"As much of America stalls and sputters, President Donald Trump is forging ahead on a plan to remake the government's budget without Congress's assent. His administration has used the shutdown as a pretext to withhold billions of dollars from scores of projects: a subway line in Manhattan, a utility microgrid in Oahu. The White House has diverted anti-terrorism money to red states and canceled clean-energy projects in blue states."
"None of this is subtle. "We're cutting Democrat programs that we didn't want, because, I mean, they made one mistake," Trump said, referring to Democratic legislators who declined to vote for the GOP's spending proposals. "They didn't realize that that gives me the right to cut." Democrats may have made plenty of mistakes, but they did not give the president the right to axe congressionally approved programs when they declined to vote for the GOP's appropriations proposals."
The federal shutdown has halted numerous public services and projects: TSA workers are unpaid, national parks solicit donations, prospective homebuyers struggle to secure flood insurance, and start-ups postpone public offerings. The administration is using the shutdown to withhold billions from infrastructure and energy projects and to reallocate funds across states. Specific projects affected include a Manhattan subway line and an Oahu utility microgrid. The White House redirected anti-terrorism funding toward Republican states while canceling clean-energy projects in Democratic states. The administration frames cuts as justified responses to Democratic opposition, even as Congress retains authority over appropriations. The administration has also sued, investigated, and defunded left-leaning institutions.
#federal-shutdown #budget-and-appropriations #partisan-funding-reallocation #infrastructure-and-public-services
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