A Machiavellian Shutdown

"Trump's version of this is, as one might expect, both more dramatic and more vicious. This week, he and his administration have threatened to withhold SNAP funding, deploying starving children and seniors as political weapons, and moved to throw airline travel into disorder by reducing flights through major hubs. Like Obama's National Park closures, the justifications offered are semi-plausible, but the Machiavellian way the president is messing with essential services and infrastructure demonstrates the dangers of the vision of big government that Trump has pursued."

"The president's approach to SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, has been especially mercurial. On the eve of the shutdown, the Agriculture Department posted a memo saying that emergency funding would cover any shortfall. "Congressional intent is evident that SNAP's operations should continue," the memo stated. But late last month, the administration yanked down the memo and announced that funding would end on November 1."

Every government shutdown becomes a game of chicken between parties or between Congress and the White House, with administrations reallocating funds to keep some programs running while closing others. Republicans closed National Park Service sites in 2013, which shifted voter blame. The Trump administration has escalated such tactics by threatening to withhold SNAP funding, using starving children and seniors as political leverage, and reducing flights through major hubs to disrupt airline travel. Semi-plausible justifications mask a Machiavellian approach that shows how an executive branch unbound by Congress or the courts can inflict and prolong pain on the public.

Read at The Atlantic