Showmanship All Around
Performatively barred: On Monday, a group of Democrat legislators tried to enter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) building, but were refused entry. On Tuesday, the same thing happened when Democrats tried to enter the Treasury Department building. And then yesterday, a group of Democratic legislators tried to enter the Environmental Protection Agency building. Thrice denied entry. All for what, exactly?
But the stunts will continue until morale improves: “A group of at least 20 House Democrats led by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) plans to go to the Department of Education on Friday to try to secure a meeting with Acting Secretary Denise Carter, Takano’s office said,” reports Axios.
One of President Donald Trump’s worst qualities is his taste for petty showmanship—a taste unfortunately shared and even stoked by Elon Musk. Of course, interpreting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts as symbolic—the American rendition of Argentine President Javier Milei’s “Afuera”—more than practically helpful with slashing the size of the deficit is probably the right way to think about them. And if they’re symbolic—trying to visibly take a chainsaw to wasteful and offensive (to half the country) spending—then it makes sense to bar Democratic politicians from trying to performatively audit such efforts.
Really, more involvement of Congress—not as stuntmen trying to physically enter agencies, but rather as actual legislators with actual power doing their jobs, debating in committee and on the floor whether certain agencies ought to be dismantled (and how)—would mitigate many of the constitutional concerns that Trump is overstepping his powers. But it would deny them apoplectic tweets and viral videos and photo ops, and the dopamine hits are apparently a lot more fun than the business of actually governing.
Besides, Congress hasn’t shown much interest in pumping the breaks on spending; why would they start now? It’s possible that the showmanship we’re seeing outside of agency buildings would simply migrate to the House floor.
I’m concerned that the House and Senate will fully fund USAID in March, just like we did in December (I voted No).
The argument from Republican leadership will be that they need Democrat votes to pass an omnibus (or CR) bill to avoid a government shutdown.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 7, 2025
More attention paid to procedure and vetting might mitigate the lawsuits: Yesterday, a federal judge restricted DOGE’s ability to access the Treasury Department payment systems. The suit alleges “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allowed DOGE representatives to illegally access the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which manages the U.S. government’s accounting, central payment systems and public debt.”
Now, the order
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