Demand Congress use its “power of the purse” to hold Trump accountable
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution says: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
The President of the United States does not have unlimited authority to decline congressional appropriations and decide what gets funded and by how much depending on his whims and which political adversaries he wants to punish.
By hijacking congressionally appropriated funds, Donald Trump and Elon Musk (and his unqualified, unscreened team) are yanking funding from people and programs in our communities―which will have a real impact on many of our neighbors as they face frozen funding for critical human needs programs that people rely on to survive.
Congress must stand up to stop this lawless power grab.
The time is NOW edition. As of this weekend, the $600/week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will expire. Majority Leader McConnell has not yet even been able to get his caucus to agree on a COVID-19 relief package to put forward (they say they will have one on Monday, July 27). At a time when unemployment claims are rising again and spiking COVID-19 cases (more than 4 million) are paralyzing business activity, Congress must act NOW to protect people from health threats and severe economic hardship.
President Trump this week issued a directive that seeks to prevent some immigrants from being included in the 2020 census for purposes of congressional apportionment next year. The announcement drew immediate criticism from legal experts who say the directive is plainly unlawful, from advocates who say it will undermine a census effort already beset by the coronavirus pandemic, and from civil rights groups who threatened immediate legal action.
President Trump issued a memorandum on July 21 that wantonly disregards the Constitution in asserting that his Administration will not include undocumented immigrants in its 2020 Census count for purposes of Congressional apportionment. CHN has been working faithfully along with its members and allies to ensure that every person is counted in the 2020 Census. We know that an accurate count ensures that communities receive their fair share of education, health and other resources. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is completely clear in basing representation on “the whole number of persons in each state.”
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on the Senate GOP’s next COVID-19 response package, FY21 spending bills moving in the House, and more.
As the U.S. Senate returns to work this week, there are urgent calls for legislators to act quickly to ensure all Missouri families can meet their basic needs during and after the COVID crisis. In the next two weeks, a moratorium on evictions will expire along with federal emergency unemployment benefits. Jeanette Mott Oxford, Director of Policy and Organizing with Empower Missouri, said that could be a double whammy for the 4-in-10 Missouri households that have someone who has lost a job in recent months.
Congress returns to Washington on Monday, July 20, with deadlines only days away for expiring unemployment benefits and the end of evictions moratoria. That’s a very dangerous combination: back rent will come due while half of American households have lost earnings and 25 million jobless people will start losing $15b per week in unemployment benefits. The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES Act – the time is now.
After facing multiple lawsuits and challenges by 20 states, the Trump Administration this week fully rescinded its previous directive that would have prevented international students from entering or remaining in the United States if their college classes were to be held entirely online. The National Immigration Law Center tweeted, “This policy should have never even seen the light of day. The Trump administration’s culture of cruelty led the way in the forming of this policy,” NILC said. “Thank you to every university, organization, and state that took action to file suits and stop this policy in its tracks.”
More than a dozen civil society organizations demanded in an open letter Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence relinquish control over the federal COVID-19 response to public health experts, a move the groups said is necessary to “save lives and restore the economy.”
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on the Senate’s lack of action on another COVID-19 response package, as well as efforts in the House to move FY21 spending bills.
This week, we track the hardships connected to one of the 38 states (includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) with rising COVID-19 caseloads: Texas. Decisions to reopen without adequate preparation are powering the caseload surge nationwide, with 59,880 cases on July 9, the sixth single-day record in the past 10 days. As of July 10, the U.S. had more than 3.1 million cases and 133,000 deaths. The spiking pandemic brings more than sickness – it also inflicts severe economic hardships. The Senate must join the House in enacting COVID recovery legislation similar to the House’s HEROES Act as soon after its return as possible.
Evictions are coming and the potential numbers are terrifying. A panel of experts warns that between 19 million and 23 million Americans are at risk of eviction by the end of September. That is roughly one in five of the 110 million Americans who live in renter households. “That wave [of evictions] has already begun. We are trying to prevent it from becoming a tsunami,” Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told the Washington Post.
Colleges and universities have been places of protest, advocacy, activism, and social justice throughout history. From anti-war protests in the 1960s to marches fueled by the 2016 presidential election, college students have always gathered attention for their involvement in social movements. There has been no exception when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement and calls for anti-racism in 2020.
