Trump Decides Now Is Not The Time To Make Republicans Rubber Stamp His DOGE Power Grab—Maybe Later

Yahoo

15-05-2025

First it was reported that the Trump White House was considering sending a rescissions package to Congress, a way of letting the legislature rubber stamp some of the spending cuts DOGE has already implemented. Then it was reported that Trump might delay that package, at least a few weeks, while House and Senate Republicans focus on slashing Medicaid and passing the rest of Trump's fiscal priorities in the massive reconciliation bill.
Now it seems like he is going to delay even further, perhaps for two years, while the White House focuses on its real goal: launching a legal challenge against the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which limits a president's ability to freeze or not spend funds that have already been appropriated by Congress. If he succeeds, the whole rescissions thing might just be moot.
Politico reports that the Trump administration is now looking at a two-year timeline for a rescissions package, kicking the can on the date when it may, eventually, attempt to shove portions of Trump and Elon Musk's already-implemented, destructive DOGE cuts down congressional Republicans' throats. Some Republicans are reportedly unnerved by the constitutionally backward move. Others, like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), are seemingly on board with the move, but recognize it is a lot to stomach.
'I think they don't want to lose the vote, so I think they may be concerned about the sensibility,' Sen. Josh Hawley told Politico of the delay.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is one of the few Republicans who has publicly nodded in the direction of acknowledging that Elon's actions are constitutionally problematic. He has maintained that the DOGE cuts are not legal until they've been approved by Congress.
More from Politico:
While the rescissions package would move on a separate track, the White House is recognizing that Congress is preoccupied. Therefore, it's giving itself a much longer timeline to codify DOGE cuts while leaving open the option of challenging the Impoundment Control Act, the 1974 law that limits a president's ability to withhold funds appropriated by Congress. Trump's allies have argued the president already has authority to withhold spending but it would likely be up to the courts to decide, given that the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.
'The focus right now is the reconciliation bill,' said a White House official granted anonymity to speak freely. 'I think there's an appetite within Capitol Hill, within the two years that we have to codify the work of DOGE. The procedures of Capitol Hill may not allow for it to happen now but it doesn't mean it won't happen later.'
The public corruption unit in the FBI's Washington Field Office has been shut down. The group helped former Special Counsel Jack Smith in his investigation into Trump and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The FBI's Washington Field Office has three units that work on public corruption. The one that's been shuttered was known as CR15. That unit was involved with the FBI's initial investigation into the Trump 2020 election subversion scheme — the investigation that ultimately flowed into Smith's federal criminal case against Trump.
According to NBC News, the special agents that were working in the special unit will be reassigned, rather than fired — a break from the FBI's previous mode of operations under director Kash Patel, who, even before he was confirmed, allegedly aided in the firing of prosecutors involved in Jan. 6 cases.
Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee advanced legislation that includes massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, in a party line 29-25 vote Wednesday night.
The GOP proposal — which would cut as much as $300 billion from the food aid program that more than 40 million people rely on — aims to establish a new cost-sharing system with states that penalizes them with higher costs based on their individual payment error rates.
That would mean that states with payment error rates between six percent and eight percent would pay for 15% of SNAP, while states with error rates between eight percent and 10 percent would pay for 20%. And states with error rates above 10% would be hit with taking on the responsibility of 25 percent of the benefits.
'These cuts hurt families, putting 4 million children between seven and seventeen at greater risk of food insecurity,' Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), ranking member of the nutrition subcommittee, said in a statement following the committee's budget markup. 'It is unconscionable that we are effectively debating whether a seven-year-old, with no control over the situation of their family, deserves food assistance, not just at home, but also potentially at school and during the summer, as other nutrition programs tied to SNAP are impacted.'
The bill will now make its way to the House Budget Committee, which is expected to meet at 9 a.m. ET on Friday to put together the reconciliation package, getting it ready for a floor vote next week.
— Emine Yücel
House Democrats are opening an investigation into Trump's shady acceptance of a $400 million private jet from the government of Qatar. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington on Thursday asking the attorney general for a supposed memo that was written justifying the legality of Trump accepting the gift. The letter was signed by other Dems on the House Judiciary Committee. An excerpt:
Any legal memo purporting to make such a claim would obviously fly in the face of the text of the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which explicitly prohibits the President from accepting any 'present [or] Emolument… of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State' unless he has 'the Consent of Congress.
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