How Trump’s Federal-Aid Fiasco Is Testing the Separation of Power
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
WNYC Studios and The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
On Tuesday, the Trump Administration sent out a memo attempting to put a blanket pause on most federal funding, sowing confusion about financing for student loans, SNAP benefits, nonprofits, and more. The next day, after a backlash, the Administration rescinded the memo, while maintaining that a freeze remains in “full force and effect.” The order created chaos across the federal government, threatening a power struggle between the President, Congress, and the courts. The New Yorker contributor and Harvard Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss how Trump’s directives are testing how far a President can go.
This week’s reading:
- “Trump's Attempt to Redefine America,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells
- “The Unchecked Authority of Trump's Immigration Orders,” by Jonathan Blitzer
- “Donald Trump Throws the Doors to the Patriot Wing Open,” by Antonia Hitchens
- “Trump Is Already Drowning Us in Outrages,” by Susan B. Glasser
- “Britain’s Foreign Secretary Braces for the Second Trump Age,” by Sam Knight
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| 0:00.0 | On Tuesday, Donald Trump tried to continue his full throttle overhaul of the federal government, |
| 0:09.5 | with a two-page memo that impounded tens of billions of dollars in appropriated federal grants and loans. |
| 0:15.8 | And the reason for this is to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive |
| 0:22.4 | orders and actions that this president has taken. A federal judge would block the order later that day. |
| 0:27.9 | And by Wednesday, the memo had been rescinded. But the initial announcement immediately through the |
| 0:33.0 | government into chaos. What President Trump is doing is seizing control of the federal budget and deciding |
| 0:41.2 | by himself who gets money and who doesn't. But how far can Trump's power grab go? Is there a limit to what he can |
| 0:50.3 | do? And if so, where is it? We spoke with Harvard Law Professor and New Yorker contributor |
| 0:56.6 | Jeannie Suit Gerson the day before the order was rescinded to discuss the power struggle brewing |
| 1:01.5 | between Trump, Congress, and the courts. You're listening to the political scene. I'm Tyler Foggett, |
| 1:07.3 | and I'm a senior editor at The New Yorker. |
| 1:13.3 | Hey, Jeannie. Thanks so much for being here. |
| 1:15.8 | Thanks. Thanks for having me. |
| 1:17.9 | So there's been a lot of news lately, but I'd like to start with the recent memo from the Trump |
| 1:22.8 | administration ordering a halt to all federal grants. So we're recording on Tuesday afternoon right now, |
| 1:29.0 | and this story is still very much unfolding. And so what I'm wondering is, are Trump's actions |
| 1:34.7 | here legal? Like, what is the legal battle that is being set up right now? Well, this is not |
| 1:39.6 | completely open and shut. This is, you know, it goes to the really broader question, which actually |
| 1:47.1 | we've been thinking about since the beginning of our country, which is what happens when Congress |
| 1:52.4 | says that the executive branch needs to do something, right? Congress has written a law that |
| 2:00.1 | basically provides that the executive branch is supposed to do something, right? Congress has written a law that basically provides that the executive |
| 2:02.0 | branch is supposed to do a duty, and the executive branch just doesn't do it, refuses to do so, right? |
... |
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