America is in a Constitutional Crisis now, this week.

I hope you will join me in urging our Senators to do everything they can to push back against the following Presidential power grab and to oppose confirmation of Russell Vought’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Last Monday, January 27, President Trump issued an Executive Action calling for a freeze of all Federal grants supporting a dizzying array of services that benefit a huge swath of Americans. The OMB sent a memo directing agencies to institute the freezes. A huge national backlash nationwide prompted the OMB memo to be rescinded, but the President says the cuts in the executive order remain in place, so uncertainty is everywhere.

Chaos and confusion have rippled through government funded and nonprofit agencies. People who depend on critical services are panicked about whether they can pay rent and afford food. Essential staff have been laid off in many agencies, and fear is paralyzing operations. Medicaid portals nationwide shut down temporarily. Hospitals were affected. Wildfire efforts and disaster relief are targeted. Climate change mitigation efforts have been curtailed. USAID’s website disappeared, and employees were placed on leave. And on and on.

These actions are illegal and unconstitutional. Period. The Constitution clearly says that Congress, not the President, determines Federal spending. The Impoundment Control act of 1974 and Supreme Court precedents specifically outlaw impounding of funds. Whatever his ideological reasons, Trump does not have the power to shrink the government like this. It is illegal; and we are a nation of laws, not of kings.

A major goal of the current onslaught of Executive Orders is to steamroll opposition and act as though the President has power over things that he does not. Furthermore, agents of Elon Musk, who is not an elected official and not even a government employee, have full access to the systems of USAID and the Treasury payment systems that processes Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds. They have financial information of citizens who are recipients of federal services. This is alarming.

This is fast-tracking Project 2025, and it is a Constitutional crisis of the highest order. During the campaign Trump claimed he knew nothing about Project 2025 and those behind it. That was an absolute lie, and Americans are beginning to pay the price for it. Russell Vought, a far-right extremist who has a long history of pushing to defund the government, was a major architect of Project 2025, which is deeply unpopular across America. Trump has nominated Vought for director of the OMB, and he is being voted on in the Senate possibly as early as this Thursday. He is a dangerous threat to our democracy and should not be confirmed.

This is not a question of conservatives vs. liberals, or Democrats vs. Republicans, or old vs. young, or rich vs. poor. This is a question of the super-rich vs. everyone else. Trump, the Project 2025 crew, and the oligarchs behind them are actively planning tax cuts for the super-rich of approximately $5 trillion over ten years, which they plan to offset by cuts in services affecting millions of Americans and totaling an estimated $1 trillion per year.

Considering that the entire Federal revenue is about $4 trillion per year, this is a huge giveaway to those who do not need it at the expense of those who do. To Trump and Musk, the budget is just about numbers, but it deeply affects the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans.

If you share my concern about this, please contact Senators Bernie Sanders (202-224- 5141) and Peter Welch (202-224-4242) and tell them please fight the confirmation of Russell Vought for director of OMB, and the illegal funding freeze. They are against these actions, but they need to know we are vitally concerned, and we insist they fight these with all means at their disposal to head off this constitutional crisis.

For more information contact NE Addison County Indivisible at [email protected].

Howard Jennings

Bristol