When Power Serves Itself: Emergency Funds for Allies, Shutdowns for the Poor
How Trump's Project 2025 government finds billions for oligarchs but none for SNAP
Trump’s Treasury can wire $20 or even $40 billion to Argentina overnight, but somehow “the law” prevents the government from funding SNAP during a shutdown 1. The same administration that claims helplessness when it comes to feeding American families finds instant authority when Wall Street or foreign markets need a bailout. The difference isn’t legality. It’s priority. Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rely on annual appropriations, while the Exchange Stabilization Fund and other foreign-aid mechanisms are permanently authorized and fully controlled by the executive branch. That makes them perfect tools for presidential vanity projects disguised as diplomacy. 2
The irony runs deeper: Trump’s government has repeatedly demonstrated that “budget constraints” melt away whenever the spending advances his image or enriches his allies. Billions have been shifted for the border wall, pandemic patronage, or opaque “stabilization” loans 3. Yet, when the USDA requests permission to keep food flowing to children and seniors, the same voices lecture America about fiscal responsibility.
This is not about law. It’s about leverage. Starving a safety net creates pressure, and pressure is power.
The legal architecture makes the hypocrisy worse. Treasury’s foreign-exchange funds operate on permanent appropriations, meaning they can be tapped at any hour without Congress. SNAP, by contrast, cannot legally disburse benefits when Republicans force a shutdown, because the Anti-Deficiency Act blocks spending without a current appropriation 4. In other words, the administration can legally rescue a foreign debtor, but must legally abandon its own citizens when a political stunt halts the budget. The rulebook is the same - the interpretation changes with the audience.
But, here’s the rub. Trump’s Project 2025 government doesn’t care about the law. Trump uses his unitary executive position to ignore laws and to bypass Congress. To act first and justify later. We must remember that Project 2025 has designated Congress as a rubber stamp for the unitary executive. Often Trump’s illegal activity is met with silence by the Republican majority in Congress. But, during the shutdown, they have become intentional accomplices by closing up shop and holding daily press briefings in which they blame Democrats and pretend that a solution is impossible.
Trump’s record already reads like a case study in lawlessness. He has launched unauthorized military strikes on small boats off the coast of South America without congressional approval, deployed National Guard troops into U.S. cities against governors’ explicit objections, and diverted billions in foreign aid and stabilization funds without legislative consent. His administration has ignored judicial rulings, rewritten agency rules by decree, and used emergency authorities meant for crises to impose tariffs, purge civil servants, and weaponize the Justice Department. Each act chips away at the separation of powers - normalizing a presidency that governs by “royal” decree, not by law. These are not isolated abuses; they are the operating system of Project 2025, a blueprint for permanent power where legality becomes optional and loyalty is the only law.
If fiscal morality still existed in Washington, we would call this what it is: a government feeding oligarchs while lecturing the hungry on discipline. Every dollar wired to a foreign treasury without oversight exposes the cruelty of refusing ten dollars for an American dinner table. The issue is not whether the United States can fund SNAP during a shutdown; it’s whether those in power want to.
And this Project 2025 Plutocratic government’s appetite has never been for the poor.
It is difficult to predict how this shutdown will end. But, given Trump’s insatiable ego and monarchal power, I suspect that any relief for the shutdown will be orchestrated by, or at least credited to him alone; a frequent declaration during his campaign was “I alone can fix it. Just as with his false claims of ending eight wars, he would want to brag about his power and benevolence to his audiences, both here and abroad.
It is difficult to predict how this shutdown will end. But given Trump’s insatiable ego and monarchal power, any relief will almost certainly be orchestrated by - or at least credited to - him alone. A frequent declaration during his campaign was, “I alone can fix it.” Just as with his false claims of ending eight wars, he will want to brag about his power and benevolence to his audiences, both here and abroad.
What You Can Do
Americans don’t give up easily as proven by eight million protestors on No Kings Day II. Call the White House switchboard (202-456-1414), and demand that SNAP continue as is.
Call your representatives and senators (https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials) Urge them to stand their ground, fight like hell for their constituents, and keep the public informed. Silence enables corruption; voices restore accountability.