Trump Orders Feds To Begin Process Of Defunding New York, Portland And Other "Lawless" Cities
In a five-page memo sent to federal agencies on Wednesday whose subject is "Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients of Federal Funds That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities" and signed by Trump, the president orders them to report to the White House Office of Management and Budget on any funding that could be redirected. New York City, Portland, Seattle and even Washington, DC are among the initial targets of the measure.
"My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones," Trump says in the memo, which mentions New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by name twice. To ensure the federal funding is not wasted or "spent in a manner that directly violates our Government’s promise to protect life, liberty, and property, it is imperative that the Federal Government review the use of Federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America’s cities."
The memo also cites NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea’s June disbandment of plainclothes units. “Police officials have cited this decision as a factor contributing to the rise in violence,” the memo says.
"As a result of these State and local government policies, persistent and outrageous acts of violence and destruction have continued unabated in many of America’s cities, such as Portland, Seattle, and New York."
OMB Director Russell Vought, who according to the Post "applauded the review in a statement" was told to issue guidance on "restricting eligibility of or otherwise disfavoring, to the maximum extent permitted by law, anarchist jurisdictions in the receipt of Federal grants" within 30 days, while AG Bill Barr was given 14 days to put together a list of "anarchist jurisdictions" that “permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures” to restore order.
"The lack of law and order surrounding these riots, and response from local leadership, is a dereliction of duty. Our men and women in blue cannot be handcuffed by local leadership in their efforts to respond to riots and protect their fellow citizens."
The memo was drafted prior to last week’s incidents following the Republican National Convention, when angry mobs attacked those in attendance, including Senator Rand Paul in part because Bowser refused to allow additional security.
In response to the memo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wasted no time in slamming President Donald Trump, and in a scathing statement Wednesday night, Cuomo said from the point of view of NYC, President Donald Trump is the worst president in history amid his threats to defund the city.
Cuomo "all but threatened" President Trump’s safety if he returns to New York City during an emergency press briefing within a half hour on Wednesday night to tear into Trump for the order.
“He better have an army if he thinks he’s gonna walk down the street in New York. New Yorkers don’t want to have anything to do with him,” the Democrat said, all but threatening the commander in chief. But Cuomo, who like Trump hails from Queens, wasn’t done. “He can’t have enough bodyguards to walk through New York City, people don’t want to have anything to do with him.”
Cuomo said he doubted the legality of Trump’s five-page memo ordering a review of federal funds that can be redirected from New York City, Portland, Seattle and Washington, DC: "It is more of the same from him. It’s political, it is gratuitous. And it’s illegal. But it is another attempt to kill New York City."
"It is his negligence that brought it here and his arrogance that he won't provide state and local funding to help states and cities recover from the pandemic that his negligence caused," Cuomo said. When was asked what would happen if the federal funding goes away, Cuomo said that NYC receives roughly $7 billion a year in federal aid for housing, medical, health and homeland security funding.
He may be a clown, but he is the clown who controls the money, and for the sake of Cuomo, Trump better not get re-elected or else New York will soon transform into hellhole it was for much of the 1970s and 1980s.
In the memo, Trump writes that the city of Seattle "allowed anarchists and rioters to take over six square blocks of the city, an area the unlawful occupiers renamed the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone"
Likewise for New York, the memo said that the city has refused to prosecute rioters, rejected the offer of federal help, and cut the police budget despite an "unconscionable rise in violence."
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-orders-feds-begin-defunding-new-york-portland-and-other-anarchist-cities