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There are some major contradictions in President Donald Trump’s view of what government should do to help and protect Americans as expressed this week.
On the one hand, Trump wants governors to do a lot more
He promised to “wean” the country off federal disaster relief and wind down FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Cleaning up after hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes should be a state function, he said.
“A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
On the other hand, he’s taking their power
Trump seized control of California’s National Guard from Gov. Gavin Newsom, federalizing troops and putting them on the streets of Los Angeles over the objections of local and state leaders. He has threatened to send troops to other cities throughout the country.
Critics, including Newsom, accused Trump of an illegal authoritarian overreach. California has sued the administration to end the callup of Marines and National Guard. Trump’s actions had the effect of inciting more unrest instead of quieting it, according to the state’s leaders.
“These are the acts of a dictator, not a president,” Newsom said on social media.
Trump could try to take state power in other ways
He is primed to roll back California’s looming ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, at least according to Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California Republican. Expect lawsuits.
California’s Environmental Protection agency has enacted its own climate change policy because the federal government, which has switched from Democrats to Republicans in recent elections, has been unable to stick to one. Trump is also trying to dismantle climate change efforts enacted by Democrats under President Joe Biden.
This dichotomy plays out on many levels
Trump is trying to end the Department of Education in part because he says he wants to return more power over education to the states. At the same time, he’s threatening state universities and school systems that want to prioritize a diverse environment. Trump has done all he can to strong-arm American institutions into ending diversity programs that are a reaction to the country’s complicated racial past and is instead treating the inclusion of trans women in gendered sports as a major civil rights issue.
Governors and presidents are frequently at odds
The standoff between Trump and Newsom is in some ways the inverse of relationships between past Democratic presidents and Republican governors.
While Trump is foisting troops onto Los Angeles over Newsom’s objections, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, launched Operation Lone Star, which mobilized his state’s National Guard to patrol the border and set up obstructions in spots when he felt federal authorities under Biden were not doing enough.
Biden officials never threatened to arrest Abbott, however. Trump officials have warned mayors and Newsom against impeding federal immigration authorities.
Abbott, for his part, took the initiative to put the Texas National Guard on standby as anti-deportation protests spread around the country.
Weaning off FEMA, but with exceptions
For instance, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders — who was Trump’s first-term press secretary — was denied a request for tornado relief funds earlier this year.
Sanders was ultimately able to obtain the funds by publicly lobbying and then calling Trump with a direct and personal appeal, as CNN’s Gabe Cohen wrote.
It would be interesting to see whether Newsom, a Democrat who has previously tangled with Trump, would be as successful. Trump has a history of denying assistance to California. He did it during his first term. In April, CNN reported that when billions of dollars in disaster funding were stalled, Republican governors had better luck at unfreezing them.
The White House may already be cutting FEMA out of the equation, according to Cohen’s report. He wrote that there have been multiple instances this year when FEMA has not been immediately notified that the White House had approved disaster relief packages, which led to delays in getting the funds out.
Regardless, FEMA’s normal way of doing business — approving aid based on nonpartisan formulas and the extent of damage — has been replaced by Trump’s preferences.
Wanting more from states to help people who need it
If a version of Trump’s sweeping policy bill passes through Congress this year, it will also rewrite the social contract by which the federal government helps the lowest-income Americans.
States would have to spend more to help provide health insurance through Medicaid programs, but they would also have to impose new work requirements, and millions of Americans would lose health insurance.
Spending on food stamps, now called SNAP benefits, would be cut.
Trump clearly wants the government to do less. Less foreign aid. Less scientific research. Less income taxes. Less responsibility to fund the social safety net.
Except where he wants more. More defense spending. More tariffs (which are actually taxes). More military parades. More deportations.
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