Having now halted$ 3 trillion in federal money, fired dozens of officials, or forced them to stop, President Donald Trump is keeping his campaign promise to completely overhaul federal agencies.
Democrats are now retaliating in opposition to the storm changes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY ) is referring to the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which prohibits the executive branch from abiding by congressionally approved spending measures.  ,  ,
” Congress approved these opportunities and they are not recommended, they are the law”, Schumer said in a statement.  ,
The White House refuted the claim of pond, claiming that the money were merely put on hold while the situation was being investigated. Still, in a 2023 video, Trump called the 1974 law “unconstitutional” . ,
According to Trump in the picture,” for 200 years under our system of government, it was undisputed that the President had the legal authority to halt unneeded spending through what is known as impoundment.” When I return to the White House, I will do everything in my power to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in judge and, if necessary, obtain Congress to reject it. We’ll reverse it. I will then use the President’s huge recognized pond power to push the sluggish federal government, for large discounts”.
At least eight of Trump’s most significant modifications to governmental agencies are listed below.  ,
Wait on all federal loans and grants
The budget office of the White House mandated a momentary pause in the distribution of roughly$ 3 trillion in governmental grants and loans.  ,
All federal organizations must do a review of all their “financial assistance plans and supporting activities,” according to Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, to make sure that they are in line with Trump’s objectives and plans.
The use of federal resources to improve Communist capital, transsexuals, and clean fresh deal cultural engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer money, according to Vaeth in the letter. He also cited a number of Trump’s just signed professional orders that support the temporary cash delay.  ,
The Administration did have time to review agency programs and decide the best ways to use the funding in ways that are in line with the law and the President’s priorities with this momentary pause, the letter stated.  ,
Authorities have until Feb. 10 to” submit to OMB detailed information on any plans, jobs or actions subject to this wait”.
The pause excludes programs that provide direct benefits to people, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, Pell Grants, and student loans.  ,
Congress has a mixed reaction to the Trump administration’s temporary pause, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD ) called it a “normal practice” during a change in power.  ,
At the beginning of administration, Thune said,” I believe that’s a normal practice until we are given the opportunity to see how the money is being spent.” And I believe that Biden did that, and he obviously refunded the border wall and other projects he didn’t want to have been funded before.
Meanwhile, Democrats like Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR ) have called it a” constitutional crisis”.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE ) shared that while this was a power appropriated to the president, he said he hopes it is” short lived”:
” I hope it’s short lived because there’s real people who rely on these grants, and real people with real jobs, with missions,” said one of the residents in my district this morning.
In an effort to stop the funding pause, a lawsuit on behalf of a number of nonprofits has been filed against the Trump administration.  ,
Plaintiffs file this complaint and ask for a temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo until the Court has an opportunity to more fully examine the illegality of the Trump administration’s actions, according to the groups in a 20-page lawsuit.
USAID workers put on leave and all foreign aid paused ,
At least 56 U.S. Agency for International Development employees were placed on leave with full pay and benefits as a result of Trump’s investigation into possible executive order violations.
According to an internal memo from USAID acting administrator Jason Gray, the organization has discovered” several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we work through our analysis of these actions, according to Gray.  ,
However, the notice did not state which executive order USAID employers were violating.  ,
This comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted the flow of foreign aid through the State Department, with the exception of emergency food aid and military aid to Egypt and Israel, which are in line with Trump’s priorities.
The temporary halt in funding shuts down the , President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush, which is credited with saving 25 million lives worldwide.
” This is another domino in the devastating impact of the harmful freeze to programs, leaving lives hanging in the balance”, Jirair Ratevosian, who served as chief of staff for PEPFAR during the Biden administration, told the New York Times.
Trump shakes up the Justice Department ,
On Monday, Trump fired a number of Justice Department attorneys who were involved in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, which led to the dismissal of charges involving Trump’s handling of classified documents and his involvement in the Capitol riots on January 6.  ,  ,
Acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of DOJ officials who had a significant impact on the prosecution of President Trump, a justice department official wrote to NBC News. The Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials in light of their actions in faithfully carrying out the President’s agenda. This action goes against the government’s goal of ending the use of force.
Among those terminated were Molly Gaston, J. P. Cooney, Anne McNamara, and Mary Dohrmann.  ,
Additionally, Corey Amundson, the Justice Department’s senior career official in charge of overseeing public corruption, resigned on Monday following the Trump administration’s attempt to oust him in an effort to control immigration issues.  ,
In a letter to acting Attorney General James McHenry, Amundson wrote,” I am honored and blessed to have served our country and this department for the last 23 years.” Amundson said,” I spent my entire professional life making sure that those around me understood and embraced that fundamental tenet of our work. I was committed to the apolitical enforcement of the federal criminal law.”
He is one of the 20 justice department employees reportedly reassigned to the new Sanctuary City Working Group inside the associate attorney general’s office.
17 inspectors general fired
On Friday, Trump fired 17 inspectors general, claiming aboard Air Force One that this was” a very standard thing to do” . ,
Trump claimed that” some people believed some were unfair or some were not doing their jobs.”
But Trump’s firing does not fall in line with precedent or the Inspector General Act, which states that the head of the inspector general shall be appointed “without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management, and etc” . ,
One of the fired inspectors general, Mark Greenblatt, told the New York Times that Trump’s actions undermine the purpose of the inspector general to remain nonpartisan.  ,
According to Greenblatt,” This poses an existential threat with respect to the government’s primary independent oversight function,” according to Greenblatt in an interview. We made inspectors general’s independence maintainable by preventing them from swaying with political party changes.
Both Democrats and Republicans have taken issue with Trump’s firings of inspectors general, with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL ) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA ) accusing Trump of violating the law for not giving Congress a 30 day notice.  ,
The senators wrote to Trump,” This is a matter of public and congressional accountability and ensuring the public’s confidence in the Inspector General community, a sentiment that other Members of Congress have shared more broadly.” “IGs are critical to rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct within the Executive Branch bureaucracy, which you have publicly made clear you are also intent on doing”.
Trump dismisses National Labor Relations Board leadership
Trump fired former President Joe Biden’s National Labor Relations Board chairwoman, Gwynne Wilcox, and the labor board’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo.
A president is prohibited from removing a board member unless there is evidence of malfeasance or negligence of duty. Wilcox, whose term expires in 2028, said she would fight back against Trump’s firing.
In a statement to Axios, Wilcox said,” I think I should still be able to serve on the board and contribute to this country.” ” I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent”.
The Supreme Court precedent, known as Good Cause Tenure Protection, has been affirmed for almost 100 years. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has come to the same conclusion as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which holds that Congress may also prevent members of organizations like the NLRB from being fired without just cause.
As for Abruzzo, Biden was the first to break precedent by firing her predecessor, Trump appointee Peter Robb.
According to reports, Trump’s firing of labor-supporting Abruzzo and Wilcox will entice Amazon and SpaceX to bring a constitutional challenge to the NLRB.
Changes in leadership within Secret Service ,
Two outsiders are joining the leadership ranks, and at least three Secret Service higher ups have announced they are leaving their positions.  ,
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The Secret Service rarely notices such a change in leadership in presidential administrations, but it comes after two attempts on Trump’s life.
In a report released in October on the Secret Service , the Department of Homeland Security advised replacing the agency’s leadership with outsiders to alter the agency’s culture, including the “present sense of complacency within the Service.”
