The Deciders

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

You may have seen the news stories about Elon Musk reversing government cuts after personal appeals from lawmakers. That’s problematic in part because it opens the door to favoritism, not to mention crony capitalism.

But on a larger level, the fact that these cuts are occurring at all raises constitutional questions. Speaking broadly, if Congress approves it then the Executive Branch has to spend it. The Trump Administration isn’t doing that, and the republican majorities in the House and Senate aren’t holding it to account.

That brings us to Chuck Schumer and the latest government funding continuing resolution.

Last Thursday, after originally saying he opposed the bill, Schumer announced that he would vote not only for cloture, but for passage. He said that while the CR was awful, not voting for it and risking a government shutdown would be worse. That would, in effect, give Trump and Musk carte blanche to further dismantle the government.

The problem I have with that argument is that they’re already doing that. Passing the CR doesn’t matter, because the administration is doing whatever it wants, and Congress isn’t doing its job by holding them accountable.

Also, the optics were terrible. Not only did Schumer flip-flop in a matter of days, he was also going to start a book tour this week. That’s since been canceled, for obvious reasons.

It’s one thing to fight, or do nothing as some have suggested. But enabling? Bad move.