Trump's authoritarian "anarchist jurisdictions" memo, explained
Typically, when the White House releases a document laying out a new policy, that document includes at least a few paragraphs explaining why the president has legal authority to set that policy. President Trump’s latest policy memo, which seeks to strip federal funding from “anarchist jurisdictions,” does not even make this basic concession to the fact that the president is bound by laws.
The nearly 1,500-word memo does not contain a single legal citation. No statutes or judicial decisions are mentioned. It’s as though it were written by someone who is blissfully unaware that there is an entire profession — lawyers — whose job is to give advice on whether particular actions are lawful or unlawful, and to provide legal arguments supporting their clients’ actions.
The broad policy laid out in the memo — stripping federal funding from various cities because the president disagrees with those cities’ policing policy — is unconstitutional.
.....................................................
The federal government may attach conditions to federal grants, and it may strip funding from states or localities that do not comply with those conditions. But its power to do so is not unlimited. As the Supreme Court explained in South Dakota v. Dole (1987), “if Congress desires to condition the States’ receipt of federal funds, it ‘must do so unambiguously ... enabl[ing] the States to exercise their choice knowingly, cognizant of the consequences of their participation.’”
A key word in this passage is “Congress.” The legislative branch may impose new conditions on federal grants, but Trump is not Congress. He may not.
https://www.vox.com/2020/9/3/21419767/trump-anarchist-jurisdictions-authoritarian-illegal-unconstitutional-supreme-court
= new reply since forum marked as read
