Our adversaries must be thrilled. Not only has the new regime cancelled funding for all kinds of green energy projects, but it has drastically cut funding for important science based projects from NOAA that runs the National Weather Service to studies on infectious diseases and vaccine grants..
We have to ask how many people will die as a result of the next hurricane or pandemic. The Republican majority in Congress, of course, is totally silent. Fortunately, the federal courts have taken on some of these senseless cuts in spite of the fact that some radical right Congress members have threatened impeachment of federal judges that have held such cuts to be beyond the constitutional powers of the Executive.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled Thursday that the Executive could not freeze federal funds approved by Congress. The question now remains whether the funding will resume or will we have a real constitutional crisis if Trump refuses to follow a court order. And what will the cowards in Congress do? We don’t know.
Prayer for the Day
We often pray, O God, not to be put to the test,
For we are afraid that we cannot survive;
We seem to be no longer grounded in certainty, O Lord,
For our world seems to have gone awry.
Ground us, O Holy One, for the calm of your voice,
Strengthening us in the hope the ship of state will right itself.
In the name of the One who strengthens our resolve,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The Executive’s categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government. The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance—but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance. Here, the Executive put itself above Congress.
Judge John McConnell, in C.A. No. 25-cv-39-JJM-PAS U.S.D.C Rhode Island
This was an illegal and reckless attempt to withhold critical funding that states rely on to serve their communities.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes
See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, nor God’s ear too dull to hear.
Rather your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden God’s face from you so God does not hear.
Isaiah 59: 1-2