Right after the October 7 massacre by Hamas, there were elected officials who went to Israel to show their support. Many of these elected officials were not Jewish. They put themselves in harm’s way to show their support. Then, at the Queens Jewish Community Council breakfast this past Sunday, I heard Governor Hochul tell a story that reached a whole new level.
While the governor was flying to Israel right after October 7, her father unexpectedly had a serious medical episode and then died while she was in Israel. It would have been expected that she would take the next plane home. Instead, she stayed in Israel to give her support to Israel in its trying time. Whether or not you agree with Governor Hochul’s politics, you have to admit that this action was extraordinary.
Now to my main topic. Calling Elon Musk and his pack of 20-something Musketeers, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is a misnomer. In fact, they’re far worse.
Trump’s justification for this group is that they are charged to combat waste. There are problems with this claim. If Trump was serious about combating waste, then why did he fire the inspector generals of seventeen governmental agencies whose job is to find waste in their agency? Unlike the Musk group, the inspector generals have experience.
Additionally, Musk has an inherent conflict of interest since he or his companies have significant valuable governmental contracts. Does anyone believe that he will recommend cutting his own contracts? What he will do with all of the information he receives? There was pushback by legal counsel in various agencies to stop him getting access, but they were overruled by the White House. There are also serious security issues of giving Musk and his Musketeers sensitive information.
Trump, in coordination with Musk, has tried closing down the agency United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and laying off the vast majority of its workers as well as canceling contracts. I can spend an article about why soft aid (non-military aid) is important, but that is for another time.
Similarly, Trump, without Congressional approval, gave federal workers an offer to retire now and be paid until September or risk getting fired.
There has been a dispute between the Department of Justice and the FBI about the DOJ requiring the FBI to disclose names of the people involved in investigating the January 6 defendants.
While this has been going on, the Republican majority in Congress has done nothing to stop it. They even rejected Democratic requests to have Musk testify before a congressional committee as to what he is doing. The Republicans are giving up their power without a fight because of a fear that they could be subject to a primary challenge. That shows what their priorities are.
Fortunately, the federal courts have stepped in and have temporarily blocked these illegal acts. Musk is no longer receiving access to Treasury department records. The executive order putting (USAID) workers on paid leave and forcing them to return to the United States has been halted. Trump’s offer to Federal employees is on hold. The DOJ cannot release to the public the names of any specific FBI employee involved in the January 6 criminal investigation without two days’ notice to the court. This way, it gives the employee the chance to object and gives the court the ability to decide whether or not to allow public disclosure. Previously, the courts had stopped Trump from putting a blanket freeze on federal spending and not considering children of undocumented migrants born in America as American citizens.
Part of this dispute relates to the fundamental question whether the president has the authority not to spend money allocated by Congress or use the money for expenses not authorized by Congress. There is a law passed by Congress which prohibits the president from not spending money designated by Congress. Likewise, there is a law prohibiting a president from eliminating an agency. Does the president have the right not to be bound by the law, or can he gut the agency so that as a practical matter it is eliminated? Trump has done it with USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and will do with the Department of Education.
I expect that most of these issues will end up before the Supreme Court. Since this Court has had a disregard for precedent, it is risky to predict what the final outcome will be.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
