The headline at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC the other day was “Trump’s first moves in office mirror Project 2025,” and I just wanted to scream. If only the Democratic Party had shouted from the rooftops that this is what Trump and his handlers would do — oh wait, that’s exactly what they did. But here we are in the dumbest timeline; thanks MAGAts for bringing us all down with you. The one bit of optimism I’ve clung to is Trump’s dependable incompetency. He doesn’t understand government beyond a fourth grade level (not to insult fourth graders), so when he initiated the federal funding freeze this week, I truly believe he did not know the breadth of programs he was handicapping. Luckily, Democratic state governors and attorneys general were ready to rebut, suing the Trump administration and obtaining a stay. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and (the man who should be our current vice president) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz each spoke out on the illegal freeze. From Pritzker:

“What the President is trying to do is illegal,” Pritzker said. “I know these are challenging times, and the Trump administration is trying to confuse the American people. That’s why it’s so important that we speak plainly.”

…A massive outage in Medicaid portal systems on Tuesday left officials in all 50 states unable to access programs required for reimbursement for payments into the system, and while the Trump administration said the funding freeze did not impact those payments, Pritzker expressed doubt about their denials.

“Their intention was not to pull it back online today,” he said. “You think it was an accident the memo came out last night, and today our state agencies couldn’t access those systems? It’s not. The intention is to disrupt.”

The governor said there was “no communication” with states about what programs would be targeted and which would be spared by the funding freeze, leading to a mad scramble of activity as agencies and organizations tried to figure out whether they would be impacted.

“When our agencies reached out to the federal agencies, we literally were informed that they are not to speak with us,” he said.

[From NBC Chicago]

And here’s what Walz had to say:

State leaders in Minnesota, including Gov. Tim Walz, addressed President Trump’s federal funding freeze Tuesday afternoon, calling the move “unprecedented” and “illegal.”

…“While he was out golfing, he threw the country into crisis,” Walz said at a press conference at the St. Paul YMCA on Tuesday. “This is not bold, it’s not leadership. It’s stupid, buffoonish, childish.”

…Minnesota as a state pays more into the federal government than it receives, Walz said.

“Those are our dollars that he is stealing, unconstitutionally,” he added. “Congress as I served, as Attorney General Ellison served, appropriates the dollars. This is so far beyond the pale to try to pull these dollars back.”

Nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general, including Ellison, are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop him from instituting the freeze. Ellison said Trump’s actions usurp the power of Congress, and the administration doesn’t have the power to stop funding to the state.

Late Tuesday, just as the directive was set to go into place, a federal judge issued a stay against the spending freeze until at least Monday at 5 p.m. to allow for further litigation.

Meanwhile, Walz said that agencies are “prepared to implement” because “unlike Donald Trump we follow the law.”

[From CBS News Minnesota]

I’ve been watching Rachel Maddow’s show since she’s back every night for the first 100 days — which kind of feels like a reward (more Rachel) for bad behavior (“electing” Trump), but I’ll take it — and saw her interview with Walz. It was such a punch to the gut. The poor man somehow looked energetic yet soul-weary at the same time. He warned us that this is exactly what would happen in another Trump term. The amount of time and work and agita that’s gonna have to be expended now over and over and over again to counteract every move Trump makes, is exhausting. And why? Because eggs being too expensive was more important than… every single other thing that’s at stake? To quote a line from Oppenheimer: “Excuse me, gentlemen, if I become stirred, but I am.” And I know the Trump administration rescinded the mass funding freeze yesterday, but given this clown show (not to insult clowns), I’m fully expecting a rescinding of the rescindment.

Walz: It’s on. The resistance is strong. You felt it. Americans, lo and behold, like democracy and feeding their children. So they’re going to fight for these things.

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 10:18 PM

Let me say this in no uncertain terms: the President’s actions today are illegal.
 
Cutting off people from healthcare, childcare, and other services is cruel.

The State of Illinois will fight this unlawful order with everything we have.

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— Governor JB Pritzker (@govpritzker.illinois.gov) January 28, 2025 at 7:42 PM