Category «Congress»

Personal Discretion Over the Treasury’s Payments System Means the End of Democracy

Liberal Currents – Elizabeth Popp Berman: “On Friday night [January 31, 2025], Elon Musk’s team gained access to the Department of Treasury’s payments system, which processes the federal spending that makes up more than a fifth of the U.S. economy. Social Security, Medicare, agricultural supports, the National Parks—a large majority of government spending flows through …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Courts, Data Governance, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head

Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau halted much of its work to investigate and penalize corporate wrongdoing Monday, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — tapped to lead the watchdog on an acting basis — ordered an agency-wide review to “promote consistency” with the new Trump administration. Shortly after assuming the post, Bessent and …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

Brookings Reg Tracking

“As the Trump administration returns to office for a second term with renewed deregulatory ambitions, the executive branch and its agencies are implementing significant policy changes. The Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets Regulatory Tracker (“Reg Tracker”) has relaunched to track major regulatory and executive actions taken by the administration, with a particular focus on …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Trump firings tee up broader legal clash over congressional power

Roll Call: “President Donald Trump’s firing of inspectors general and independent agency board members in the last week sets up another major legal clash over Congress’ power to put limits on the removal of federal officials, experts said. Since Friday, Trump removed more than a dozen inspectors general and Democratic members of the Equal Employment …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Find Your Members in the U.S. Congress

Find Your Members in the U.S. Congress | Congress.gov | Library of Congress – Search by your zipcode or address and the results will include the Members, name, website, address, telephone number, party affiliation, length of service, bio, contact information, and bill history associated with the member’s actions.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard, guts key aviation safety advisory committee

AP News: “President Donald Trump moved quickly to remake the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard before their terms are up and eliminated all the members of a key aviation security advisory group.Trump’s immigration policy changes drew the most attention at DHS, but he is …

Subjects: Congress, Transportation

Career civil service across the government fired, programs suspended – list continues to grow

Via LLRX – Career civil service across the government fired, programs suspended – list continues to grow – Democracy, the Constitution, the Federal Government – All At Risk. Since his inauguration on January 20, 2025 Donald Trump has rapidly implemented key recommendations of Project 2025 using actions executed by non career government personnel as well conservative …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

It’s pretty easy to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, actually

Pluralistic: “If Elon Musk wants to cut $2t from the US federal budget, there’s a pretty straightforward way to get there – just eliminate all the beltway bandits who overcharge Uncle Sucker for everything from pharmaceuticals to roadworks to (of course) rockets, and then make the rich pay their taxes. There is a ton of …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Securities Law, Transportation

Impoundment Explainer

House Committee on the Budget – Impoundment Explainer, November 22, 2024 Fact Sheet Download Document Reports & Documents Budget Basics Focus on Function Letters Ranking Member Boyle’s Statement – “The legal theories being pushed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are as idiotic as they are dangerous,” said Ranking Member Boyle. “Unilaterally slashing funds that …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

A Primer on the Impoundment Control Act

LawFare – “Refusals to undertake required spending are already a major theme of Trump’s second term, but the law limits such executive action. During his 2024 campaign, President Trump indicated that he planned to “restore executive branch impoundment authority to cut waste, stop inflation, and crush the Deep State.” Russell Vought, Trump’s pick to lead …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Inflation Reduction Act Tracker

“The Sabin Center and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are relaunching the Inflation Reduction Act Tracker (IRA Tracker) with added functionality and analysis. The IRA Tracker is an interactive tool designed to help users understand the climate change-related provisions in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The website includes a database with summaries of the …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

House G.O.P. Floats Medicaid Cuts and More to Finance Trump’s Huge Agenda

The New York Times: “President Trump wants a massive tax cut and immigration crackdown bill. Now Republicans must decide what to cut to help pay for it. Top Republicans are passing around an extensive menu of ideas to cover the cost of a massive tax cut and immigration crackdown bill. They could create a 10 …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Legislation, Medicine