1d ago

In breaking USAID, the Trump Administration may have broken the law

www.propublica.org In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law

ProPublica’s reporting provides new details about what legal risk officials were prepared to take and what laws they may have violated on their way to creating a “constitutional crisis.”

Summary

The Trump administration abruptly halted USAID’s foreign aid funding and restructured the agency, provoking alarm among experienced staff and legal experts.

Political appointees, assisted by Elon Musk’s engineers, seized control of IT systems, imposed swift stop-work orders, and placed thousands of workers on leave.

Experts warned these actions likely violated multiple federal laws, including the Privacy Act and the Impoundment Control Act, raising serious constitutional concerns.

Federal worker groups have filed lawsuits and a judge’s injunction halted layoffs, while congressional inquiries and legal challenges look to restore due process.

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2d ago

In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law.

www.propublica.org /article/usaid-trump-musk-destruction-may-have-broken-law

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19 comments

"may have"
So tired of this pussy fucking bullshit from the media.
We're literally on the verge of a Constitutional Crisis because of the law-breaking.
Fucking grow a pair ProPublica.
- You're almost always in the thread and on message in the comments before I click on it.
  Keep it up friend. You're doing good work.
  
  That's not necessarily a good thing, for my own mental health especially.
- If he hasn't been convicted, then he hasn't factually broken the law. If he hasn't factually broken the law, then saying he has is considered defamation and opens ProPublica up to lawsuits, and unfortunately, they would lose, since that would be textbook defamation.
  That's why everything like this gets wrapped in things like "allegedly" or "may have" because it allows them to report the facts of what happened and the laws in question without making that final link, which is something only the courts can do.
- If there’s no punishment, did you really break the law?
- Laws only exist if they can be enforced. The president has just about any power if the court says so, or if the court says no and the president says "fuck you make me".

"Felon may have broken the law" is already a tiring headline, and it's not even been a fucking month

34-time convicted felon, rapist, con artist, and insurrectionist broke the law?!
Well that certainly wasn't on my 2025 bingo ca-- oh wait, no there it is, I always forget about the free one in the middle.

Did. Did break the law.
- repeatedly and habitually. they break more laws more often than junior dips a finger into his pocket.

The trump administration breaking the law isn't news. Them actually getting in trouble for it, now THAT would be news.
- People who are involved in the process of making new laws, are also the ones breaking them. There might be a slight conflict of interest, don’t you think?
  Nah, it’s probably fine. What could go wrong.

Now get someone to prosecute them.
Broken or not, the law is only as good as it’s upheld.

sigh … add it to the pile
- Just the executive orders given during the first day sparked a bunch of lawsuits. What can you expect from the rest. Judges have their work cut out for them for years to come.
  
  Well, in a functioning government this would be the point at which Congress impeaches and convicts Trump for breaking the law. We saw how well that happened last time Trump was in office and kept breaking the law.

Most probably. USAID distributes money and goods according to the budget, which is set by the legislative branch. The executive may not mess with that.

19 comments