Trump tests the limits of his power | International

Donald Trump has returned to the White House with hurry to display his power. The president of the United States tries to extend his executive authority beyond the limits that mark the laws and the Constitution. He has made purges by jumping legal safeguards, he has ordered not to enforce rules that bother him, he has eliminated environmental protections in a doubtful way and, in general, he has regulated by decree issues that exceed his powers. The judges have already suspended two of their decisions. The first, trying to repeal nationality by birth for the children of immigrants who are irregularly in the United States. The second, when trying to freeze disbursements of multimillion -dollar items, mostly for social spending, approved by Congress. Many other resolutions, such as the veto to trans people in the army, have also been challenged.

A day after a judge suspended the entry into force of that instruction issued on Monday by the White House Budget Office for the freezing of disbursements, the administration of Donald Trump backwards and withdrew it this Wednesday. That confusing decision had unleashed chaos in federal agencies, which were not clear to what extent they affected them. The Medicaid payment website, the medical insurance system for needy people that covers a fifth of the population, ceased to be operational, and a notice indicated to the executive orders issued by Trump. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt did not know how to respond in her first press conference if the disbursement of the disbursements affected Medicaid. Then, the budget office said no, but the website was still inoperative.

The initial instruction and subsequent explanations entered into contradiction and were too general, causing legal insecurity not only to the officials responsible for applying it but, above all, to the beneficiaries of the disbursements. The White House insisted that direct benefits to individuals were not suspended, but many of the aids arrive indirectly, through state and local governments or non -governmental organizations.

The freezing of disbursements aroused a resistance against Trump that was lethargic before the president’s power exhibition in the first days of his new mandate. The Democrats reacted in block and together with them, civil society organizations were mobilized. Not only did they criticize the instruction of the budget office, but they went to action with initiatives before the courts.

A Federal Judge of Washington appointed by Joe Biden suspended the application of the directive minutes before the time provided for entry into force. Thus attended a resource of the National Council of Non -Profit Organizations. The demand claimed that even a temporary interruption of the financing could “immediately deprive the people and communities of their vital services”, including medical care, support for small businesses and programs for the LGTBIQ community.

“It’s not a king”

The Constitution gives Congress the power to approve the budget items and forces the Executive to disburse the money. A 50 -year laws known as the immobilizations control law prohibits the president from stopping payments of subsidies or other programs approved by Congress, except following a appraised procedure that needs to go through the Legislative again.

“The president can veto or support laws. You can make recommendations to Congress. But it does not have the unilateral right to change the laws. Trump has very little respect for the rule of law and our Constitution. He is taking us to authoritarianism. We must stop him, ”the senator for Vermont Bernie Sanders tweeted. “Under our system of controls and balances, no president has the right to choose which laws and what laws ignore,” he also said in a statement. “If President Trump wants to change the laws of our nation, he has the right to ask Congress to change them. You have no right to violate the United States Constitution. He is not a king, ”he added.

“The actions of the administration to freeze the financing of programs throughout the country in all departments is, in my opinion, the most atrocious assault on the authority of Congress in the history of the United States. Basically, it annuls the power of the Congress established in the Constitution, ”the senator by Maine Angus King, independent aligned with the Democrats, said in a video broadcast on his social networks.

Even his allies recognize Trump’s vocation to extend his authority. “I think he is testing the limits of his power, and I don’t think any of us surprise us,” said Republican Senator for North Dakota Kevin Cramer, close to the president, according to AP.

The dispute on spending items is actually one of the last episodes in Trump’s attempt to expand his power, forcing constitutional seams and the system of controls and balances that US democracy has defined during most of his almost 250 years of life. Ultimately, part of the conflicts that the judges can end up in the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority of six judges to three, three of them directly appointed by Trump. The White House spokeswoman expressly assured that the Republican government is willing to reach the Supreme Court in the case of nationality by birth.

Trump is the first president to recover the position after having lost it from Grover Cleveland at the end of the 19th century. He has assumed the power with experience, surrounded by loyal and with defined plans to execute, including massive deportations of immigrants, tax drops, generalized tariffs and deregulation. Among his priorities is what he calls to fight what he calls the “deep state”, which actually translates into any obstacle to applying his policies.

It has fulminated federal diversity, equality and inclusion policies. He wants to reduce the size of the administration and has offered eight months of salary to the officials who prefer to resign instead of returning to the office to fulfill their face -to -face work order. In addition, it dismissed numerous general inspectors, a kind of auditors in charge of combating corrupt practices in government agencies and departments. In his desire for revenge, he also dismissed the prosecutors and employees of the Department of Justice who investigated him.

In his first press conference at the White House, Leavitt asked this Monday, which apparently violated the law. “This White House, or the Office of the White House Legal Advisor, believes that the president had executive authority to do so,” Leavitt replied. “(Trump) is the head of the executive branch and, therefore, has the power to fire anyone inside the executive branch you want,” he replied. Before his jump to politics, the phrase that made Trump a star of Telerreality was precisely: “You are fired!”