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Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration goes to extraordinary — and sure unlawful — measures to pay members of the US army as a federal authorities shutdown stretches on.
What’s taking place? At present is payday for the army, and beneath extraordinary circumstances, they might miss a paycheck for the primary time ever due to the federal government shutdown, now in its third week. As an alternative, the Trump administration says it’s repurposing already-appropriated Protection Division funds to pay troopers.
What’s the context? Army pay is only one manner the Trump administration is circumventing some penalties of a shutdown; the administration can be utilizing tariff income to fund a key vitamin program for low-income dad and mom and kids.
For hundreds of thousands of different federal employees, nonetheless, the persevering with shutdown means no paychecks and potential monetary peril.
Why does this matter? In earlier shutdowns, army pay has develop into a ache level that may drive lawmakers to return to the desk and reopen the federal government — or no less than go a standalone invoice to pay servicemembers. Which will nonetheless occur if the shutdown continues, as a result of it’s unclear how a lot more money DOD can discover to maintain issuing paychecks. However no less than for now, it lets lawmakers punt on the difficulty.
President Donald Trump’s maneuver additionally underscores the problem Democrats have with voting to fund the federal government. The precise problem — paychecks for troops — has clear bipartisan help, however the methodology — shifting round congressionally appropriated {dollars} at will — is unlikely to spice up Democratic confidence that the administration will follow the phrases of any new funding deal.
What’s the large image? This isn’t simply in regards to the shutdown. By discovering a technique to pay the troops with out involving Congress, Trump is encroaching on the constitutional energy of the purse that’s explicitly reserved for Congress alone. On the identical time, Trump can be holding up congressionally appropriated funding when he desires. It’s an end-run round Congress from each instructions, and an unprecedented focus of energy for a US president.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
The Seattle Mariners, two wins away from a first-ever American League pennant, are enjoying at residence tonight. It’s already been a sensational postseason for the staff, with large performances within the clutch — together with from Humpy, the staff’s hard-luck salmon mascot.
As Yahoo Sports activities’s Jake Mintz chronicles, Humpy — so named for the humpback salmon, alongside along with his comrades King Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, and Silver Salmon — was winless within the staff’s home-game mascot races till final week. Then, on Friday night time, 15 innings deep, he lastly received, and the ballpark went loopy. You’ll be able to learn the total piece right here. Go Humpy, go M’s, and have a terrific night!
