Trump tests his power. Can he do these things?
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
(CNN) — There’s an as-yet unanswerable question to apply to so many of the incredible things President Donald Trump is trying to do as he barrels through the second week of his second term: Can he actually do this?
Let’s consider his latest blitz of executive orders, memos and announcements.
Can he order a mass buyout of federal workers?
His administration has offered to pay millions of federal workers to not work until September if they agree to resign. Military and postal workers are exempted from the offer, but it’s not at all clear Trump has the authority to spend the government’s money on an ad hoc mass buyout. More below.
Can he freeze a large number of federal funds appropriated by Congress?
Apparently not. Or at least not right this moment, after a federal judge hit pause on the order issued Tuesday. The White House, after an outcry from Republicans whose constituents depend in various ways on federal grants and other spending, unfroze the funds on Wednesday. But the issue of Trump refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress will likely return.
There’s a possible Supreme Court showdown brewing on the issue of what Washington refers to as “impoundment.” CNN’s John Fritze writes that while the Supreme Court has certainly shown deference to Trump on some issues, this is one where they might not.
Can he detain migrants at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba at a detention facility built for terrorists?
He’ll try. During his speech at the White House, Trump said he’ll sign an order for the Defense and Homeland Security departments to repurpose the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to house 30,000 migrants who could not be repatriated to their home countries. The US maintains a prison on the island base for some terrorists, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Most suspected terrorists have been removed or released from Guantanamo, and Trump sees an opportunity to house migrants there.
“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo,” he said.
Does he really believe the US government was funding condoms for Hamas in Gaza?
Here’s what Trump said at the White House on Wednesday, when he was listing off his first-week accomplishments: “We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas. $50 million. And you know what’s happened to them? They’ve used them as a method of making bombs. How about that?”
Trump’s claim was a more extreme version of something White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday in Washington. Here’s a key line from CNN’s Fact Check:
Why is there so much confusion?
It’s worth taking a closer look at Trump’s plan to buy out federal workers since it is a good example of conflicting messages.
Trump expressed frustration at being misunderstood during a 30-minute speech before signing the Laken Riley Act at the White House. That law, the first he’s signed during his second term, passed with bipartisan support, requires the detention of migrants charged with certain crimes.
At the signing ceremony, however, Trump felt the need to clarify his offer to federal workers.
What Trump says: “Just for clarification purposes, because it was incorrectly reported yesterday, we have informed the federal workforce, which they’ve looked to do for many years, that if they’re working for the federal government, they must show up to the office on time and on schedule. We don’t want them. We don’t want them to work from home because, as everyone knows, most of the time they’re not working.”
He added:
“If they don’t agree by February 6th to show up back to work in their office, they will be terminated. And we will therefore be downscaling our government.”
Trump clearly sees the offer to workers as an ultimatum.
The memo sent to workers says something different. Sent to federal workers from a nameless email address, the memo doesn’t sound like Trump. With the subject line “Fork in the Road,” borrowed from Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, it offers workers the opportunity to resign, with pay, in September and allow them to bypass return to work orders until then. The memo sent to workers does not specifically say federal workers who resign won’t have to work over the next nine months while they’re being paid.
A Q&A says a third thing. The Q&A published the by the White House to explain the memo does say most workers won’t have to work while they’re being paid. (Note: In the case of the now-unfrozen federal funding, there was also a weirdly worded memo published alongside a more declarative Q&A).
Democrat says don’t believe the offer. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, told federal workers not to believe the president when he offers them such a generous buyout without any input from Congress.
“He doesn’t have any authority to do this. Do not be fooled by this guy,” Kaine said, noting that it’s Congress that appropriates money, including federal salaries, through a budgeting process.
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