But when would they bring the Department of Education back out of shutdown, or the EPA? Ever? What courts would they keep open for “essential” judicial functions (with Roberts’ blessing)? The MAGA-ized Fifth Circuit? Trump’s MAGA district judges?

The horrible stuff they’re now doing illegally and sloppily with their DOGE Musk-rats, they could do in shutdown mode under a veneer of legality, directed by Trump’s “Project 2025” OMB, with added executive powers from declaring an “emergency.”

In shutdown, executive powers are at their apex, including power to close whole departments and agencies and divisions, “Reduction in Force” all their personnel, and make massive cuts of programs and firings of people they deem “non-essential.”

Especially when people try to dunk on them or shame them by pointing out that they're not making things more efficient. Obviously they're just dismantling the government under a thin pretext. It's so weird to see that pretext get taken completely at face value.

Democrats Hint at Government Shutdown to Stop Trump’s Axing at Federal Agencies

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/u...

Trump claims he’s imposing these economically disastrous taxes as a negotiation tactic—but it’s the American people he’s using as leverage.

We are not Trump’s negotiating tools. (4/4)

Businesses will pass these higher costs onto consumers—costing the average family almost $830 MORE this year.

That’s BEFORE we account for the cost of retaliatory tariffs from Mexico and Canada, which could launch us into a trade war and recession.
taxfoundation.org/research/all... (3/3)