Trump plunges the USA into chaos with a gigantic spending freeze

RND - Editorial Network Germany Trump plunges the USA into chaos with a gigantic spending freeze Karl Doemens • 11 hours • 3 minutes reading time Gloomy prospects: Donald Trump has ordered an unprecedented spending freeze for all public programs. Karoline Leavitt initially seemed remarkably confident when she appeared before the press for the first time on Tuesday in the overcrowded briefing room of the White House. The 27-year-old presidential spokeswoman answered the first questions calmly. But then a reporter wanted to know whether the radical government spending freeze, which was to come into force four hours later, also affected the health insurance Medicaid, which covers 70 million low-income Americans. For a brief moment, Leavitt was at a loss. "I have to find out. I'll get back to you with the answer," she replied quickly. "This is a temporary interruption" Trump's spokeswoman was not the only one who did not understand the dramatic extent of an order from the White House Budget Office. On Monday, this agency abruptly ordered that a large part of the American federal government's payments would have to be stopped until further notice the following day in order to ensure that the spending did not violate the new president's political guidelines. "This is a temporary interruption," Leavitt played down the intervention. Direct payments such as pensions and food stamps are not affected. The planned entry into force of the decree on Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. was initially prevented literally a few minutes earlier by a Washington district judge with an emergency decision and delayed until at least next Monday. Nevertheless, confusion and chaos now reign in many places in the USA. In total, President Donald Trump wants to put a huge block of spending of around three trillion dollars on hold, even though many benefits have already been approved by Congress. This would paralyze many public services. According to American media reports, funds for preschool programs, disaster relief and space travel are at risk, among other things. Programs to prevent suicide among war veterans, to support victims of terrorism and to research cancer have been halted, as have loans for small businesses and rental subsidy vouchers. "This is a blitzkrieg," warned Democratic Senator Chris Murphy: "Trump wants to bring down the entire democracy in order to then take absolute control." His party colleague Chuck Schumer emphasized: "Congress has approved this spending. That is the law." On Tuesday, the attorney generals of more than 20 Democratic states filed a lawsuit that will presumably end up in the Supreme Court. "The president has exceeded his authority," said New York Attorney General Letitia James: "He has violated the Constitution and is trampling on an equal branch of government." Medicaid health insurance is temporarily no longer available The exact extent of the unprecedented spending freeze, which follows a week with a veritable tsunami of regulations, was initially difficult to estimate. The website of the low-income health insurance Medicaid went offline for a time, and in some states payments to doctors and hospitals could not be made. The government hastily assured that this was a temporary glitch. But the far-reaching measure was announced so rashly and hastily that even Republicans in Congress were perplexed. "These are real people who depend on these payments," said Representative Don Bacon to the Wall Street Journal. "All I can say right now is: I hope this doesn't take long." The momentous White House memo, signed by Acting Budget Director Matthew Vaeth, emphasizes the administration's obligation to check whether all spending is in line with the president's political guidelines. Vaeth speculates that a large portion of the money will be spent to implement "Marxist equality," "transgender ideology," and climate-protecting ideas of the "Green New Deal," which Trump rejects. The president also apparently wants to prevent state funds from flowing in any way to abortion clinics or irregular migrants. No more money for fighting AIDS in Africa "This is a very responsible thing to do," Leavitt defended the spending freeze, claiming that the Biden administration had wasted taxpayers' money "like a drunken sailor." On this basis, Trump had already signed a decree last week suspending all US foreign aid for 90 days. This abrupt ban puts military aid for Ukraine at risk.