Seeds of Wisdom RV and Economic Updates Friday Morning 2-14-25
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TWO NEW FEDERAL LAWSUITS CHALLENGE TRUMP, MUSK AND DOGE ON CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen state attorneys general and numerous current and former government employees filed lawsuits Thursday aiming to stop billionaire Elon Musk from shuttering federal agencies.
The two complaints allege the far-reaching power Musk has asserted under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is a violation of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. The clause stipulates presidential appointments must come under the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
“Questions regarding Defendant Musk’s and DOGE’s role, scope of authority, and proper appointment processes are not merely academic. Plaintiffs — among countless other American individuals and entities — have had their lives upended as a result of the actions undertaken by Defendants Musk and DOGE,” according to a complaint filed by 26 unnamed former and current employees in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The employees, though unidentified, collectively have decades of service at federal agencies, including USAID, where on Feb. 2 Musk’s DOGE personnel broke into the agency’s headquarters.
Citing damages to their careers and financial security, the plaintiffs are seeking the court to block “Defendant Musk and his DOGE subordinates from performing their significant and wide-ranging duties unless and until Defendant Musk is properly appointed pursuant to the U.S. Constitution.”
Democratic attorneys general
Fourteen state attorneys general filed a separate lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, requesting the court block further action from Musk and DOGE. The lawsuit also names President Donald Trump as a defendant.
Trump established the U.S. DOGE Service on his first night in office via executive order, and created the entity as a temporary organization with the purposes of modernizing government technology. Presidents do not have the power to create new federal agencies; by law only Congress can.
Musk is a “special government employee,” according to the White House.
The state attorneys general also argue that Musk’s actions, with Trump’s blessing, are violating the law governing temporary organizations under the executive branch.
“By its plain terms, this limited authorization does not amount to a carte blanche grant of authority to the Executive to create new federal agencies from whole cloth,” according to the complaint.
In the first three weeks of Trump’s administration, Musk and his personnel — most of whom worked at one of Musk’s private companies — have accessed the backend of numerous government agencies, including the Department of Treasury’s central payment system, and orchestrated the ouster of civil servants.
Musk has touted on X canceling millions upon millions in government payments and contracts.
Lawsuits pile up
The two lawsuits Thursday are just the latest among scores of legal challenges piling up against Musk and Trump.
Musk has lashed out on X, his own social media platform, against federal judges who have issued injunctions against the Trump administration.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the U.S. Constitution was “founded in part to guard against the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single individual.”
“And while that construction was first focused on the abuse of power of an 18th-century monarch, it is no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st-century tech tycoon,” Torrez said during a virtual Thursday press conference alongside Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Mayes said Americans are witnessing an “ongoing coup against the Constitution of the United States as we speak.”
“The richest man in the world is now running roughshod over the authority of federal agencies in violation of the rule of law and the Constitution,” Mayes said.
Nessel said Musk’s actions are “by far the largest and most urgent concern of the individuals, Michiganders, who have been reaching out to my office.”
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“It’s left them feeling hopeless and paralyzed to protect themselves, their personal information, critical funding, programming and jobs that they depend on,” Nessel said during the press conference.
State attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, also joined the lawsuit.
Musk’s estimated wealth is $379 billion, according to Bloomberg’s billionaire index cited by the government employee plaintiffs. Musk owns Tesla, SpaceX, Neurolink, xAI and X, formerly known as Twitter. During the 2024 presidential election cycle, Musk was the top donor to Trump and Republicans at $288 million.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: TennesseeLookout
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MICHIGAN BECOMES LATEST STATE TO PROPOSE CRYPTO RESERVE BILL
A bill filed in Michigan’s House would allow the state to buy crypto and lend it out to increase yields for state funds.
Michigan has become the latest US state to propose a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill, bringing the total number of states moving crypto reserve-related legislation to 20.
On Feb. 13, Representatives Bryan Posthumus and Ron Robinson introduced HB 4087 to amend the state’s Management and Budget Act to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
The move makes Michigan the 20th US state with legislation for state crypto investments pending a vote.
“Michigan can and should join Texas in leading on crypto policy by signing into law my bill creating the Michigan Crypto Strategic Reserve,” Posthumus said on X. Texas Senator Charles Schwertner had filed a similar bill to the state’s Senate on Feb. 12.
The Michigan bill would allow the state’s treasurer to invest in crypto from both the general fund and economic stabilization fund with a cap of 10%. The bill doesn’t specify any limits or guidelines for what cryptocurrencies can be bought for the reserve.
The bill also includes a provision for lending crypto, saying that “if cryptocurrency can be loaned without increasing financial risk to this state, the state treasurer is permitted to loan the cryptocurrency to yield further return to this state.”
The state must hold crypto directly through secure custody solutions or exchange-traded products from registered investment companies.
Michigan’s state pension fund already has exposure to Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds.
Posthumus also floated the idea of “MichCoin” in a Feb. 13 X post, which he said was “a stablecoin, which I believe the state of Michigan should create” that he said would “have real value — tied to our gold and silver reserves.”
There are currently 20 US states that have crypto reserve bills that have advanced beyond the level of a House committee.
The most recent state to propose or amend a crypto bill was Texas, which filed for legislation this week to allow the state to invest and trade crypto assets. North Dakota, meanwhile, is the only state to have rejected legislation regarding crypto investments.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: CoinTelegraph
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