by
Julia
Demaree
Nikhinson
–
Pool/Getty
Images)
Alina
Habba
is
back,
baby.
And
she’s
better
than
ever!
And
by
“better”
we
mean
even
more
hilariously
indignant
and
wrong
about
the
law
than
when
she
was
just
a
rich
bitch
harassing
a
waitress
at
the
breakfast
bar.
Here
she
is
on
Fox
this
morning
doing
her
best
90s
mean
girl
act
in
an
attempt
to
dunk
on
Senator
Chuck
Schumer.
“First,
Chuck,
your
attorney
general
is
not
the
attorney
general.
We
have
an
attorney
general.
That
would
be
Pam
Bondi,”
she
huffed.
“And
what
your
opinion
is
on
what
the
law
is
doesn’t
really
matter.
It’s
what
the
White
House
Counsel
says
and
what
our
attorney
general
of
the
United
States
says.”
Habba’s
interpretive
dance
was
in
support
of
Trump’s
wildly
illegal
freeze
on
virtually
all
federal
loans
and
grants.
As
first
reported
by
independent
journalist
Marisa
Kabas,
the
Office
of
Management
and
Budget
put
out
a
memo
yesterday
“pausing”
the
disbursement
of
already
allocated
and
contracted
funds.
The
letter
starts
off
strong,
suggesting
that
“In
Fiscal
Year
2024,
of
the
nearly
$10
trillion
that
the
Federal
Government
spent,
more
than
$3
trillion
was
Federal
financial
assistance,
such
as
grants
and
loans.”
The
actual
spending
was
$6.75
trillion,
but
what’s
a
couple
trillion
one
way
or
the
other,
amirite?
“Financial
assistance
should
be
dedicated
to
advancing
Administration
priorities,
focusing
taxpayer
dollars
to
advance
a
stronger
and
safer
America,
eliminating
the
financial
burden
of
inflation
for
citizens,
unleashing
American
energy
and
manufacturing,
ending
“wokeness”
and
the
weaponization
of
government,
promoting
efficiency
in
government,
and
Making
America
Healthy
Again,”
it
went
on.
“To
the
extent
permissible
under
applicable
law,
Federal
agencies
must
temporarily
pause
all
activities
related
to
obligation
or
disbursement
of
all
Federal
financial
assistance,
and
other
relevant
agency
activities
that
may
be
implicated
by
the
executive
orders,
including,
but
not
limited
to,
financial
assistance
for
foreign
aid,
nongovernmental
organizations,
DEI,
woke
gender
ideology,
and
the
green
new
deal.”
Yeah,
they’re
shutting
down
the
government
so
they
can
get
rid
of
any
mention
of
“pregnant
people”
and
let
Elon
Musk
take
a
machete
to
the
budget.
Meanwhile,
Medicaid
and
Head
Start
payment
portals
are
closed
down,
people
in
Africa
are
being
cut
off
from
the
antiretrovirals
that
have
been
keeping
them
alive,
and
no
one
knows
if
school
lunches
or
Meals
on
Wheels
are
going
to
get
the
axe.
It’s
a
flagrant
violation
of
the
Constitution,
which
gives
Congress
the
power
of
the
purse,
as
well
as
the
Impoundment
Control
Act
of
1974,
which
specifies
the
narrow
circumstances
under
which
the
president
can
refuse
to
spend
funds.
It’s
also
a
violation
of
thousands
of
individual
contracts
with
organizations
which
are
counting
on
getting
the
money.
Meanwhile,
among
the
people
with
the
actual
power
to
set
the
federal
budget,
there
seems
to
be
general
confusion
—
or
a
group
decision
to
fake
it,
anyway
—
about
whether
the
federal
appropriations
bill
is
really
A
LAW.
But
our
pal
Alina
is
an
IRL
lawyer,
or
plays
one
on
TV
anyway.
And
so
she
should
understand
that
the
last
word
on
LAW,
HOW
DOES
IT
GO???
does
not
belong
to
the
White
House
Counsel
or
even
the
Attorney
General
—
although
seeing
the
amazing
horseshit
they’re
going
to
cook
up
to
defend
this
clusterfuck
may
be
worth
the
price
of
admission.
(JK,
it
will
not.)
Luckily,
it’s
just
Fox,
so
the
only
pushback
she
got
was
from
a
dead-eyed
John
Roberts
(the
reporter,
not
the
feckless
jurist
at
One
First
Street),
who
pointed
out
that
Pam
Bondi
hasn’t
been
confirmed
yet.
In
the
meantime,
everyone
and
their
mother
is
filing
suit
to
stop
this
insane
power
grab.
Maybe
the
White
House
will
deputize
Habba
to
defend
them.
Her
record
is
less
than
stellar,
but
she’s
willing
to
say
literally
any
dumb
thing,
so…
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.