DAVID MARCUS: De facto President Trump's handling of shutdown threat was a masterclass
Donald Trump will not be president of the United States for another month, at least not literally. Yet, his recent victory in the battle of the budget shows that, for all intents and purposes, he is already the nation’s leader, and not a moment too soon.
In the space of just a few days, Trump’s pressure on the Congress, including siccing his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attack dogs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on reckless spending, turned a 1,500 page monstrosity of a bill into a slim 120-page banger of basic necessities, including disaster relief and help for farmers.
Prior to the intervention by Trump, it looked for all the world like House Speaker Mike Johnson would stuff the Democrats’ stockings with pork and goodies to ensure that a shutdown did not mar next month’s inauguration.
DOGE LEADER ELON MUSK SENDS ‘SHOCKWAVES’ THROUGH THE CAPITOL OVER MASSIVE SPENDING BILL
Johnson believed that enough Republicans would simply sigh and go along with the continuing resolution that he negotiated with the Democrats, and there was some logic to allowing sleeping dogs to lie until Trump takes over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Republicans take the senate in January.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the bill’s passage. At Trump’s behest, Musk and Ramaswamy began posting on X all the deep flaws of the legislation, and there were some doozies.
For example, the bill had continued funding for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, an organization that seems to exist only to promote online censorship of conservatives under the guise of fighting so-called misinformation.
The bill also contained a self-serving pay hike for lawmakers, as well as billions to be spent on pet projects all over the country.
Within hours of the torrent of posts from the dynamic duo of DOGE, the American people began to wake up to what was in the bill and object. A trickle of GOP lawmakers flipped from yes to no on the bill, and with that, the stage was set for our soon-to-be commander in chief.
With the target softened, Trump tore into the bill, going so far as to threaten lawmakers who voted for it with primary challenges. Trump even indicated that Johnson’s speakership could be in doubt if he did not get in line.
And that was it. Ding dong the bill was dead, and the American people dodged, or should we say, "Doged," a bullet. By Friday night, the cleaner and leaner bill passed the House and a shutdown was averted.
Guess who played no role whatsoever in getting all of this done? That’s right, Joe Biden. You remember him, he’s the president of the United States, or at least that’s what it says on his business cards.
You would have an easier time finding Waldo in a candy cane factory than finding Grandpa Joe’s fingerprints anywhere on this historic deal.
Former GOP Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich knows a thing or two about how the congressional sausage gets made, and here is what he had to say on X:
"Shrinking the continuing resolution from 1,547 pages to 118 pages is a major victory for President Trump and shows that the election did matter and he is really the de facto President while President Biden was absent and passive. A good start to real change in Washington!"
It was fascinating how people all week tried to paint the budget mess as Republicans in disarray with House members defying Trump and looming trouble between Trump and Musk. Yet, when the dust settled, we had shed 1,400 pages of blundering B.S. with nary a peep from Biden.
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Trump’s first term as president, though a success in many ways, was marred by Democrats’ incessant and absurd investigations into nothing, but also, in fairness, by a bit of naïveté from Trump himself.
Trump was new to Washington and its mendacious machinations in 2017, but not anymore. Today, like a seasoned veteran, he is not only poised to lead the nation, let’s face it, he is already doing it.
Make no mistake, this fight was a risk. A shutdown could have blunted the sweeping sense of optimism across America after the election. But with risk comes reward and today, having slayed the dragon of out-of-control spending, that optimism is only set to grow.
That is what leaders do, they take risks to make life better, and they show up and explain themselves. We haven’t had that kind of leadership in four long years.
Since Jan. 20, 2021, nobody has been very clear about who is actually running the country. Well, that is about to change. On Jan. 20 of next year, there will be no doubt, the country will be led squarely by Donald J. Trump. That is, if it isn’t already.