At this point Trump is now actively punishing Democratic cities that dare to defy him by redirecting billions away from them to more deserving white America.
President Trump is ordering the federal government to begin the process of defunding New York City and three other cities where officials allowed “lawless” protests and cut police budgets amid rising violent crime, The Post can exclusively reveal.
Trump on Wednesday signed a five-page memo ordering all federal agencies to send reports to the White House Office of Management and Budget that detail funds that can be redirected.
New York City, Washington, DC, Seattle and Portland are initial targets as Trump makes “law and order” a centerpiece of his reelection campaign after months of unrest and violence following the May killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police.
“My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” Trump says in the memo, which twice mentions New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by name.
“To ensure that Federal funds are neither unduly wasted nor spent in a manner that directly violates our Government’s promise to protect life, liberty, and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America’s cities.”
Federal agencies must detail “all Federal funds provided to Seattle, Portland, New York City, Washington, D.C.” Also, within 14 days Attorney General Bill Barr must develop a list of “anarchist jurisdictions” that “permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures” to restore order. The memo does not require Barr to include the four cities, possibly for legal reasons.
The memo instructs White House budget director Russ Vought to issue guidance in 30 days from Wednesday “to the heads of agencies on restricting eligibility of or otherwise disfavoring, to the maximum extent permitted by law, anarchist jurisdictions in the receipt of Federal grants.”
100% straight-up unconstitutional. But who's going to stop him when Trump and Trump alone decides who gets to enforce Congress's laws and budgets? Mitch will block anything the Houses, even if it does survive a veto.
Still, there are actual laws preventing this kind of thing. The smart money is on Trump having the billions in police grants pulled screaming "You want to defund the police, here you go" and then let the courts deal with it. Of course, considering New York City alone gets $7 billion a year in various federal grants, there's a lot of damage Trump could do in order to punish the people who live there.
Just don't expect Trump to restore funding even after a SCOTUS ruling in a second term. Then again, "a second Trump term" will present a much, much larger problem for all of America.
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