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Raw Story: 'Do we have a king?' Experts warn Trump and Musk's moves signal 'Constitutional crisis'
Raw Story - 'Do we have a king?' Experts warn Trump and Musk’s moves signal 'Constitutional crisis'
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
February 3, 2025 1:28PM ET
Legal and political experts are raising alarms over what they describe as a deepening constitutional crisis after associates and close allies of Elon Musk—whom President Donald Trump appointed to lead the newly created temporary Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—reportedly gained access to or locked employees out of at least four federal agencies: the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the General Services Administration (GSA).
"USAID being unlawfully dismantled. DOGE member has closed HQ. New tranche of workers cut off email," wrote the former Assistant USAID Administrator for Global Health, Atul Gawande. "Staff tell me, 'It is frightening being inside USAID right now. Our checks and balances failed. Congress has abdicated its responsibilities.' And Sec. [of State Marco] Rubio has abdicated his."
The Atlantic's Norman Ornstein is a political scientist and co-author of the book, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism."
Dr. Ornstein writes, "All of this is completely illegal; we have people who are not a part of government staging a coup right in front of our eyes. Not a single Republican in Congress objecting, Democrats floundering, the press treating it as a misdemeanor. Beyond frightening."
"This is how democracy dies," responded economist Tony Annett, a 16-year veteran of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "The opposition does nothing. The media play it down. The bureaucrats comply."
/snip
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
February 3, 2025 1:28PM ET
Legal and political experts are raising alarms over what they describe as a deepening constitutional crisis after associates and close allies of Elon Musk—whom President Donald Trump appointed to lead the newly created temporary Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—reportedly gained access to or locked employees out of at least four federal agencies: the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the General Services Administration (GSA).
"USAID being unlawfully dismantled. DOGE member has closed HQ. New tranche of workers cut off email," wrote the former Assistant USAID Administrator for Global Health, Atul Gawande. "Staff tell me, 'It is frightening being inside USAID right now. Our checks and balances failed. Congress has abdicated its responsibilities.' And Sec. [of State Marco] Rubio has abdicated his."
The Atlantic's Norman Ornstein is a political scientist and co-author of the book, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism."
Dr. Ornstein writes, "All of this is completely illegal; we have people who are not a part of government staging a coup right in front of our eyes. Not a single Republican in Congress objecting, Democrats floundering, the press treating it as a misdemeanor. Beyond frightening."
"This is how democracy dies," responded economist Tony Annett, a 16-year veteran of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "The opposition does nothing. The media play it down. The bureaucrats comply."
/snip
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
