Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
@ChrisMurphyCT
Feb 28 • 9 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
We are barreling toward a full blown constitutional crisis.

Trump's announcement that he's ending thousands of aid contracts FUNDED BY CONGRESS is unconstitutional and illegal - and horrible for our security.

1/ A quick🧵on what's going on.
apnews.com/article/trump-…
2/ Back in January, Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid. It was a lie. He was always planning to eliminate USAID.

But that's illegal and a court reversed it. Because Congress is in charge of spending, not the President - a foundational feature of our democracy.
3/ Why is Congress in charge? Because if a unitary executive decides who gets money, then he can use it to reward friends and punish enemies. That's what despots do. So our founders VERY INTENTIONALLY put a politically diverse Congress in charge of spending.
4/ But Trump didn't comply with the court. He said he couldn’t restart aid because of “serious questions about waste, fraud, abuse” and “hundreds of payments not in compliance with policy.” Bullshit. Totally made up. Auditors give USAID top marks. oig.usaid.gov/node/6841
5/ The guy who invented these lies is a MAGA radical named Pete Marocco. He's buddies with Viktor Orban, pushes the big lie that Trump won in 2020, and was part of the Jan 6 riot at the Capitol. Yes, a January 6th guy in charge of USAID.
nytimes.com/2025/02/18/us/…
6/ And yesterday, Marocco made it official - he shut down nearly 10,000 foreign aid programs all over the world - all funded by Congress.

Our counter China programs - gone. Our counter terrorism programs - gone. AIDS drugs - done. Famine relief - gone.
apnews.com/article/trump-…
7/ The effects will be absolutely devastating. Millions who depend on humanitarian aid to survive could die. China and Russia are popping champagne to celebrate America forfeiting its soft power. Tens of thousands of American jobs disappear.
8/ More critically, it's a brazen violation of the Constitution. Last night, the Supreme Court granted Trump a little more time to explain. But it's clear that his shutdown of these programs is illegal. Any sane judge would rule as such.
cnn.com/2025/02/26/pol…
9/ And whether or not you care about foreign aid, you should care about what's about to happen. If either the Supreme Court allows Trump to seize control of spending, or they rule he can't do it and he ignores the ruling, our democracy is thrown into meltdown. A cataclysm.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Chris Murphy 🟧

Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ChrisMurphyCT

Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Mar 1
MAGA is making the claim that if you watch the entire 50 minute video, Zelensky is the antagonist.

This isn't true. At all. I was with Zelensky before this meeting and it's important to know his mindset heading in.

1/ A short 🧵on how the entire ambush went down.
2/ You cannot erase the context. Trump has been calling Zelensky a corrupt dictator and spreading Russian propaganda that Russia didn't invade Ukraine.

All these lies are Trump's pretext to sign a deal with Russia that hands Ukraine to Putin. Zelensky knows this.
3/ Zelensky - who's been cut out of the talks - knows what Trump and Putin are scheming. A "ceasefire" without any guarantee for Ukraine's future security is a trap. Trump's deal will require Ukrainian forces to withdraw, and when they do, Putin will pounce. It's a set up.
Read 9 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Feb 14
What frightening bullshit.

Trump and Vance have done more to smash free speech in America than any other Administration in our lifetime.

It's their plan. They know it. So they lie to cover it up.

1/ Here's their plan in a short 🧵and what we do about it.
2/ First, they pardoned all the Jan 6th rioters. This was done to protect violence when it's used to target Trump critics (remember, the rioters were there to kill Pence and Democrats).

Every despot uses the threat of violence to silence its opposition. npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-…
3/ Then they fired the government inspector generals, put a gag order on federal employees and required them to make loyalty pledges.

All designed to throw darkness over Trump and Musk's illegal actions and purge independent thinking from government. blog.ucsusa.org/dminovi/what-t…
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Feb 8
Today I will be holding a citizen meeting in West Hartford to talk about what I'm doing and what people can do to fight back against Trump's seizure of government for the billionaire class.

1/ Unfortunately, we've maxed out the space, so here's a 🧵 on what you can do.
2/ First, I know that I have a unique responsibility, as your Senator, to lead this fight. That's why I'm using every tool I have. I'm not supporting any Trump nominees until this crisis ends. I'm helping support the legal fight. I'm working behind the scenes to move Republicans to action. I'm speaking out publicly - on TV, social media, at rallies - every day to try to rally opposition to this power seizure. I'm working 24/7 to lead this effort.
3/ And listen, I know it's a scary time. But remember, their tactics of shock, awe and constant chaos are DESIGNED to get you to check out. They want you to feel overwhelmed, despondent, and powerless.

But you aren't. Like @aoc says, we have more people than they do.
Read 9 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Feb 7
This is pure gaslighting. There is no working waiver process. Marco can pretend the the real Secretary of State, Elon Musk, didn't shut down USAID, but he did.

1/ My national security team looked into the functionally nonexistent "wavier process" and here's what they found:
2/ First, let's state the obvious. Despite Musk and Trump's lies, U.S. funded international orgs don't have a political agenda. They save lives, they fight terrorist groups, they counter Chinese and Russian influence. They are a key part of our national security strategy.
3/ Musk and Trump are dismantling our counter-China efforts, including USAID. It's not a coincidence that they and their billionaire friends have outsourced millions of jobs to China (Musk makes half his cars there!) and they don't want China to be mad and hurt their profits.
Read 8 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Feb 1
1/ Let me explain why the total destruction of USAID - happening as we speak - matters so much.

China - where Musk makes his money - wants USAID destroyed. So does Russia. Trump and Musk are doing the bidding of Beijing and Moscow. Why?
apnews.com/article/trump-…
2/ Over the last week, 50% of the Global Health Bureau and 60% of the Humanitarian Assistance Bureau have been fired. Aid programs everywhere have been closed. The U.S. is in full retreat from the world.

Dystopian. No good reason for it.
3/ The immediate consequences of this are cataclysmic. Malnourished babies who depend on U.S. aid will die. Anti-terrorism programs will shut down and our most deadly enemies will get stronger. Diseases that threaten the U.S. will go unabated and reach our shores faster.
Read 6 tweets
Chris Murphy 🟧 Profile picture
Jan 28
Look, Trump is trying to oversaturate us with nonstop chaos so we can’t react meaningfully to any one thing.

But Friday's global stop work order on almost all U.S. aid is dumb and murderous. You need to know about it.

1/ A short🧵on this evil.
cnn.com/2025/01/24/pol…
2/ First, this isn't a funding pause. It's a STOP WORK ORDER to almost all aid. Unprecedented.

So today we just stopped feeding babies and housing refugees and mediating conflicts all around the world. Aid orgs are laying off staff and many programs will not restart.
3/ Tons of kids are just going to die needlessly. Famine has struck in Sudan, but because of the freeze, our most important life savings programs shut down. Within weeks or maybe days, malnourished babies who rely on our food and care will die.
news.un.org/en/story/2024/…
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(