Malicious Compliance?

 

Monday night, people became aware of a memo from the Trump Administration that halted payments regarding all sorts of things.  That memo said to pause "all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance." 

Well, that wasn't very specific. So maybe the memo was drafted by someone who didn't exactly know what all the programs were, but figured they were all suspect. Or maybe the memo was crafted by someone who really did want all the programs everywhere halted, but didn't know they would be leaving the Administration red-faced and red-assed.

Trump loves doing stuff, and also hates to be blamed for doing stuff. Somebody might get "you're fired'd" for this. I would like it to be Russell Vought, who hasn' t even been confirmed for OMB yet, but who is the Project 2025 guy who thought up this exact kind of thing, was singled out by the Trump Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt as the guy to contact, and is forever stuck in my mind as being the guy in the first Trump admin who halted the aid to Ukraine for the first Trump impeachment.

What is really amusing from the Trump administration is pretending that the Medicaid portal went down for reasons having nothing to do with the memo. Of course pausing all activities per the memo didn't mean "all activities!" Are you taking them seriously or literally? Is this Project 2025?

Some Deep State people must have been doing a "malicious compliance".  That's just a stupid (and malicious!)  thing for the Trump folks to claim. It's a lazy way of telling government workers they can follow the directives of the people in power AND ALSO be blamed for doing it. NO wonder the Trump administration thinks that government workers might be game for a rubbish bargain:

Take an eight month salary payout to leave and go find another job. Of course, this salary dispensation hasn't been pre-approved by Congress. It's imperative, but there's nothing backing it. 

The most malicious compliance in the world is compliance with this idea of government funding vs employment. It is so far from normal it isn't on the charts. It violates union contracts, it violates the prerogatives of Congressional purse strings, it's just crazy. 

So the natural response of concerned citizens is "What are the Democrats going to DDDDOOOOO about this?"

You know, this would have been a good "previous to the election" conversation, it really would. But frankly, since the Democrats do not hold the House or the Senate, we got lawsuits, because Speaker Johnson is no more likely to entertain impeachment proceedings without a personal note on his life, than I am to drink motor oil. 

And I hate motor oil--it is a bad mixer. 

We can hope the deprivation of federal funds makes the right folks mad. But Trump and them are going to make protesting at all likely a state crime and an instance of the Insurrection Act. 

I'm not trying to dampen anyone's thirst for justice--far from it. Just pointing out ways we are going to get pre-fucked. 

Our message about why this is wrong isn't centered on Fed workers but starving grannies, babies and vets. Leaving folks without a lifeline. Betraying people who honored their end of a social contract. 

Malicious NONCOMPLIANCE. 

And the receipts for this is everywhere the federal govenment was supposed to be.