in late February, handing out bulky white binders labeled “Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a conclave of Trump-allied influencers summoned to the White House for their first visit.
That Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3], the nation’s top law enforcement official, would prioritize a case of importance primarily to conspiracy theorists was telling. Anxious to appease the restive MAGA base, she hyped the disclosure as “breaking news” on Fox the night before, part of an effort to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to reveal new details on the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s misdeeds and death.
It was a dud. There were “no bombshells,” she said, according to one of those invited.
Later, activists on the right lashed out at Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3]. She responded by blaming others, and then dispatched F.B.I. agents and prosecutors from the Justice Department’s national security division to scour the archives, officials familiar with the situation said. They found little. No one knows when Phase 2 is coming. But it is not likely to amount to much, those people said.
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Since taking office as U.S. attorney general in early February, she has adopted a conspicuously performative approach to survive inside a Trump cabinet that rewards self-promotion, ritualized public flattery and, above all, a willingness to execute White House directives with little fuss.
Over the last few days, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] signed off on Mr. Trump’s acceptance of a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane upgraded to serve as Air Force One donated by the Qatari royal family, which raised a host of ethical and legal questions. As a lobbyist, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] herself received six-figure consulting fees from Qatar.
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But her approach represents a noticeable departure from that of her predecessors at the Justice Department who saw themselves, to varying degrees, as guardians of institutional independence, attentive but not beholden to the presidency.
AOL: White House: ‘Ridiculous’ to think Trump doing anything for his own personal wealth
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt [Bimbo #1] said Friday it would be “ridiculous” to think President Trump is personally benefiting from his time at the White House, calling out reporters for questions about his family’s business ventures while in office.
Ahead of Trump’s trip to the Middle East next week, Leavitt [Bimbo #1] pushed back on questioning over whether any family members are joining him and if the president has any plans to meet with people involved with the family businesses while in the region.
“Not to my knowledge, and let me just get to the premise of your question that both of you have raised. I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit. He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service, not just once, but twice,” [Bimbo #1] said.
“A life of running a very successful real estate empire”: Does that include the loser’s SIX bankruptcies?
And his THIRTY FOUR convictions on felony counts of falsified business records?
Dumb doesn’t come much dumber than Bimbo #1 Karoline Leavitt!
https://www.aol.com/white-house-ridiculous-think-trump-182511250.html
The Hill: Trump administration removes Democratic members of credit union watchdog
The Trump administration has fired two Democratic board members from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the officials said Wednesday.
Todd Harper, one Democrat on the board, shared the news of his removal in a post on LinkedIn and said the firing was “just plain wrong.”
“The decision of the White House to fire me before the completion of my term is wrong. It violates the bipartisan statutory framework adopted by Congress to protect credit union members and their deposits,” Harper said in his statement.
Harper argued the firings were an attack on the NCUA and undermines the organization’s independence and work. The NCUA regulates credit unions and protects credit members.
“If a President can fire an NCUA Board member at any time, how will we maintain public trust in our nation’s financial services regulatory system?” he questioned.
The other Democrat removed was Tanya Otsuka. Their departures leave just one member of the board left, Republican Chair Kyle Hauptman, Reuters reported.
In a separate statement, reported by Reuters, Otsuka said she was informed about her immediate termination in an email Tuesday evening and said it was “yet another attempt to undermine the rule of law and blatantly ignore Congress and our democratic values.”