3w ago

Freshman [Republican] Congressman tells constituent he is powerless to stop Musk's budget cuts

At an open house in Fairbanks on Monday, Alaskan Congressman Nick Begich (R) told constituents that there was nothing he could do to stop agency budget cuts being implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.

Freshman Congressman tells constituent he is powerless to stop Musk's budget cuts

I'll note that which government agencies are facing huge cuts appears to correlate with perceived ideology, rather than any evidence of fraud or waste:

So it may simply be that he likes the cuts, no matter how many people die or suffer as a result.

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Motherfucker, you could impeach him right fucking now. You have no power only because you fucking cowards have put party so far above country that you're actively yielding all governmental power to a pair of fascists.
- Well, they cant impeach Musk, because he holds no office.
  They could impeach Trump, but they won't. They choose to be powerless, because they want a smaller Federal bureaucracy, no matter the legalities. They want Trump to break the law to do this, while they abdicate their responsibility to check his actions.
  When it all goes South and the US is irrevocably harmed, the party can blame Trump and pretend it will all be better once he's gone. In the meantime, the damage is done. And if the blowback is so severe that we elect a Democratic President next time, then Republicans in Congress will all of a sudden rediscover the power the Constitution affords them to constrain the Presidency.
  
  I want to bring back the days of beating a motherfucker half to death on the senate floor.
  
  Bring the cane!
  
  There's not going to be a next time, buddy. The US is a fascist state, and you can't vote out fascism.
  
  You may be right, but one key difference between the US and prior states that have fully descended into Fascism is that the election apparatus here is extremely distributed and ultimately controlled by individual states. So in order for the country to go full Fascist, they also have to convert enough Statehouses so the outcome of the election won't matter.
  And while there are several states that are full MAGA, there are enough on the bubble who would give their election officials cover if they get in trouble with the King for trying to keep their elections fair.
  The next Federal election in 2026 will be key. If Republicans are not punished at the polls for their leader being a tyrant, that's the point of no return. If some opposition takes root that turns into results, though, then there is some hope that we can pull out of this.
  
  Keep in mind that the state's voter base being on the bubble is very different from the state's government being on the bubble. Because of "winner take all" voting systems, there are a bunch of states with a thoroughly "purple" constituency but which nevertheless have a Republican stranglehold on all the levers of power.
  
  They can arrest Elmo, they can have him executed if they wanted to. The king can do no wrong, remember?
  It's just that they don't want
- They can’t impeach him, because he’s doing what they want him to do. If he were to turn around tomorrow and announce UBI, a return of DEI, and a hefty tax on the rich, you’d bet he’d be out on his ass before you could say Jack Robinson.

20 comments