There’s this:
In response to a post on X from @maxwellfrost.bsky.social showing the effort to get into the Department of Education building this morning, Elon Musk replied, "No such department exists in the federal government"
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) February 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
There would be a fight in Congress if a bill shuttering the Department of Education were brought to the floor. But there wouldn’t be much of a fight over giving Israel more arms. No matter: the State Department just announced a $7 billion arms sale to Israel, with no review.
Steve M proposes Democrats bring the following to the floor:
WHEREAS the majority of members of the party controlling both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate have concluded that Congress no longer needs to perform its duties as laid out in the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS these legislators have chosen to cede their power entirely to the Executive Branch; therefore, be it
Resolved, that the United States Congress is hereby disbanded.
I’m not so sure that Republicans wouldn’t vote for this. They wanted a king, they’re happy with what the king is doing, and if they could just quit and go home (with some kind of golden parachute, of course), they’d probably feel relieved that they don’t need to face their constituents in the next election.
Over the past, say, 30 years, Congress itself has hollowed out its authority because of the craven desire not to take tough votes. Everything is packed into massive omnibus bills so they have a ready-made excuse for voting for unpopular shit (“I had to fund the government!”), they never had the grit to rein in the Iraq War, and most of them don’t do much in the way of constituent services or visits in the home district (other than fundraising). My point here is that we have to recognize that this is one of those instances where our institutions have been on a long downward slide and Trump 2.0 pushed them over a cliff.
Steve M also has some other ideas for mischief in that post which some of you might enjoy.
Is this a serious proposal? Of course not, but finding a way to call the question when Republicans in Congress are running away from their sworn duty is one of the challenges of the current coup.
(If you want a more serious take on preserving the Constitution, Angus King’s floor speech is pretty good.)
Baud
People who voted for Obamacare knew how to take a tough vote. Same with the IRA although there they probably thought it would be popular.
Scamp Dog
The smart alec in me likes the “disband Congress” proposal, but the worrier in me thinks “holy shit, this might pass, and the MAGA chuds will take it as officially undoing the Constitution.”
Layer8Problem
Well, that’s one way to get rid of those pesky feckless Democrats. //
John S.
But when poison pill votes come up (like the Laken Riley Act), most reps are too craven to vote against the herd. Orthodoxy is baked into Congress something awful.
NotMax
Craven GOP more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing their jobs.
Baud
@NotMax:
The bigger problem is that defending the Constitution will cost them their jobs when they have to face the voters.
sentient ai from the future
i’m reasonably sure at this point that musk’s goal here is not to actually do anything other than rattle cages, collect intel (that will be shared with god knows who) and seed these agencies with malware.
crossing fingers for actual airgapped, offline tape backups.
Smiling Happy Guy (aka boatboy_srq)
As loathsome as earmarks could be, at least they kept Congress attuned to their voters and to actually governing.
rikyrah
This is absolutely phucking RIDICULOUS 🤬
Gvg
You can’t get rid of Congress without a constitutional amendment, which takes state votes, etc. They can recess I guess. That would leave a lot of power in Trumps hands. I would think it would be a sure way to lose reelection though. And I think the debt ceiling and other things take Congress. But they could do a lot of selective recesses.
And after a few really unpopular results, they would lose reelection.
Do any states have recall laws for federal congressmen? I think those might be state election laws not federal which means it would be different for each state. There might be a few surprises in there. senators are often insulated by the length of their terms and people short memories.
it’s like the post office, Congress is in the Constitution. It can’t even get rid of itself alone. Takes a whole country process called amendment.
NotMax
@Baud
Profiles in pusillanimity.
matt
So Elon is emperor. May he meet justice.
oldgold
When the Democratic Congress members were told they could not enter the Department of Education Building, why didn’t they “push” the issue and try to walk in? Isn’t that the the kind of “Good Trouble” John Lewis practiced so effectively over the years?
Trivia Man
Ive been bitching about the Imperial presidency since His Eminence the Slime, Richard Milhouse Nixon. Every president since then has tried to hold or expand that power to varying degrees. I shouted into the wind that it was just begging for a despot dictator . And here we are.
TBone
@sentient ai from the future: from your lips to teh ears of all the gawds.
Baud
@sentient ai from the future:
Not even the president knows where the national punch card backups are stored.
TBone
@Gvg: they are wiping their asses with the Constitution every day. They can’t read or grok it anyhow, what else to do with it?
TBone
@Baud: (*Marilyn Monroe voice):
I bet only a few or maybe none will get that reference. Hint: Jane Russell was also in the stateroom.
A Ghost to Most
@Trivia Man: Same here. So much wasted breath. You can’t teach sheep to dance. They don’t learn the steps, they just follow.
Shalimar
how will we take control of Congress in 21 months if we disband Congress now? That isn’t even something you joke about since there is a good chance Republicans will do it rather than risk a loss.
trollhattan
Trump gazes at the 53-year family Assad rule with envy. Eyes Junior as his potential successor before deciding on the obvious: “it shall be Eric. Only Eric takes America to even greater greatness.” And so it began.
trollhattan
Having recently read up on the Andrew Johnson administration I can confidently say those were “good old days” compared to this clusterfuck/grand theft frenzy.
Three weeks.
Chief Oshkosh
I don’t know if this was covered here, but NIH just announced a reduction of “indirects” to 15%. This hits every single research university and academic medical center to the rough equivalent of a 70% budget cut. That is, starting now, they are working with 30% of the budgets they had yesterday. These are not direct dollars to research, they are the enormous source of funding for everything else – buildings, support staff, utilities, pretty much entire institutions.
Overnight. Previously undiscussed.
As Josh Marshall notes, this is a direct (and effective) attack on health sciences. This will shutdown a lot of university research programs. It’s beyond stupid and malicious. ETA: It will shutdown entire institutions that, for especially red states, are the best and largest area employers.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/white-house-declares-war-on-academic-medical-centers
Ohio Mom
@Scamp Dog: Yes, don’t give them any ideas.
trollhattan
The fuck is this about? What did Harry do?
Is “terrible” worse or less bad than “nasty” in Donny’s vocabulary? Kanna keep up.
Chief Oshkosh
@trollhattan: Who knows what’s rattling around under that untamed weasel glued to his head.
JetsamPool
I figure that the point is fast approaching where that asshole (Phony Stark, not the other one) will have to make a choice: seize overt control of the government and declare himself the new ruler, or walk away and make do with whatever malware he left and intel he downloaded to enrich himself. He just might be dumb enough for option 1, and the Republicans just might be dumb enough to let him. It’s not like they care about the Constitution.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@trollhattan: His wife is black.
robtrim
Congress isn’t finished yet. The coup de grace legislation is still coming: renewal of corporate and rich people’s tax cuts (from Trump 1.0) that cost the government $ 1 trillion dollars and enriched our oligarchs by tens of billions in stock buybacks, tax breaks, and tax avoidance schemes.
I’m also looking forward to enactment of Wall Street’s enduring wet dream: privatization of Medicare via the Medicare Advantage shakedown that is already bilking the middle class of billions of dollars and privatization of Social Security (the so-called Social Security Trust Fund will be handed over to Wall Street, Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Big Banks to manage and dispense. For which they will receive gobs of taxpayer money.)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@robtrim:
I wish the Republicans a lot of luck with all of that given their thin House majority, which could get thinner with special elections this year
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@trollhattan: Yeah, we’re looking at an amalgamation of the worst aspects of Andrew Johnson, John Tyler, Andrew Jackson, Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush.
Something is going to flash over soon, and the backdraft and collateral damage are going to be horrific.
Ohio Mom
@robtrim: Medicare Advantage puts lie to any Republican bleating about rooting out wasted tax dollars. Insurance companies skim off gazillions and provide worse care than Traditional Medicare. There’s no financial argument for continuing MA.
As for privatizing Social Security, oh god, I saw that movie already.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Not to mention the word is the GOP Senate gave up on the GOP House on the budget and is pushing their bill to fund defense next week.
Marc
@sentient ai from the future: I’m sure a sentient AI would remember Project Cybersyn. Musk has been investing billions in AI technology, he no doubt thinks he can actually make something like this work to his advantage.
Joe Falco
@matt: The Ides of March is just around the corner.
Mike E
@Trivia Man: tbf the trendsetter was T Roosevelt, truly the first modern president in this manner…read what Mark Twain thought about him and his imperial ambitions
catfishncod
Don’t disband Congress. Recall Congress.
Ksmiami
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: disease, avian bird flu pandemic. War
robtrim
Oh, and I forget privatization of the Post Office. Corporations will receive public funds to deliver the “the mail.” Postal workers will deliver the dregs of what is left over.
trollhattan
@robtrim:
They also want to raid that sweet USPS pension fund, the one Republicans made them fund decades ahead. Because reasons. (Clearly planning for a future raid.)
tobie
I’m represented in Congress by an arch-rightwinger. I call and write him constantly to push for certain measures and try to figure out what might appeal to someone whose mission is to hollow out govt. If you live in a state with a big medical institution and you have a Republican Congressman, you should write to protest the new NIH rule limited overhead to 15%. This is my note to my extremist Congresscritter, which is state-related.
tobie
@Chief Oshkosh: Thanks for posting this. I just posted my letter to my Republican Congress member about this move. If you live in a state with a large medical institution and have a Republican representative, please write to protest this measure.
John S.
@tobie:
Did he send you an autoresponse that says “Cry harder, libtard”?
Anonymous at Work
@Chief Oshkosh: it’ll give China the ability to buy our research and researchers for cheap. Export restrictions will be damned. China doesn’t care about legality and will gladly forge whatever is needed to to claim America’s discoveries as their own.
different-church-lady
You know who else got a legislative body to disband itself?
marcopolo
So I’ve been calling my federal electeds a couple times a week since Jan 20. Two R Senators & 1 D Congressman. Pretty sure the R Senators are unreachable on any issue but I decided this coming week I’d try a new tack. I’m just going to say the current gov’t run by Rs is doing nothing to make my life better. Thats the whole thing. They promised to make my life better. Hell, if I get an actual staffer on the phone I’m pretty likely to ask them to prove me wrong.
Prices aren’t going down & tariffs are making them worse. They are working to destroy the place that tells me about the weather. Freezing funding for meals on wheels, Catholic Charities & Lutheran Family Service doesn’t help me (and hurts folks I know). Cutting science & medical research won’t improve my life (and if I am a cancer patient it will make it more likely I’ll die). Rounding up non-criminal undocumented folks (who are easier to round up than the bad ones cause they are openly participating in our society & economy) means my groceries are more expensive, my housing is more expensive, lots of stuff is more expensive. And the dangerous one are being ignored.
I could go on, but you get the picture. It’s a simple message. I hope it catches on. I mean I hope your average american still thinks the role of their gov’t is to make their life better. But yeah, I know, if what they want is gov’t to punish folks they don’t like we are screwed.
different-church-lady
@marcopolo:
"You fucked up. You trusted us!"tobie
@John S.: He did to my last missive. No doubt I’ll get a similar response to my latest email. (Answer hasn’t arrived yet.) This is what he sent me this week. (It’s nauseating.)
Matt
Most “centrist” Dems would likely be on board for this too. After all, their sole purpose in Congress is to prevent any smelly leftist ideas from getting near power – disbanding Congress would mean their eternal vigil is finally completed!
different-church-lady
@Matt: Hmmm… we were talking about you one thread down.
TBone
@robtrim: (if/when)
(*Ed McMahon voice):
There will be blood.
Mine, if necessary.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw_2Mkve_rk
Kosh III
@tobie: I copied and pasted your message, changing to fit my state. Not that it matters. Neither R senator answers the phone, IF a reply is sent weeks later it’s a form letter. But what else to do?
Thanks
TBone
@tobie: they’d have to be men to have a mandate. Ask me how I know.
Another Scott
ICYMI, DemocracyForward.org is one of Marc Elias’s organizations. Fritschner pointed to them today.
https://bsky.app/profile/democracyforward.bsky.social
(I don’t know how it differs from Democracy Docket.)
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
@Kosh III:
https://resist.bot/
Over and over and over and over and over again
TBone
@Another Scott: thanks!
From their website:
https://democracyforward.org/updates/tro-on-omb-freeze/
Another Scott
AOC is a knitter.
I did not know that.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
@Another Scott: you are SO timely, and I am grateful.
tobie
@Kosh III: Thanks so much for doing this. Keeping the phone lines busy and the inboxes won’t change the minds of rightwingers, but it does let them know that people are very unhappy, and getting reelected is about the only thing GOPers care about.
John S.
@tobie:
He used far too many words. It would have been easier to just tell you “Cry harder libtard” since it’s essentially the thrust of that bullshit. Sheesh.
Madeleine
@catfishncod: why not go all the way? Recall Trump. That’s as legal as anything they’re doing.
New Deal democrat
@John S.:
This is the overarching theme of Josh Haffetz’s “Congress’s Constitution.”
Chaffetz traces how over several hundred years the English Parliament, and especially Commons, wrested power from the King. The US Framers vested all of this power in the two Houses of Congress. Who, over 200+ years, have allowed it to wither away by vesting tremendous administrative power in the Presidency, and power over its laws and its ability to enforce its own subpoenas in the Courts.
For example, Treasury started out as a *Congressional* department. And until 1848, Congress had no problem by itself imprisoning anyone who defied its subpoenas.
Juju
@trollhattan: Trump only uses nasty and terrible when referring to black or mixed race women, or white women who have won civil suits against him.
EntroPi
@Baud: probably a dead thread, but…
My father’s company wrote software that was, amongst many other things, used in the design of nuclear reactors.
They were legally required to keep that source code available for many decades, which meant they had a closet full of punch cards, even though they no longer had any means of reading them.
whatsleft
@tobie: You should file a Congressional ethics complaint for the lies in your Congressperson’s response. It stopped my Congressperson from publishing lies in his newsletter for several months.
Chris T.
@EntroPi:
One could easily read them now with … a smartphone! Just take a picture of each card and run it through a photo-scanner (use an appropriate background to make the punched holes stand out easily).