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It appears there are no checks and balances in place. Congress could impeach, or the Supreme Court could enjoin (is that the word?), but I see no prospect of ei
by blendo 2y ago
It appears there are no checks and balances in place. Congress could impeach, or the Supreme Court could enjoin (is that the word?), but I see no prospect of either happening soon.
- b0sk 2y agoRemember that they are all controlled by one party, so everyone is willing to look the other way (and cynically, probably cheerleading it)
- nicce 2y agoDidn’t Trump just remove those checks? Or maybe this is something else: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/trump-temporary-security-clearances/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/trump-temporary-...
- scarab92 2y agoIt would help if people could outline exactly what they are concerned about. As far as I can tell, nothing that that Musk et al is doing is unusual when an organisation changes hands. This is normal for a change of government or a corporate aquisition. Perhaps there should be certain, limited, aspects of executive decision making that require congressional oversight, but because left weren't decrying the lack of checks and balances previously, they now come across as sore losers, worse, dishonest sore losers who are cloaking their pettiness as concern. Secondly, the left lost the public support so badly that the republicans control congress now, so even if such oversight existed, it would also be controlled by the republican party.
- quantified 2y agoHuh? This isn't a corporation, nothing about corporate change of control applies. Political, not civil, servants taking over these systems without any oversight is truly brazen. Sounds like you're saying that since there wasn't a prior act of Congress declaring this illegal, it's just whining. Please clarify. You're right that oversight would be influenced by the party in power. Generally, the inspectors general would be relatively independent but guess what, they all got sacked just a few days ago. And Republican congresspeople behave as if they represent the president, not their constituents. The system functioned with some level of decorum before, but this looks like war.
- scarab92 2y agoThe actions that are being taken by Trump, Musk and co is normal in both governmental and corporate organisations when a change of control occurs. Oversight in these systems tends to be illusory, because for the executive branch to function it fundamnetally needs to have the authority to make the decisions that are currently being made. The Democrats have, broadly speaking, not cared much for oversight when they were in power, so suddenly caring about it now that republicans are in power comes across as, and probably is, just them being sore losers.
- jauntywundrkind 2y agoNo, the US has been able to have a clean transfer of power without sending in random goons who won't identify themselves & who download key/secure OPM data onto random hard drives & leave with it. This is all batshit insanity, an assault on democracy.
- scarab92 2y agoThey aren't random goons. They are official government employees / advisors, peforming a task within their remit. Clearly your framing is driven by ideological hatred, but there's nothing about this that isn't above board.
- nathanaldensr 2y ago[flagged]
- piva00 2y agoWhat does this mean? You are just going in circles and basically saying "no, you" to a pretty valid criticism about a power grab. It's fucking scary to see how easily people can jump into camp A or camp B, and simply blind themselves to any sort of criticism because actions come from their own camp. American politics is done for decades, I don't see how you can recover from the erosion of public discourse steadily degrading for the past 30+ years, it just got worse and worse. The final nail in the coffin seem to be social media, it really hastened this downfall, there's no common narrative, no budging from your position; it's all based on shitstorming and hunkering down in your own trench. It's just so stupid and sad, Nikita Khrushchev would be in fucking glee "We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within". And the thing is, I don't even believe Putin/Russia did that much, it was all self-inflicted, you are just imploding by your hands...
- locopati 2y agoA person who has not gone through a confirmation process is running an agency not provided for by Congress and not vetted for security clearances which is taking actions that violate employment laws and union protections. That is what we are concerned about. This violates all kinds of norms, regulations, and laws. The left did not lose "so badly". They lost a handful of electoral college swing states by small margins. These people do not have a mandate, no matter how much they say they do. https://federate.social/@mattblaze/113926311776131035 https://federate.social/@mattblaze/113926311776131035
- ty6853 2y agoMusk has no authority. He operates only under the pleasure of the authority of the president and the officers of the USDS under which he is a federal employee. You needn't be an officer to gain access to and analyze payment systems.
- locopati 2y agoHas no authority but is taking authoritorial actions. Right. He's not a federal employee afaik as he hasn't passed any of the requisite checks or been approved by the Senate.
- ty6853 2y agoI do not think you need a confirmation nor a commission to hold office to access payment systems.
- piva00 2y agoAccess payment systems is not the objective[0]. [0] https://www.ft.com/content/27ba0a6a-0d9b-4e08-8329-730b581c0481 https://www.ft.com/content/27ba0a6a-0d9b-4e08-8329-730b581c0...
- figassis 2y agoDidn’t Trump issue an EO to expedite security clearances for people who were in line 1 day after inauguration? Could they be those people?