Post New

Sorry, libs.
https://x.com/PressSec/status/1884329868030271759?...

The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage.

We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent.

We expect the portal will be back online shortly.

And BTW the exec order never covered Medicaid, SNAP or any of that.

Sorry, libs.

I am so glad the White House blinked.

Not sure why we tried to give Democrats the House but hopefully we won't keep wanting to help them.

This was a SHEEPLE move on our part

I am so glad the White House blinked.

Not sure why we tried to give Democrats the House but hopefully we won't keep wanting to help them.

This was a SHEEPLE move on our part

That's what the Liar's Club would have you believe. Trump's exec order specifically excluded stuff like SNAP and Medicaid. It's more likely that some DeepStater took the portal offline so as to hand the little d's a talking point. Their drones then dutifully ran with it.

And to prove that:

https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/18843222051960...

Full memo here - outlining what is and isn’t impacted by OMB pause on federal funds for a period of review

Document shows pause is not across the board, but limited to programs impacted by executive orders such as ending DE, the Green New Deal, and NGOs that “undermine the national interest”

In other words, the dems are lying. You can tell because they're speaking.

It's more likely that some DeepStater

Antifa did it. Or perhaps the FBI

And now the democrats are waving their hands in RFK's confirmation hearing and lying about the Medicaid shut down.

When an entire political party has no honor and no limits to the depths it'll sink, it just needs to be yanked out root and stem everywhere it's grown.

Antifa did it. Or perhaps the FBI

It wasn't Trump.

democrats lied. And will continue to lie about it.

In other words, the dems are lying. You can tell because they're speaking

Except that's not the full memo.

That's an OMB FAQ that they issued after the chaos started - when they tried to clean up the mess that they absolutely caused. At the bottom of this post is a link to the actual memo that originally was issued by OMB.

The relevant language is here:

To implement these orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders. In the interim, 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.

Note the language - agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance - a term defined earlier in the memo by reference to a CFR definition. The memo specifically says it doesn't apply to Social Security or Medicare (which are disbursed directly to individuals), but does not say that Medicaid (which is disbursed to state governments) is outside of its purview. Which is why Trump's Press Secretary couldn't confirm that.

Also note that as written in the memo, the pause applies to all Federal financial assistance - not just the programs impacted by EO's. That's what the "including but not limited to" language means. Every piece of Federal financial assistance was supposed to be paused. That's because the ostensible purpose of the pause is to give the Administration time to review for itself whether the spending is consistent with the EO's.

The memo did not explicitly exclude anything other than Medicare, Social Security, and the programs that don't meet the CFR definition of Federal financial assistance. Every other piece of Federal financial assistance was very arguably covered by the initial memo, whether it conflicted with the EO's or not.

Once the sh!tstorm started, OMG tried to cover their butts by issuing the document that your Xitter correspondent provided. The second OMB memo now claims that the pause only affects the programs within the ambit of the specific EO's. But that is absolutely not what the original OMB memo said.

Because, again, Trump is acting either: i) heedlessly (if you want to be critical) or ii) like a tech founder to "move fast and break things" (if you want to phrase it a little more positively). There are arguments that support moving fast and breaking things, of course - but you can't tell people that they're lying when they notice that you've broken things while moving fast.

The initial memo was written so broadly that it did cover every Federal financial assistance program - which caused a lot of uncertainty for a lot of people. It's nice that OMB tried to clean it up, but that doesn't mean the uncertainty caused by the first memo didn't happen.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/deb7af80-...

To implement these orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders. In the interim, 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.

You're proving my point. Nobody told them to turn off SNAP, Medicaid or any of it.

Let's zoom in:
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.

Where's that say SNAP? Or Medicaid? It doesn't.

The only person who would dig this deeply to find an EXCUSE to turn that stuff off is going to be a partisan democrat with a law degree. In other words, somebody willing to hurt people just to make Trump look bad.

We don't know a political party willing to do that, do we? Oh, wait - we do.

Where's that say SNAP? Or Medicaid? It doesn't.

Right. It says "all Federal financial assistance." So people naturally read that to mean, you know, all Federal financial assistance.

The original memo carved out only Social Security and Medicare explicitly. It specifically included everything else - any assistance received by recipients or subrecipients of any type - except for assistance received directly by individuals:

For the purposes of this memorandum, Federal financial assistance includes: (i) all forms of assistance listed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of the definition of this term at 2 CFR 200.1; and (ii) assistance received or administered by recipients or subrecipients of any type except for assistance received directly by individuals

...which is why everyone went nuts. And why the Press Secretary couldn't confirm that it didn't apply to Medicaid. Social Security sends checks to individuals - but Medicaid doesn't work that way. It pays providers, not individuals.

The initial memo explicitly said that the freeze didn't apply to Social Security and Medicare - and explicitly didn't say that Medicaid was also exempt from the freeze, even though Medicaid clearly falls within the definition of programs that are subject to the freeze. Which is why their clean-up document had to specifically call out that "in addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause." Because they didn't make it clear that Medicaid was excluded, and the plain language of the memo specifically included Medicaid.

And student loans that might be argued to be inconsistent with the EO as well, for that matter. That's why the clean-up memo had to change that policy as well - directing that student loans that conflict with the EO's are not to be paused, but are to continue until the agency can "begin to unwind" the policies that so conflict.

It was a poorly-drafted policy, either unintentionally (or deliberately) over-inclusive, because the Administration has adopted a specific strategy of not vetting these things before doing them. There are benefits to not vetting them - everyone is surprised and can't prepare to fight you! But there are also downsides to not vetting them - everyone is surprised and can't warn you of the unintended consequences of the language you use!

When an entire political party has no honor and no limits to the depths it'll sink, it just needs to be yanked out root and stem everywhere it's grown.

Thank you Pol Pot for your suggestion. President Trump and Elon Musk are already on that job. Along with the Democrats, we also have a fifth column of traitorous Republicans to deal with.

Right. It says "all Federal financial assistance." So people naturally read that to mean, you know, all Federal financial assistance.

No. Nobody thought that. Only partisan deepstaters willing to hurt some people to make political hay did.

Thank you Pol Pot for your suggestion. President Trump and Elon Musk are already on that job. Along with the Democrats, we also have a fifth column of traitorous Republicans to deal with.

LOL. Come and get it, sunshine.

BTW, per the Post the Administration has rescinded the freeze altogether:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/29...

Because the entire way they tried to go about doing this was a fustercluck. There's no way to accurately describe which of the federal programs you want frozen, and differentiate them from the programs you don't want frozen, in a paragraph or three. If you want to freeze a bunch of programs that you think conflict with your EO's in a way that only catches those programs without confusing the hell out of everyone, the only real way to do it is to come up with a list of the things you want frozen. Not leave it to everyone else to figure out what you actually want to happen.

No. Nobody thought that. Only partisan deepstaters willing to hurt some people to make political hay did.

Lots of people thought that - because that's what the words say. And that's why they had to rescind the memo.

Because the entire way they tried to go about doing this was a fustercluck. There's no way to accurately describe which of the federal programs you want frozen, and differentiate them from the programs you don't want frozen, in a paragraph or three. If you want to freeze a bunch of programs that you think conflict with your EO's in a way that only catches those programs without confusing the hell out of everyone, the only real way to do it is to come up with a list of the things you want frozen. Not leave it to everyone else to figure out what you actually want to happen.

This I'll agree with. They wanted to blanketly get rid of a lot pork and bad spending, but didn't think through the level of resistance they'd get.

Lots of people thought that - because that's what the words say.

Only a complete automaton or a complete partisan would think "Hey, they're telling me to shut down Medicaid!".

You're making an excellent argument to clean out the federal workforce if it's the former.

It wasn't Trump

Imagine that. It was his order and his OMB that implemented.

“Marxist equity” indeed.

What in the hell did you expect to happen when the order went out to stop all federal grants and funding pending review?

Blaming the “Deep State” for your administration’s own incompetence is becoming a theme.

How long do you suppose that wiill continue to work? The madder you get, the more your butt is showing.


Rooting out the Democratic Party root and branch. You’re sounding like Pol Pot.

Only a complete automaton or a complete partisan would think "Hey, they're telling me to shut down Medicaid!".

What they thought was, "Hey, no one vetted this language - so now I have an order from OMB that defines the programs that have to be shut down in a way that includes Medicaid, even if that's not what they meant to tell me to do." But they also know that they have to follow the OMB's actual instructions - not just decide on their own what the Administration's priorities "ought" to be. So everyone was in chaos.

Are you a complete automaton if you think you're supposed to follow the directions that OMB has issued? You're supposed to do that. The Administration has gone so far as to direct federal employees to inform on other federal employees that don't totally and 100% follow the directions that the Administration sends them. They are requiring that federal employees act like automatons when it comes to implementing the Administration's instructions.

You don't have to defend everything they do. Even if this had been a good idea, it was poorly worded and terribly executed.

As we saw in their first Administration, if you move fast and take your time to check your work, your policies won't get implemented. This is yet another example of that, suggesting they didn't learn from the first go around. The federal government is just too big to try to make massive changes with a two page memo - you have to take your time, think through the details and all the possible pitfalls and complications, and then act. Ready, fire, aim is going to end up moving more slowly than a little more thought and attention up front.

Imagine that, a Deep Stater wanting to hurt Trump.

I know. It strains credulity to think that there are people stupid enough to do this or malicious enough to try and score a talking point and create a new democrat Urban Legend.

Oh, wait. No it doesn't strain credulity at all. This is who the democrats are.

And always have been.

You’re sounding like Pol Pot.

Hitler suddenly fall out of vogue? Nope. I'm merely going to point out the giant pile of elephant crap your party is. Voters will do the weeding and the Roundup applications.

What they thought was, "Hey, no one vetted this language - so now I have an order from OMB that defines the programs that have to be shut down in a way that includes Medicaid, even if that's not what they meant to tell me to do." But they also know that they have to follow the OMB's actual instructions - not just decide on their own what the Administration's priorities "ought" to be. So everyone was in chaos.

This is nonsense on stilts. And a great argument for cleaning out government of people who act without thinking.

Trump's exec order specifically excluded stuff like SNAP and Medicaid.

I've read over the order and don't see that. Perhaps you could point me to the exclusion?

--Peter

Perhaps you could point me to the exclusion?

It was in the FAQ memo.

Oh, and for those of you screaming about this, I'll assume that you believe the Gazans need $50 million for condoms.

Oh, and for those of you screaming about this, I'll assume that you believe the Gazans need $50 million for condoms.

Whether they do or not doesn't make it smart or sound policy to try to address it through a global freeze on Federal assistance programs in a poorly worded two-page memo, rather than (say) including that program on a specific list of programs that the Administration has decided to pause.

OK wel i am hopping angry and scared that we actually wanted to do this.

I admit as usual I'm not watching news nor do I follow details - obviously.

SO, is it true that we *never* proposed screwing with medicaid or heating oil since Trump got in? If not then I hereby take my criticism back.'

And I'd be relieved.

IF we tried - and then reversed - man that is multiple cans of worms.

SO, is it true that we *never* proposed screwing with medicaid or heating oil since Trump got in? If not then I hereby take my criticism back.'

They were never going to stop Medicaid. That's stupid to the 10th power.

They were never going to stop Medicaid. That's stupid to the 10th power.

Then they shouldn't have issued a memo saying they were going to freeze all Federal financial assistance programs using language that covers Medicaid and a bunch of other programs that they didn't mean to (or realize) they were covering in the freeze.

That was stupid to the 11th power. Which is why they had to rescind the memo.

Then they shouldn't have issued a memo saying they were going to freeze all Federal financial assistance programs using language that covers Medicaid and a bunch of other programs that they didn't mean to (or realize) they were covering in the freeze.

Yup! The bad move was in assuming that some federal employees had 2 brain cells to rub together and wouldn't turn off things like Medicaid. Or in assuming that Deepstaters wouldn't go there in their zeal to take down Trump 2.0.

Both seem to be bad assumptions. But that's okay; people like this tend to self-identify and they can be relieved of their responsibilities.

Blaming the “Deep State” for your administration’s own incompetence is becoming a theme.

Like their leader, they never take responsibility for their actions (or acknowledge responsibility of their leader).

This couldn't be more cut-and-dried. The administration issued the orders, chaos ensued, and then they rescinded the order. No Dems involved. Not even Biden or Harris, or the much-maligned Obama. This was all the Felon and his cadre of incompetents.

This couldn't be more cut-and-dried.

Yes, it could.
You people aren't scoring the points you think you're scoring.

And that was the goal of the entire exercise - how many people could the democrats put in jeopardy so they can win votes? It's how your party rolls.

In other words, the dems are lying. You can tell because they're speaking. ~Dope

MAGAs would be well advised to permit more nuanced insights into their political assessments rather than a shallow, "You are ALL LIARS", which at its core is just an ad hominem attack.

Hastily labeling someone a liar can be problematic because:
It may miss the nuance of the situation, as people can have different interpretations without intentionally deceiving.
It can escalate conflicts and make constructive dialogue more challenging.
It may reflect poorly on the accuser, potentially weakening their own argument.

It was in the FAQ memo.

As has been pointed out to you already, that FAQ is not the original Executive Order. It was produced after Trump issued his poorly thought out and poorly drafted Executive Order shutting down pretty much everything.

Only after those "deep state" employees followed orders exactly did this shit storm hit the fan.

Listen, Dope. You're just getting deeper and deeper into this insanity every day. What does it take for you to step back and reconsider your positions?

--Peter

As has been pointed out to you already, that FAQ is not the original Executive Order.

And has been pointed out to you, a) shutting down Medicaid wasn't in the order and b) only a dummy would shut that portal down. Or somebody trying to hurt people to score political points.

Listen, Dope. You're just getting deeper and deeper into this insanity every day. What does it take for you to step back and reconsider your positions?

Thanks for the advice. I suggest you check yourself instead.

Only after those "deep state" employees followed orders exactly did this shit storm hit the fan.


Here's a meme for you. This is what you're claiming the average IQ of a federal worker is:

https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/...

Yup! The bad move was in assuming that some federal employees had 2 brain cells to rub together and wouldn't turn off things like Medicaid.

That would show that they still don't have any understanding of how the federal government works. When OMB issues an official memorandum on behalf of the President requiring them to freeze all federal programs that meet certain criteria, and Medicaid is a program that meets those criteria and hasn't been exempted, they don't get to decide on their own to just refuse to freeze Medicaid. When state and local officials call them up and ask whether the OMB order applies to Medicaid, they can't just decide on their own that it doesn't (again, which is why the Press Secretary couldn't say that, either). They have to look at the words on the page, even if the words are poorly drafted.

And again - this is especially so in the current Administration, which has made an enormous point of telling federal employees that they damn well better follow the instructions of the political appointees! No more using independent judgment about what policies and priorities to implement - they have to do what they're told. Oh - and we're telling all of the other federal employees to monitor them to make sure they don't evade those instructions. So if you tell them to freeze every program that meets certain criteria, they're not going to put themselves out there to pick and choose which ones should be frozen.

The problem was in the ill-crafted and stupid instructions - not the employees for following the ill-crafted and stupid instructions and reading what was written on the page.

Whether they do or not doesn't make it smart or sound policy to try to address it through a global freeze on Federal assistance programs in a poorly worded two-page memo, rather than (say) including that program on a specific list of programs that the Administration has decided to pause.

Kind of like it doesn't make it smart or sound to pardon them all instead of taking the time to do the work and go through the list to separate the violent from the non-violent?

--Peter <== wondering if this might be a trend?

You people aren't scoring the points you think you're scoring.

They obviously did, or the Administration wouldn't have rescinded the order. They hate to back down, and they hate to admit they were wrong - and they certainly wouldn't have pulled the order if the criticism was only specious and/or coming from Democrats.

The fact that they did rescind the order is a pretty clear indication that they decided that they had, indeed, screwed it up. And that they were being told that it was screwed up by people other than Deep Staters or Democrats. It was a botch job, and they couldn't keep it in place - even after the remedial memo tried to clean up the mess.

When OMB issues an official memorandum on behalf of the President requiring them to freeze all federal programs that meet certain criteria, and Medicaid is a program that meets those criteria and hasn't been exempted, they don't get to decide on their own

So now you're arguing that they're useless automatons.

A more general question, Albaby.

I'm assuming the answer is "yes", but it seems odd to me if that is the case. Does the POTUS (any POTUS) have the ability to shut down programs and/or agencies without going through Congress? I though Congress controlled all that. If so, how does that work, since Congress supposedly controls the purse-strings.

SO, is it true that we *never* proposed screwing with medicaid or heating oil since Trump got in?

No, it's not true. The actual Executive Order signed on Jan 20 said to pause ALL funding (except Social Security and Medicare). The Memo Dope keeps pointing to was issued a week later, after the people in the "deep state" did exactly what the order called for and stopped all funding.

Now, do I believe that was Trump's intention? I'm not sure. If I give him the benefit of the doubt and say that wasn't his intention, he's still guilty of signing a poorly written order that didn't do what he intended.

--Peter

They obviously did, or the Administration wouldn't have rescinded the order.

The admin knows that they don't want another "Very fine people" hoax that allows the dems to lead with a bogus premise the entire term, so they're shutting it down for now. They underestimated the lengths the partisans would go to so as to score a point.

When you deal with democrats, you'd better understand the parable of the duck and the scorpion so you know who and what you're dealing with.

So now you're arguing that they're useless automatons.

No. Just that they have to follow the instructions they're given. That doesn't make you a "useless automaton" - it just means that you're following your bosses' directions. They're in charge of setting policy and priorities, not you. If they decide that they have the power to "pause" spending that Congress has authorized, and instruct you to do it (on pain of being informed on and fired if you don't), they you are supposed to do what they tell you to do. You don't get to decide those policy choices - you follow instructions.

This is what Trump wanted - that the federal bureaucracy follow the instructions of his Administration, rather than second guessing them.

OMB ordered a global freeze. They carved out an exception for money going to individual beneficiaries, but that's it - and Medicaid doesn't go to individual beneficiaries. No one was authorized to apply that order in any way other than what it said on the page, and they all did what they were supposed to do - flag it as an issue, raise the alarm that the words on the page would require them to do this, answer questions from state and local governments by providing the information that OMB gave them rather than making something up on their own, and hoping the Administration clarified what the hell was going on.

If the Press Secretary wasn't able to answer the question "Does this apply to Medicaid" with a response of "Of course it doesn't apply to Medicaid" - instead of "I have to check" - then you know the other federal employees would have to answer the same way. Surely you're not saying she's a useless automaton, but she made the same call.

This is a screw up at the top. That's why they pulled it.

Just that they have to follow the instructions they're given.

No workforce on the planet blindly follows orders. Sorry.

The admin knows that they don't want another "Very fine people" hoax that allows the dems to lead with a bogus premise the entire term, so they're shutting it down for now. They underestimated the lengths the partisans would go to so as to score a point.

Do you include the Press Secretary as a partisan? Why didn't she confirm that the policy didn't apply to Medicaid, if it was so obvious?

Not even Biden or Harris, or the much-maligned Obama.

Then it must have been Clinton. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. It's Clinton.

Either one. Take your pick.

The complete and utter inability to take any responsibility at all for anything ever is astounding.

--Peter

No workforce on the planet blindly follows orders. Sorry.

Was the Press Secretary following orders "blindly" when she was unable to confirm based on the original memo that it didn't apply to Medicaid? Why couldn't she answer that question, if it was such an obvious reading of the order?

Do you include the Press Secretary as a partisan? Why didn't she confirm that the policy didn't apply to Medicaid, if it was so obvious?

She covered this from the podium yesterday IIRC.

So now you're trying to claim they stealthily wanted to cut Medicaid, despite all that Trump has said about Medicare and Social Security in the past?

Was the Press Secretary following orders "blindly" when she was unable to confirm based on the original memo that it didn't apply to Medicaid? Why couldn't she answer that question, if it was such an obvious reading of the order?

You'll have to ask her, won't you?

The complete and utter inability to take any responsibility at all for anything ever is astounding.

Yeah, I've noticed that. When Menendez does something wrong, he gets convicted, and no one complains. When the Felon did something wrong, gets convicted, his supporters claim it was a bogus charge. And, of course, the Felon denies it.

It seems to be a trait of conservatives. That's where we get -for example- bible literalists. The bible says it, so it must be true regardless of evidence to the contrary. Not all conservatives, of course. And liberals have their own flavor (I'm thinking of the vaccine efficacy deniers). But conservatives seem to do it more, at least those I see on this board and in the media.

She covered this from the podium yesterday IIRC.

No, she didn't. She was asked if the freeze included Medicaid, and she couldn't answer:

When asked if Medicaid was impacted by the pause, Leavitt couldn't immediately say from the podium and she would "check back."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-white-house-...

Because, again, the criteria set out in the original memo did not exclude Medicaid from the freeze.

So now you're trying to claim they stealthily wanted to cut Medicaid, despite all that Trump has said about Medicare and Social Security in the past?

No - this is not about their intentions. I don't think they wanted to cut Medicaid - but they were so careless and reckless in rushing the original OPM memo out the door, so that the language in the memo did apply to Medicaid regardless of what they wanted. That's what the memo said, which is why Leavitt couldn't just come out and say it didn't apply to Medicaid (or any other programs that would be political suicide to cut but were included in the language). Because the memo was drafted so badly that it did apply to Medicaid, as written.

No. Nobody thought that. Only partisan deepstaters willing to hurt some people to make political hay did.

Only deepstaters can read plain English?

We already have the genesis of a plan here.

Send out our directives in plain English, and only deepstaters will follow them.

Then we can root them out- root and branch!


How do we know they are deepstaters?

Easy: we threaten them with fire and fury if they don’t obey, then send them an unambiguous order

Then we grab them as traitors when they obey the order.

You'll have to ask her, won't you?

Since I have 2 brain cells to rub together, I can infer that Leavitt knew that it wasn't an obvious reading of the order. That what OMB actually said was so broad that it did include Medicaid, and that it's beyond the job of a Press Secretary (or any other junior federal employee) to countermand what OMB actually wrote on the paper without checking with them first.

When asked if Medicaid was impacted by the pause, Leavitt couldn't immediately say from the podium and she would "check back."

Which most likely means the WTF gears in her head were turning.

Because, again, the criteria set out in the original memo did not exclude Medicaid from the freeze.

And one more time: only a moron or a deepstater would think that it would.

Because the memo was drafted so badly that it did apply to Medicaid, as written.

Did it explicitly say, "cut of Medicaid"?

Only deepstaters can read plain English?

Where's it say, "Medicaid"?

Send out our directives in plain English, and only deepstaters will follow them.

Where's it say, "Medicaid"?

then send them an unambiguous order

Whare's it say, "Medicaid"?

Since I have 2 brain cells to rub together, I can infer that Leavitt knew that it wasn't an obvious reading of the order. That what OMB actually said was so broad that it did include Medicaid, and that it's beyond the job of a Press Secretary (or any other junior federal employee) to countermand what OMB actually wrote on the paper without checking with them first.

The far more likely explanation is that her WTF gear spun up in her head.

Because the entire way they tried to go about doing this was a fustercluck

A physician friend of mine emailed me last night with the news that his entire NIH funded community health program was shutting down after receiving that missive from the OMB.

I’m sure he will be relieved today, but also pissed as hell, as will be his staff, and all the patients.

From somewhere I remember the adage “Think before you speak”.

That might be good advice for Donald Trump to follow…. As well as Elon Musk and his band of Musk employees who seem to have taken over OMB- even to the point of sending out correspondence in OMBs name.

The level of rank, cruel stupidity…… boggles.

When an entire political party has no honor and no limits to the depths it'll sink, it just needs to be yanked out root and stem everywhere it's grown.


Which despot are you quoting now? Wow, you keep sinking lower and lower in your efforts to justify Trump's idiocy.

Which most likely means the WTF gears in her head were turning.

No, because then she would have said, "Of course not." But she didn't. Because it was a good question, and one she didn't have the answer to, because the OPM language was so broad that it clearly applied to Medicaid.

Did it explicitly say, "cut of Medicaid"?

Nope. Nor did it explicitly say cut any program by name. But explicitly applied every federal finance assistance program except those that were exempt.

The only programs excepted by name were Medicare and Social Security. The other exceptions were for described categories.

Medicaid didn't meet any of the exceptions.

So the logical (not moronic or deepstater) interpretation of the order is that it applied to Medicaid.

That's a politically dumb thing to do, so it's probably not what they would have intended if they had taken their time in drafting this - but it's an error that remains in place until it's fixed.

They screwed up, Dope. This wasn't something that could be done in a two page memo without any planning. They haven't even been able to get Vought appointed as head of the OMB yet! This never should have been tried until they had a Director in place that could interact with the other agencies and figure out how to draft this kind of thing without causing a fustercluck. Instead, they wanted to move fast - and so they screwed it up so badly they had to pull the whole thing altogether.

No, because then she would have said, "Of course not." But she didn't. Because it was a good question, and one she didn't have the answer to, because the OPM language was so broad that it clearly applied to Medicaid.

Uh, huh. "Clearly" to a lawyer perhaps looking for areas to create mischief. Not to anyone else, though.

Nope. Nor did it explicitly say cut any program by name. But explicitly applied every federal finance assistance program except those that were exempt.


Okay, finally a concrete fact. It didn't say go cut Medicaid off. Thank you.

They screwed up, Dope.

They screwed up, just not in the way you outline. They screwed up by giving the democrats/media/disgruntled federal employees a window to do the wink-and-a-nod-thing to turn off a vital program...and blame Trump for it. Look at the "this is cruelty" stuff in this thread.

Now they need to go to plan B.

Where's it say, "Medicaid"?

Right here:

"Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance"

Medicaid is a Federal financial assistance program. All federal financial assistance programs are required to be paused. Hence, Medicaid must be paused.

Unless you're arguing that unless the original OMB order has the magic words of a program title then it's exempt from the freeze. That they have to say the name, or federal employees should determine it's not frozen? But that can't be right, because then every program would be exempt from the freeze. It wouldn't apply to anything, because it doesn't name a single program to be frozen individually.

OMB screwed up. Yes, everyone knew that OMB screwed up, and would probably fix the part of the screw-up that made the order apply to Medicaid. But because they did screw up, it meant that the order did apply to Medicaid until they fixed it. Which called everyone's attention to how rushed and sloppy and stupid this approach to a "pause" was, and made it untenable for them to continue.

The far more likely explanation is that her WTF gear spun up in her head.

Again, if that were happening she wouldn't have said "I'll check" - she would have said "Of course it doesn't apply to Medicaid."

No workforce on the planet blindly follows orders. Sorry.

Holy shit, Dope. If you are a bureaucrat under this administration and you get the order to shut it all down, are you going to say FU and risk your neck. No, you are not. They are not given that kind of discretion.

The more you are proved wrong, the more irrational your arguments become.

Again, if that were happening she wouldn't have said "I'll check" - she would have said "Of course it doesn't apply to Medicaid."

Or she's savvy enough to know "Houston, we have a problem".

Okay, finally a concrete fact. It didn't say go cut Medicaid off. Thank you.

Yes, it did say that. It said go freeze every federal assistance program, and Medicaid is a federal assistance program.

They screwed up, just not in the way you outline. They screwed up by giving the democrats/media/disgruntled federal employees a window to do the wink-and-a-nod-thing to turn off a vital program...and blame Trump for it. </ik>

They didn't give anyone a "window" - they drafted an order that mandated that every federal assistance program be frozen. Which would include Medicaid.

Or she's savvy enough to know "Houston, we have a problem".

In which case she says, "Of course it doesn't apply to Medicaid."

There's no scenario on earth where Leavitt believes that the OMB memo is clear enough for her to say that the freeze doesn't apply to Medicaid where she would say "I'll check."

They screwed up, just not in the way you outline. They screwed up by giving the democrats/media/disgruntled federal employees a window to do the wink-and-a-nod-thing to turn off a vital program...and blame Trump for it. Look at the "this is cruelty" stuff in this thread.

So you admit they screwed up, but then blame the democrats/deepstaters/whatever for the consequences of following the clear and unambiguous order issued by OMB?

Wow, even the propaganda arm of the GOP, Fox News, said:
"This was handled pretty ham-handedly, they could have explained it a lot better." ~Brett Baier

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/this-was-handled-prett...

Dope, as usual, albaby1 is beating you like a rented mule.

Normally, I’d tell someone in a deep hole to stop digging. But in your case I’ll say keep digging. I’m enjoying it. Immensely.

This was handled pretty ham-handedly

Go with the gut and shoot from the hip. That's been Trump's formula for bankrupting multiple business endeavors.

"This was handled pretty ham-handedly, they could have explained it a lot better." ~Brett Baier

Effective leadership hits the ground running, to be sure.

But just as important, if not more so, effective leadership hits the ground learning.

But this aspect seems always to be ignored by leaders who think they already know everything. Studies to develop policy be damned. We’ll just issue edicts…… which is unfortunately what happened at OMB yesterday.

A preview of things to come.

Beatings will continue until moral improves.

A recipe for disaster.

So now you're arguing that they're useless automatons.

Hey Dope. If you were a federal employee and the OMB issued this order from your Dear Leader, would you take the actions it says you must take, or would you risk your family's livelihood by disobeying the order and interpreting it the way you in your personal judgment think it should be interpreted?

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