Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Feb. 7, 2025
America’s Existential Crisis of the Week: As of February 1, Elon Musk has been given control of the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system, and the power to deny any federal spending. An early victim is the congressionally created and funded U.S. Agency for International Development, which Musk just declared “a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” Both Wired and the AP report that Musk’s team has seized access to USAID’s computers – including classified information they don’t have clearance for – after ousting security officers who tried to stop them. Already, many USAID staffers, who coordinate with the State Department on foreign policy issues, have reportedly lost access to their emails and are wondering if they’re on administrative leave.
Is Anyone Checking These Guys: If Congress won’t stop Trump’s and Musk’s power grabs, who will? The Atlantic posed the question this week, in discussion of the pair’s effort to steal Congress’ power of the purse, redefining their spending decisions as ceilings with no floors. As he makes budget cuts, Musk is also trying to keep his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team of young engineers private, even telling an X user who named team members that it was illegal to do so – though it’s definitely not illegal to name or report on federal employees. Ultimately, the courts may affirm congressional authority to set spending levels, based on the Constitution. But, as The Atlantic points out, “the Constitution ultimately means whatever five Supreme Court justices say it means. The Court’s more conservative justices often apply the most right-wing interpretation of the text they can plausibly defend, and occasionally one they can’t plausibly defend.”
Opposition Will Be Prosecuted: So, you know how Musk was willy-nilly proclaiming that naming his team members publicly is a crime? There’s more to that. Trump-installed interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin put out an unusual letter to Musk Monday saying he’d “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.” Then Martin posted on X that his office in D.C. found evidence that people had “committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting” DOGE employees. “We are in contact with FBI and other law-enforcement partners to proceed rapidly. We also have our prosecutors preparing.”
So, Is Musk President: ... and that leads us to another question. If Musk has access to sensitive federal government secrets, can reduce the government’s scope however he sees fit, no one is holding him accountable, and people who report on the names of his team members are threatened with prosecution, is he our president? Our king? Another Atlantic piece this week proclaims: “There has never been a private citizen like him.” The good news is a group of congressional Democrats has promised a court battle over the power grab.
Ministry of Propaganda: The Pentagon announced that as of Feb. 14, The New York Times, NBC News, NPR, and Politico will no longer be afforded offices at the Pentagon. Instead, that office space will be afforded to the New York Post, One America News Network, the radio arm of the Breitbart News Network, and HuffPost.
Protesting the Shitstorm: As part of a national demonstration Wednesday at all 50 state capitol buildings, hundreds of people gathered on the steps of the Texas Capitol to protest the Trump administration and Project 2025, KUT reported. Some Austin High School students also walked out of class to head to the Capitol.
Federal Funding, Meet Austin’s Newest Trail: It seems that everything local has a sad federal twist this week. An abandoned railroad line in South Austin is being transformed into a pedestrian and cyclist trail as we speak, but KUT reports that uncertainty about federal grants raises questions about whether the city will have to move money away from other planned trails. This new trail is a guarantee, but if federal funding doesn’t come through to pay for phase 2 of its development, then the money will have to come at the cost of other trail plans.
Texas Pride, Though: Cowboys fans are the most likely sports fans to be buried with memorabilia, according to the results of an online survey of 3,000 sports fans conducted by the company Gambling ’N Go. Just a fun fact. Or at least a fun maybe-fact. We at the Chronicle could devote our entire lives to fact checking this and we still may never know.
State of the State: At the state level, things are ... well, they are. Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his priorities in the annual State of the State address Monday. He talked about school vouchers (which divert public school funding to pay for private school tuition). He wants to spend $1 billion in taxpayer dollars on vouchers. He also mentioned property tax relief, water infrastructure, and teacher pay raises. But you have to be the right kind of teacher to get a raise. Abbott demanded that “any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot.” He also wants to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at K-12 schools.
Meanwhile, In the Ads: Equality Texas, the statewide queer rights advocates, ran a slew of pro-LGBTQIA+ ads on stations carrying Abbott’s address. The 30-second spots featured three trans people speaking about their lives and appeared in some of the most queerphobic cities in the state, if not the world – Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland, Tyler, Waco, and Wichita Falls.
Who Exactly Wants Vouchers: The state Democratic Party responded to Abbott’s address by reminding citizens that he took donations from billionaires who support vouchers. An opinion piece in the Texas Observer points out that Abbott has received over $10 million in campaign contributions from Jeff Yass, an out-of-state billionaire. House Dems doubled down on the message at a press conference outside Parmer Lane Elementary School the next morning, saying the school may have to close because Republicans have refused to provide adequate funding for public education and calling vouchers “welfare for the wealthy.” Rep. James Talarico said if vouchers pass this session it will be “a historic, tragic transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top.”
Dan Patrick’s Wish List: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, is just stoked about vouchers. The issue comes in at No. 2 on his list of priorities, released last week. Hard to believe, but priority No. 3 is banning all THC products in Texas. Increasing the reliability of the electric grid is No. 6, the latest admission that, no, Republicans didn’t fix it after Winter Storm Uri. Patrick also wants to “reform” bail – meaning, he wants to keep people accused of crimes in jail while they wait for their trials. Priorities 10 and 11 are getting Christianity into class: putting up posters of the Ten Commandments and ensuring students pray in public schools.
That’s The Spirit: It remains to be seen if Patrick will continue his attacks on the state’s public universities, after the implementation of last session’s SB 17, which canceled DEI initiatives at schools across the state. A report from the Senate’s Subcommittee on Higher Education, released this week, concludes that though DEI programs have been abolished, the “spirit” of SB 17 is not being followed. It calls on university leaders to gain control over curriculum to “shift the culture,” the Statesman reports.
Even More Immigration Arrests: Texas National Guard officers will now have the authority to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented people, after state Republicans cut a deal with Trump (or maybe it was His Highness Musk). The deal stipulates that National Guardsmen who want to arrest people who look like migrants must contact officers of Customs and Border Protection while doing so. But it can be via phone, according to Greg Abbott’s office.
Quote of the Week
“Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payment systems of the Treasury, but you don’t control the money of the American people. The U.S. Congress does that under Article 1 of the Constitution.”
– U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, among the Senate and House Democrats vowing a court battle over Musk’s funding power grab
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