To the editor:
The so-called “clean” stopgap bill that has been proposed by the Republicans in the House of Representatives is not “clean” at all. According to CNN, “Republicans acknowledged the stopgap would give the White House more authority to spend as it chooses — a flexibility that GOP leadership aides described as necessary when Congress’ spending is put on autopilot for another seven months.” This bill will effectively validate everything that Trump and Musk are doing to the federal government—withholding funds from various agencies, potentially including Social Security and Medicaid. However, the same article indicates that some Democrats are wavering, fearing that voting against the bill will make the Democrats the villains when more federal workers are put on leave.
The fact is that there are no good choices in this situation. But a vote for this bill will be equivalent to a vote for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that President Johnson used to justify the Vietnam War. Democrats who vote for this bill will not save ANY federal jobs because once it goes into effect, Trump and Musk will be empowered to eliminate them anyway—but now with congressional approval. For example, if you are worried about U.S. tax dollars going into a crypto reserve and then disappearing, this bill will make that decision unchallengeable. We must write to every congressperson and senator—not just our own—and tell them not to validate Trump’s claims that he alone has the right to decide how to spend taxpayer dollars.
Steve Goodman
Egremont
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