Quinta Jurecic

Now, it is true that many of these spending authorizations have particular provisions saying, you know, the executive has this level of discretion in how to distribute these funds in such and such a way. And so...

Now, it is true that many of these spending authorizations have particular provisions saying, you know, the executive has this level of discretion in how to distribute these funds in such and such a way. And so...

Part of the problem with looking at this OMB spending freeze is that so much spending was frozen that it's actually really difficult to figure out if they had gone, you know, item by item, whether they might have been able to kind of turn off the switches or redirect funding in a way that could arguably have been legal. But because they just did it all at once,

Part of the problem with looking at this OMB spending freeze is that so much spending was frozen that it's actually really difficult to figure out if they had gone, you know, item by item, whether they might have been able to kind of turn off the switches or redirect funding in a way that could arguably have been legal. But because they just did it all at once,

It's, I would say, not only illegal, but an active threat to the constitutional order. And this also, again, goes back to this question of compliance with court orders, because as you say, there have now been multiple court orders saying you need to stop this spending freeze, you need to turn the money back on. And yet there have also been a lot of reports saying, you know...

It's, I would say, not only illegal, but an active threat to the constitutional order. And this also, again, goes back to this question of compliance with court orders, because as you say, there have now been multiple court orders saying you need to stop this spending freeze, you need to turn the money back on. And yet there have also been a lot of reports saying, you know...

various organizations that were getting this money have not actually received it despite assurances that they would. I think I saw a report that Head Start programs in a lot of states have not been receiving their funding, for example.

various organizations that were getting this money have not actually received it despite assurances that they would. I think I saw a report that Head Start programs in a lot of states have not been receiving their funding, for example.

Two points. First off, I think that the fact that Elon Musk is playing an increasingly large role going around and trying to cut costs in a maximally chaotic and destructive way at all of these agencies really undermines that argument.

Two points. First off, I think that the fact that Elon Musk is playing an increasingly large role going around and trying to cut costs in a maximally chaotic and destructive way at all of these agencies really undermines that argument.

Because if you take the view that, you know, unelected bureaucrats are not under the control of the president, should not have this authority, how do you deal with Elon Musk? Nobody elected him. It's not even clear what role he has.

Because if you take the view that, you know, unelected bureaucrats are not under the control of the president, should not have this authority, how do you deal with Elon Musk? Nobody elected him. It's not even clear what role he has.

So I don't want to get us on too far of a detour here. Taking this argument seriously, a lot of the arguments that the conservative legal movement, for example, has made about the importance of centralizing control focus on the role of the appointments clause and the importance of having a Senate-confirmed official.

So I don't want to get us on too far of a detour here. Taking this argument seriously, a lot of the arguments that the conservative legal movement, for example, has made about the importance of centralizing control focus on the role of the appointments clause and the importance of having a Senate-confirmed official.

Under the Appointments Clause, you can then serve at the pleasure of the president. Elon Musk has not been nominated or confirmed to any position. And so I do think that even if you take this sort of view that it's very important to have a unitary executive who can, you know, act with energy and carry out his will, because of course it's going to be he, that...

Under the Appointments Clause, you can then serve at the pleasure of the president. Elon Musk has not been nominated or confirmed to any position. And so I do think that even if you take this sort of view that it's very important to have a unitary executive who can, you know, act with energy and carry out his will, because of course it's going to be he, that...

Musk does not fit within that constitutional vision because he is functionally an unaccountable private citizen who has kind of been bolted on. And the people who he has working for him are in the same category. And so I actually do think, I mean, if you look at some of the polling, for example, on Republican approval of Musk playing a significant role in U.S.

Musk does not fit within that constitutional vision because he is functionally an unaccountable private citizen who has kind of been bolted on. And the people who he has working for him are in the same category. And so I actually do think, I mean, if you look at some of the polling, for example, on Republican approval of Musk playing a significant role in U.S.

government, it has gone down dramatically since the beginning of this administration. Yeah. If your argument is we have a serious problem with unelected bureaucrats, that Musk actually is a serious fly in that ointment. So that's one thing. But the other thing I would say is that, you know, walking out the front door and jumping out a fourth floor window are both ways to leave a building, right?

government, it has gone down dramatically since the beginning of this administration. Yeah. If your argument is we have a serious problem with unelected bureaucrats, that Musk actually is a serious fly in that ointment. So that's one thing. But the other thing I would say is that, you know, walking out the front door and jumping out a fourth floor window are both ways to leave a building, right?