Maybe?
Politico is up with a piece that Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee ‘WARNING’ Musk and Trump about blocking/cutting spending authrized by Congress…
She’s threatening ‘Lawsuits’!
Ok?
We’re talking about Susan Collins, NOT know for sticking to challenge much of ANYTHING….
BUT?
She Might just have some leverage….
But Musk and Trump are dancing with the US House to get past the US Senate…..
Congress needs to PASS the 2025 US Government Spending Budget….
It does look like THAT is NOT gonna be on time, which means a Govt. Semi Shutdown….
Something Trump might NOT care about….
(There IS gonna be a fight on Medicad , which Trump wants left alone)
But Local, State and other Congressional Republican lawmakers WILL Care About…..
Maybe?
The senior Republican senator negotiating a deal to avoid a government shutdown in less than one month says the Trump administration might be breaking the law — and flouting the U.S. Constitution.
As Elon Musk and the White House budget office seek to block spending that has already been approved by Congress, “I think it’s pretty clear that this violates Article One of the Constitution,” said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in an interview.
“You would see lawsuits” if the actions continue, Collins said. “A lot of these issues are going to end up in court.”
Collins also said she had not spoken to or heard from Musk since their first and only meeting late last year – a notable lack of communication between the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency and a chief gatekeeper of the federal pursestrings.
In contrast, Musk sat down as recently as last week with Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the chair of the new House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency intended to complement Musk’s efforts to cut government waste.
Collins’ comments mark an escalation at a moment where DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget — now under the leadership of Russ Vought — are rampaging largely unchecked across the government to freeze spending, fire federal workers and gut entire agencies.
Her remarks are also landing during a pivotal moment for discussions between the leaders of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee about how to fund government programs by the March 14 deadline.
Lawmakers are eager to get to an agreement in the coming days to carry funding through the remainder of the fiscal year rather than having to fall back on another stopgap spending bill. But there are indications that Trump, Musk and Vought are prepared to try to force appropriators to codify unilateral cuts — or, failing that, ignore congress’s directives altogether….
…
Courts have never recognized a general impoundment power for presidents….
US Senate Action….
(Different than the House)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that Republicans are moving ahead — for now — with their budget blueprint, even after President Donald Trump endorsed the House’s competing plan on Wednesday.
“We’re planning to proceed. But, you know, obviously we are interested in and hoping to hear with more clarity where the White House is coming from,” Thune told reporters after meeting with fellow GOP leaders…
…
Senate Republicans will discuss the path forward with Vice President JD Vance at a conference lunch Wednesday. Several GOP senators said they are hoping he will clarify what the White House wants — including whether they should proceed with their two-bill strategy, which would see them first pass a border, energy and defense bill and then come back later this year to tackle tax cuts.
House Republicans, by contrast, want to fold everything into one bill — a strategy Trump firmly endorsed Wednesday….
…
The state of play: Sen. Rand Paul appears to be the only Republican planning to vote against the resolution, and Democrats can’t tank Majority Leader John Thune’s budget plan if the rest of the GOP falls in line.
But under Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s direction, they do plan to force Republicans to take some tough votes first. They’re expecting to focus on potential cuts to Medicaid and Elon Musk’s access to taxpayers’ personal information, as well as highlighting GOP policies that favor the wealthy. (For what it’s worth, Trump said Tuesday in a Fox News interview that Republicans won’t cut Medicaid.)
“They are going to finally have to take votes to support it all,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said, referring to the “vote-a-rama” on budget amendments expected to start Thursday.
Still, Thune is in a much better position than Johnson. The speaker and his whip team are racing to win over at least a dozen GOP holdouts during the chamber’s recess week. Johnson can only afford to lose one member if he wants to approve his plan for Trump’s agenda….
Democrats….
Government spending legislation is among Democrats’ most powerful levers in pushing back against the Trump-endorsed push by Elon Musk to boost government efficiency by reviewing spending and laying off agency employees. Democrats have complained that Trump’s efforts to freeze government outlays and lay off workers, particularly at the U.S. Agency for International Development, are illegal because they ignore Congress’ directives in spending bills.
Because Senate Democrats can filibuster spending legislation, Republicans will need at least seven Democratic senators to pass a new bill.
Government funding is set to run out on March 14, giving Congress three weeks to reach agreement on appropriations legislation or there will be a partial government shutdown. Baldwin, who is the ranking member of the Appropriations panel that controls health agency funding, said Republicans will bear responsibility for a shutdown since they control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
“Republicans control the whole shebang, and they have to learn to run the government,” she said…
…
Baldwin pointed out that Medicaid cuts would hurt red states, blue states and purple states alike. “We have got to introduce the American public — before it’s too late — to the ramifications of cuts, of the sizes that they’re talking about, that will impact people’s lives,” she said.
Republicans need to find billions in cuts to extend the tax cuts and many of them plan to target Medicaid, but there are already signs of GOP divisions.
Trump has said he would “love and cherish” Medicaid, while some Republicans have expressed misgivings about the size of potential cuts….
More House REPUBLICAN members ain’t happy about the shape of the Spending Bill/Bill’s….
A group of House Republicans raised alarms Wednesday about the minimum $1.5 trillion in spending cuts required by the chamber’s budget resolution, as House leadership tries to shore up support for a floor vote on the measure when the chamber returns next week.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, co-chair of his party’s Congressional Hispanic Conference, led a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., highlighting the damage cuts to programs including Medicaid, Pell Grants and food stamps would have on their constituents and others around the country.
“Hispanic Americans played a decisive role in securing a Republican majority in 2025, having helped flip key districts, delivered historic gains in border communities, and put their faith in our party to fight for them,” the GOP lawmakers wrote. “That trust wasn’t given — it was earned.”….
More…