6 ms·

White House rescinds federal aid freeze

28 points by ao98 2y ago

basementcat 2y ago
NASA Watch has a copy of the "resume work" order. https://nasawatch.com/transition/omb-memo-about-payment-freeze-retracted/ https://nasawatch.com/transition/omb-memo-about-payment-free... The State Department has issued the following guidance https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-foreign-assistance-pause/ https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-forei... However, someone in charge is interpreting programs like PEPFAR as not "life saving" so all data systems needed by medical personnel and researchers are still down. https://data.pepfar.gov/ https://data.pepfar.gov/ https://www.datim.org/ https://www.datim.org/
mingus88 2y ago
[flagged]
7128tx 2y ago
Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested alternative plans for savings: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2025/01/28/warren-to-musk-ive-got-your-2-trillion-right-here/ https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2025/01/28/warren-to-mu... “My recommendations would reduce spending on wasteful programs and contracts, would cut out unfair loopholes and giveaways to the wealthiest Americans, would make the government more efficient and effective.”
- Molitor5901 2y ago
  It would be remarkable if DOGE was bipartisan but IIRC the last time a bipartisan committee came together to cut federal spending, they were not able to agree and it triggered automatic cuts.
- lokar 2y ago
  Up to some limit we are very far from, IRS enforcement staff more then pay for themselves.
Molitor5901 2y ago
That was only a matter of time. Congressionally directed spending is supreme under Article I of the Constitution.
- imoverclocked 2y ago
  Hindsight is 20/20 ... foresight, not so much. The president did try to go against the constitution ... again.
  - Molitor5901 2y ago
    Actually, I think it was Musk. If you consider the Issacson biography in which Musk (basically) said to remove enough of something until it breaks, and you have to add something back. What I call the move fast and break things mentality is a very, very bad idea for government, but it seems to be what they are doing. Pause everything, and see what is really needed; Get rid of as many employees as possible, see what stops working, then bring people back in. It's Musk with Trump's authority.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - SAI_Peregrinus 2y ago
      That plan works just as well as the equivalent "tighten the bolt until you hear the crack, then back off a quarter turn" does with fasteners. The thing tends to stay broken!
- lokar 2y ago
  If congress is unwilling to use impeachment and removal, the president is above the law.
  - xnx 2y ago
    Third time's the charm?
lenerdenator 2y ago
There are ways to cut wasteful spending without, y'know, creating a panic.
- lokar 2y ago
  How sure are you that there is in fact a ton of waste? All the sources for that position have a clear bias, and offer essentially no real evidence (at best a few anecdotes).
  - lenerdenator 2y ago
    There's bound to be some. Is it as much as the right pretends it is? Is it the cause of the ballooning federal debt? No on both. But it does exist. And honestly, the worst thing you can do is have someone try to run the organization allocating those funds as if he's the CEO of his own personal organization.
    - lokar 2y ago
      Is it much more proportionate to over all budget then Google, Microsoft, Walmart, UPS, bank of America, etc?
      - johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Those companies can't produce money to "pay off debts", increasing the defecit. So I'd say there's a fighting chance there. I'm no economist nor businessman though, so I won't pretend I can answer that with confidence.
        lokar 2y ago
        Just don’t see why I should take it on faith that the US department whatever has 10X the “waste” of a big multi-national bank. Or that DOGE can improve anything.
        2y ago
MontgomeryPi2 2y ago
Probably a large donor's money spigot was affected (e.g. FAFSA private loan servicers) and the WH got a call from them. Same with the plan to deport prisoners, queue the calls into the WH from private prison lobbyists in 3,2,1...
feraldidactic 2y ago
Or maybe not? https://bsky.app/profile/juddlegum.bsky.social/post/3lgvnaepw7k2l https://bsky.app/profile/juddlegum.bsky.social/post/3lgvnaep...
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  Can such a pathetic loophole really get past a judge?
- smegsicle 2y ago
  boy that is hard to read twitter really has gone downhill
johnnyanmac 2y ago
>Though White House aides publicly blamed the media for causing the confusion, arguing that none existed within the building, the administration had received a flood of calls from lawmakers and state officials with questions about its impact on their home states. So trump blames the media, gets a bunch of blow back from officials, a Judge comes in to block part of it... And they choose to blame the media to upkeep their narrative when they need to backpedal. Gonna be a long 4 years. But at least they are getting everything through for free.
- dole 2y ago
  This was the MO the first time around; take a crap in public for the news cycle, walk it back two weeks later when it’s impossible to accomplish and everyone else has moved on.
- basementcat 2y ago
  We’re not getting this for free. PEPFAR data systems are still down and 20 million people are not getting access to life saving medication.
legitster 2y ago
I'm not against the idea of cutting the government's budget, but this administration is trying to perform surgery with a sledgehammer. Besides, solving the real high level problems are going to be a disaster. There are two ways for them to cut the budget. 1: Cut programs - 2: Increase efficiency 1. Reduce programs. The problem for them is that Red states are overwhelming subsidized by Blue states. Just cutting programs across the board is going to hurt their constituents the most. https://apnews.com/article/north-america-business-local-taxes-ap-top-news-politics-2f83c72de1bd440d92cdbc0d3b6bc08c https://apnews.com/article/north-america-business-local-taxe... 2. Reduce costs. The reason government projects are so expensive is because of their insane review and oversight requirements. And the reason they have these is because of their constant exposure to lawsuits from citizens and NGOs. Cutting costs would involve eliminating review processes and recusing planners - you would effectively need to increase the power of the federal government to make it more efficient. I expect the administration to come back with a smarter list and a more targeted set of grants to cancel. But this whole endeavor is going to be a massive lark for them.
- drivingmenuts 2y ago
  Instead of taking money out of the defense budget, Delta shut down everything else. Trump’s going to need the military to maintain as authoritarian presidency.
- orwin 2y ago
  > the reason they have these is because of their constant exposure to lawsuits from citizens and NGOs Maybe, but in my experience, most of the overhead was there to avoid any kind of passive corruption for low-level employees. Also help avoid pressure, because high-level employees have no reasons to pressure temp worker/low-level employees (if they want to use their access to do a qui pro quo, they can, but they couldn't use a temp like me to do their bidding). I was a temp in a bureaucracy highly susceptible to corruption though (IRS equivalent), maybe this kind of overhead can be found in bureaucracies without as easy access to money/power as mine had, but in that case, i would argue that it is more habit than external pressure.

28 points by ao98 2y ago

NASA Watch has a copy of the "resume work" order. https://nasawatch.com/transition/omb-memo-about-payment-freeze-retracted/ https://nasawatch.com/transition/omb-memo-about-payment-free... The State Department has issued the following guidance https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-foreign-assistance-pause/ https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-forei... However, someone in charge is interpreting programs like PEPFAR as not "life saving" so all data systems needed by medical personnel and researchers are still down. https://data.pepfar.gov/ https://data.pepfar.gov/ https://www.datim.org/ https://www.datim.org/

mingus88 2y ago

[flagged]

7128tx 2y ago

Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested alternative plans for savings: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2025/01/28/warren-to-musk-ive-got-your-2-trillion-right-here/ https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2025/01/28/warren-to-mu... “My recommendations would reduce spending on wasteful programs and contracts, would cut out unfair loopholes and giveaways to the wealthiest Americans, would make the government more efficient and effective.”

Molitor5901 2y ago
It would be remarkable if DOGE was bipartisan but IIRC the last time a bipartisan committee came together to cut federal spending, they were not able to agree and it triggered automatic cuts.
lokar 2y ago
Up to some limit we are very far from, IRS enforcement staff more then pay for themselves.

Molitor5901 2y ago

That was only a matter of time. Congressionally directed spending is supreme under Article I of the Constitution.

imoverclocked 2y ago
Hindsight is 20/20 ... foresight, not so much. The president did try to go against the constitution ... again.
- Molitor5901 2y ago
  Actually, I think it was Musk. If you consider the Issacson biography in which Musk (basically) said to remove enough of something until it breaks, and you have to add something back. What I call the move fast and break things mentality is a very, very bad idea for government, but it seems to be what they are doing. Pause everything, and see what is really needed; Get rid of as many employees as possible, see what stops working, then bring people back in. It's Musk with Trump's authority.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - SAI_Peregrinus 2y ago
    That plan works just as well as the equivalent "tighten the bolt until you hear the crack, then back off a quarter turn" does with fasteners. The thing tends to stay broken!
lokar 2y ago
If congress is unwilling to use impeachment and removal, the president is above the law.
- xnx 2y ago
  Third time's the charm?

lenerdenator 2y ago

There are ways to cut wasteful spending without, y'know, creating a panic.

lokar 2y ago
How sure are you that there is in fact a ton of waste? All the sources for that position have a clear bias, and offer essentially no real evidence (at best a few anecdotes).
- lenerdenator 2y ago
  There's bound to be some. Is it as much as the right pretends it is? Is it the cause of the ballooning federal debt? No on both. But it does exist. And honestly, the worst thing you can do is have someone try to run the organization allocating those funds as if he's the CEO of his own personal organization.
  - lokar 2y ago
    Is it much more proportionate to over all budget then Google, Microsoft, Walmart, UPS, bank of America, etc?
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      Those companies can't produce money to "pay off debts", increasing the defecit. So I'd say there's a fighting chance there. I'm no economist nor businessman though, so I won't pretend I can answer that with confidence.
      - lokar 2y ago
        Just don’t see why I should take it on faith that the US department whatever has 10X the “waste” of a big multi-national bank. Or that DOGE can improve anything.
        2y ago

MontgomeryPi2 2y ago

Probably a large donor's money spigot was affected (e.g. FAFSA private loan servicers) and the WH got a call from them. Same with the plan to deport prisoners, queue the calls into the WH from private prison lobbyists in 3,2,1...

feraldidactic 2y ago

Or maybe not? https://bsky.app/profile/juddlegum.bsky.social/post/3lgvnaepw7k2l https://bsky.app/profile/juddlegum.bsky.social/post/3lgvnaep...

johnnyanmac 2y ago
Can such a pathetic loophole really get past a judge?
smegsicle 2y ago
boy that is hard to read twitter really has gone downhill

johnnyanmac 2y ago

>Though White House aides publicly blamed the media for causing the confusion, arguing that none existed within the building, the administration had received a flood of calls from lawmakers and state officials with questions about its impact on their home states. So trump blames the media, gets a bunch of blow back from officials, a Judge comes in to block part of it... And they choose to blame the media to upkeep their narrative when they need to backpedal. Gonna be a long 4 years. But at least they are getting everything through for free.

dole 2y ago
This was the MO the first time around; take a crap in public for the news cycle, walk it back two weeks later when it’s impossible to accomplish and everyone else has moved on.
basementcat 2y ago
We’re not getting this for free. PEPFAR data systems are still down and 20 million people are not getting access to life saving medication.

legitster 2y ago

I'm not against the idea of cutting the government's budget, but this administration is trying to perform surgery with a sledgehammer. Besides, solving the real high level problems are going to be a disaster. There are two ways for them to cut the budget. 1: Cut programs - 2: Increase efficiency 1. Reduce programs. The problem for them is that Red states are overwhelming subsidized by Blue states. Just cutting programs across the board is going to hurt their constituents the most. https://apnews.com/article/north-america-business-local-taxes-ap-top-news-politics-2f83c72de1bd440d92cdbc0d3b6bc08c https://apnews.com/article/north-america-business-local-taxe... 2. Reduce costs. The reason government projects are so expensive is because of their insane review and oversight requirements. And the reason they have these is because of their constant exposure to lawsuits from citizens and NGOs. Cutting costs would involve eliminating review processes and recusing planners - you would effectively need to increase the power of the federal government to make it more efficient. I expect the administration to come back with a smarter list and a more targeted set of grants to cancel. But this whole endeavor is going to be a massive lark for them.

drivingmenuts 2y ago
Instead of taking money out of the defense budget, Delta shut down everything else. Trump’s going to need the military to maintain as authoritarian presidency.
orwin 2y ago
> the reason they have these is because of their constant exposure to lawsuits from citizens and NGOs Maybe, but in my experience, most of the overhead was there to avoid any kind of passive corruption for low-level employees. Also help avoid pressure, because high-level employees have no reasons to pressure temp worker/low-level employees (if they want to use their access to do a qui pro quo, they can, but they couldn't use a temp like me to do their bidding). I was a temp in a bureaucracy highly susceptible to corruption though (IRS equivalent), maybe this kind of overhead can be found in bureaucracies without as easy access to money/power as mine had, but in that case, i would argue that it is more habit than external pressure.