An Immediate Calamity

Letters from an American

This episode details the Trump administration's aggressive defiance of congressional authority over federal appropriations, redirecting military and DHS funds to Latin

Key takeaways

• The administration diverted $52 million in congressionally appropriated military aid for Ukraine/Middle East allies to Latin American governments, defying Democratic holds by Senators Shaheen and Rep. Meeks.
• $20 million from DHS funds was allegedly redirected to finance pro-Trump midterm advertising campaigns, further eroding the constitutional separation of powers.

Main topics

• Constitutional separation of powers and fund diversion
• NATO alliance fragmentation and European security

Notable quotes

"The destruction of the fundamental separation of powers at the heart of our government has gotten very little pushback from Republican lawmakers."

Conclusion

The episode paints a portrait of an administration prioritizing personal

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:06) October 1st, 2026. Speaker 1 (0:10) John Hudson of the Washington Post reported this evening that the Trump administration is openly defying Congress, taking $52 million in military assistance lawmakers appropriated for European and Middle Eastern countries hurt by Russia's war on Ukraine and diverting it to right-wing governments in Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Speaker 1 (0:34) When the State Department notified Congress last month that it intended to make the switch, Senator Gene Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat of New York, put a hold on the funds. Late yesterday, the administration told Congress it is defying the hold and moving forward. Shaheen and Meeks objected, warning the White House that Congress had provided the money for a specific purpose and that the executive branch does not have unlimited discretion to redirect these funds toward unrelated administration policy priorities or countries. The State Department told Hudson that Trump is prioritizing the Western Hemisphere and that the money would be better spent in Latin America than where Congress wanted it. The U.S. Constitution is clear that only Congress can appropriate money and that the president must execute the laws as Congress passes them. But the Trump administration has been aggressive about its intention to take control of the power of the purse from Congress. Yesterday, Tarini Party Marianne Levine and Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration appears to have taken $20 million from the funds Congress appropriated for the Department of Homeland Security to pay for the ads boosting Trump before the midterms. That destruction of the fundamental separation of powers at the heart of our government has gotten very little pushback from Republican lawmakers. And senators left Washington, D.C. today for a recess until after the midterms. The House is already in recess. The White House has made very little secret of its determination to abandon the international order the U.S. helped to put in place after World War II. In its place, Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appear to embrace the idea that major powers should exercise influence over the countries around them, as Russia's President Vladimir Putin believes. Yesterday, Paul McCleary, Stephanie Bolzin, and Jack Detsch of Politico reported that the Trump administration had not invited the United Kingdom, France, the Baltic countries, or other U.S. allies to a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, members next month in Poland. The meeting is being directed by