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Musk vs. the bureaucracy vs. Congress: Who has the power to cut spending?

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The Trump administration’s all-of-Washington shake-up has resulted in hundreds of lawsuits and cries of a “constitutional crisis,” with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency at the heart of many complaints from Democrats.

Critics of the department say its on shaky legal footing and have questioned whether Musk’s role violates the U.S. Constitution, as higher-ranking government officials often must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The White House has maintained that, despite Musk being the public face of the department and seemingly directing its activities, he is only a “special government employee.” As such, he isn’t subject to a Senate confirmation.

But legal experts disagree on Musk’s role and authority within the federal government.

The Pacific Legal Foundation’s Michael Poon works for the foundation’s separation of powers practice group. Now that the White House has revealed the identity of the DOGE’s administrator as Amy Gleason, a healthcare technology executive who served under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Poon likened Musk’s role to that of a “DOGE czar,” or even the president’s chief of staff – neither of which are senate-confirmed positions. Because Musk isn’t the department’s administrator, he doesn’t seem to have any formal authority, according to Poon.

“Agency heads have the power to ignore him because he doesn’t actually have formal power himself,” Poon continued, “but they probably listen because Musk is understood to have the president’s confidence,” similar to other positions Poon mentioned, including Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who also isn’t Senate confirmed but works side by side with the Department of Homeland Security. whose secretary, Kristi Noem, is Senate-confirmed.

“This kind of arrangement makes Musk informally powerful, but the power comes from the expectation that the president would back him, not any power that is, sort of, inherent in his position,” Poon said.

While Poon doesn’t think Musk’s role violates any constitutional requirements, he does appreciate the sudden interest the public is taking in the role of unelected federal officials in general. But since their function in the federal government has developed over many decades, it’s unlikely that anything resulting from the DOGE-Musk controversy would go very far in solving the problem.

“It’s appropriate to be scrutinizing of unelected officials and the power that they wield,” Poon said. “But it’s a concern that has been put to the side for the last hundred years, over which both major parties have worked to weaken these protections against unelected officials.”

If Americans want less power and more guardrails for unelected officials, it will take time to achieve, according to Poon.

“I don’t think that, as the current case law stands, Elon Musk’s role contravenes the Constitution, but if we think those protections should be strengthened…  that’s something that takes a concerted effort and it can’t vary depending on who is in control of the executive branch,” Poon said.

Thomas Berry, director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, finds the lack of transparency around DOGE and Musk’s role troubling.

“I think there’s very serious concerns about what exactly is happening with DOGE,” Berry said.

A lot of concerns with DOGE have to do with the Appointments Clause, which is the basis for Senate confirmations of presidential appointees and creates a system of accountability.

“The Appointments Clause of the Constitution says that the final decision maker on a lot of issues needs to be either the president or someone appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate,” Berry said. “When the public perception is that Musk or anyone who’s not Senate-confirmed is making these decisions, you don’t have any elected person to blame.”

Even if the administration were to eventually reveal that the president approved all of Musk’s actions, the lack of transparency now is problematic for the public, according to Berry.

As for questions about Trump’s authority to establish DOGE and Musk’s role within it, President of the Liberty Justice Center Jacob Huebert thinks they’re unfounded.

“Article II of the Constitution gives all executive power to the president,” Huebert said. “As long as the president has ultimate decision-making authority here, I don’t see any problem with that.”

He applauds what he sees as Trump’s revision of the executive branch, bringing it closer to what it was intended to be.

“It’s the president deciding how the executive branch is going to run, which is very much the opposite of how it has long been run, where the bureaucracy is kind of leading things even though the bureaucracy doesn’t have any constitutional authority whatsoever,” Huebert said.

As far as Trump’s efforts to cut government spending through DOGE, Huebert’s unsure how it will play out, though he thinks it’s a valiant aim. The Constitution grants Congress power over the government’s purse, and some lawsuits are challenging the president’s attempts to cut spending that Congress has already appropriated. Even if DOGE were able to get federal agencies to cut their budgets and the courts ruled in their favor, Huebert thinks it will be difficult to motivate Congress to pass significantly smaller budgets.

“That to me seems like the biggest challenge for DOGE if part of the goal is to cut spending because Congress really likes to spend, including most of the Republicans in Congress, and the reasons that they’ve had to spend so much money have not gone away,” Huebert said. “All the incentives to spend, or most of them, are still there. So I don’t know how Trump or Elon Musk, if they want to bring it under control, can bring it under control.”

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Alberta

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

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Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:

“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.

“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.

“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.

“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.

“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.

“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”

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Canada may escape the worst as Trump declares America’s economic independence with Liberation Day tariffs

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MXM logo  MxM News

Quick Hit:

On Wednesday, President Trump declared a national emergency to implement a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, calling it a “Declaration of Economic Independence.” Trump said the tariffs would revitalize the domestic economy, declaring that, “April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn.”

Key Details:

  • The baseline 10% tariff will take effect Saturday, while targeted “reciprocal” tariffs—20% on the EU, 24% on Japan, and 17% on Israel—begin April 9th. Trump also imposed 25% tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican goods, as well as on all foreign-made cars and auto parts, effective early Thursday.

  • Trump justified the policy by citing foreign trade restrictions and long-standing deficits. He pointed to policies in Australia, the EU, Japan, and South Korea as examples of protectionist barriers that unfairly harm American workers and industries.

  • The White House estimates the 10% tariff could generate $200 billion in revenue over the next decade. Officials say the added funds would help reduce the federal deficit while giving the U.S. stronger leverage in negotiations with countries running large trade surpluses.

Diving Deeper:

President Trump on Wednesday unveiled a broad new tariff policy affecting every imported product into the United States, marking what he described as the beginning of a new economic era. Declaring a national emergency from the White House Rose Garden, the president announced a new 10% baseline tariff on all imports, alongside steeper country-specific tariffs targeting longstanding trade imbalances.

“This is our Declaration of Economic Independence,” Trump said. “Factories will come roaring back into our country — and you see it happening already.”

The tariffs, which take effect Saturday, represent a substantial increase from the pre-Trump average U.S. tariff rate and are part of what the administration is calling “Liberation Day” for American industry. Reciprocal tariffs kick in April 9th, with the administration detailing specific rates—20% for the European Union, 24% for Japan, and 17% for Israel—based on calculations tied to bilateral trade deficits.

“From 1789 to 1913, we were a tariff-backed nation,” Trump said. “The United States was proportionately the wealthiest it has ever been.” He criticized the establishment of the income tax in 1913 and blamed the 1929 economic collapse on a departure from tariff-based policies.

To underscore the move’s long-anticipated nature, Trump noted he had been warning about unfair trade for decades. “If you look at my old speeches, where I was young and very handsome… I’d be talking about how we were being ripped off by these countries,” he quipped.

The president also used the moment to renew his push for broader economic reforms, urging Congress to eliminate federal taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits. He also proposed allowing Americans to write off interest on domestic auto loans.

Critics of the plan warned it could raise prices for consumers, noting inflation has already risen 22% under the Biden administration. However, Trump pointed to low inflation during his first term—when he imposed more targeted tariffs—as proof his strategy can work without sparking runaway costs.

White House officials reportedly described the new baseline rate as a guardrail against countries attempting to game the system. One official explained the methodology behind the reciprocal tariffs: “The trade deficit that we have with any given country is the sum of all trade practices, the sum of all cheating,” adding that the tariffs are “half of what they could be” because “the president is lenient and he wants to be kind to the world.”

In addition to Wednesday’s sweeping changes, Trump’s administration recently imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese goods tied to fentanyl smuggling and another 25% on steel and aluminum imports—revoking previous carve-outs for countries like Brazil and South Korea. Future tariffs on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and raw materials such as copper and lumber are reportedly under consideration.

Trump closed his remarks with a message to foreign leaders: “To all of the foreign presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors… I say, ‘Terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers.’” He declared April 2nd “the day America’s destiny was reclaimed” and promised, “This will indeed be the golden age of America.”

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