Hello, and welcome to the weekend! As the world takes a brief respite from the daily grind, the political arena remains as turbulent as ever. This is The Weekender, your guide to the most pressing stories making waves this weekend.
At the center of the storm is President Trump’s latest move. He intends to send a rescissions package to Congress, a collection of federal funding cuts that, in a well – functioning democracy, should have been debated and voted on by Congress in the first place. This package is a curious mechanism. It asks Congress to rubber – stamp a small portion of the cuts that the executive branch has already implemented without legislative approval. But perhaps the most eye – catching aspect is the push to end all federal support for PBS and NPR, two of the nation’s most beloved public media organizations.
As my colleague Emine Yücel reported earlier this week, Trump’s approach is constitutionally suspect. It’s a backwards way of handling the typical relationship between the executive and legislative branches. By doing this, Trump hopes to give his actions an air of legitimacy while also getting back at the news media, which he has long been at odds with.
The week started with reports suggesting that the White House might delay sending the formal rescissions request to Congress. The stated reason was that Trump wanted to focus on pressuring House and Senate Republicans into passing his massive budget bill, a bill that includes drastic cuts to Medicaid. However, new reporting from The Washington Post on Friday revealed another issue. Some Republican members of Congress are growing increasingly uneasy. They’re worried about the sweeping foreign aid cuts that the White House has unilaterally imposed, many of which are set to be part of the rescissions package. These lawmakers feel that they haven’t had enough time to fully understand the far – reaching consequences of making these funding freezes into law.
Democrats have been quick to voice their concerns. They argue that Trump’s method of going about rescission is not only a violation of the constitutional order but also effectively has him doing Congress’s job. This power – grabbing tendency has been a recurring theme throughout Trump’s second term, and it’s something we’ve been closely monitoring.
It’s still uncertain whether Trump is being patient, waiting for Congress to pass his fiscal agenda before forcing the funding cuts, or if he’s reacting to the pushback from Republicans who are reluctant to hand over their authority to the executive. But one thing is clear: Trump’s pettiness seems to know no bounds. Not willing to wait for Congress to act on his anti – press agenda, he signed an executive order late Thursday night, aiming to eliminate federal funding for NPR and PBS. Experts are already pointing out that, just like the previous actions of freezing congressionally authorized funds, this executive order is likely unlawful.
But that’s not all that’s happening this weekend. Emine Yücel is taking us through the various options House Republicans are considering for gutting Medicaid. They’re in the midst of negotiations, trying to figure out how to make significant cuts to the program without drawing too much attention from the American public.
Kate Riga is debunking the idea of a “teflon Don.” Using recent public opinion polling and other breaking news, she’s showing that the Trump administration is far from invincible to the will of the people.
And Josh Kovensky is weighing in on the government’s settlement with the family of Ashli Babbitt in her wrongful death suit. He’s also exploring the broader belief among those in power that any attempt to transfer power away from Trump is illegitimate.
As the weekend unfolds, these stories will continue to develop, and we’ll be here to keep you informed. Stay tuned for more updates on these and other important issues.
