Sounds Bad

Maybe somebody should do something.

We know that the vast majority of federal aid has been halted, particularly that which comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development. This includes medical care and food for malnourished children, refugee hospitals, supplies for war-torn regions, and much more. Claims that humanitarian aid was exempted from the pause are simply not true. We know that clean-energy businesses aren’t receiving grants passed by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. We know that Energy Department grants intended for historically disadvantaged cities or projects with community benefit plans (including the restarting of a nuclear facility in Michigan) have been stopped. We know that electric-vehicle charging station grants have been stopped.

This is all completely illegal. Elon has boasted of shutting down certain payments through his takeover of the payment system, though that’s probably just bloviating. (It’s also terrifying, as it carries the threat of mucking up the payment system in ways that could destroy the country.) But we’re not in a theoretical place when it comes to payments to disfavored causes and organizations. They are doing this now, in the open, in plain view of everyone, and in so doing usurping the power of a coequal branch of the government.