It has been a bit over five months since I have posted on this topic (see links below) but the reader should not take that as a sign that the poor asswiping skills of our Chief Justice are not continuing to grow the very noticeable skid mark across one branch of our national government. The summary of the most recent events:
A rogue Democratic Party judge in Rhode Island, John McConnell, ordered the Trump administration to continue fully funding the food stamp program, even though Congress has not appropriated the money to do so. The order, absurd on its face, is already causing chaos. The administration appealed the order to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which denied the administration’s request for a stay of McConnell’s order pending the appeal.
The administration then went to the Supreme Court with an application for an emergency stay. Yesterday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (!) issued an administrative stay of McConnell’s order that will remain in effect until two days after the First Circuit rules on the appeal. Given the partisan composition of that court, the Supreme Court may ultimately need to stop the foolishness initiated by Judge McConnell.
[Emphasis added]
One might think that a Court led by serious intellect might “stop the foolishness” on a broader scale…but we do not have such a Court. Expect the “over-finessed” ruling on this…and the Roberts’ skid mark will continue to grow for months (or years) before the public manifestation of the tipping point will become impossible to acknowledge.
But there are clear signs of what is to come visible to those willing to see:
You may have thought that there was one, but there isn’t. Perhaps at one time, but not anymore.
A single federal district judge in Rhode Island, one of 677 across America, is now running the U.S. government. Despite the clear language of our former Constitution, the clear language of our former federal statutes, a lack of any appropriations, and the widespread understanding that the federal government has been “shut down,” the judge has ordered that his favorite program, food stamps (SNAP) be “fully funded,” immediately, so it was. …
…The money has gone out, 100 percent. Where it came from, I’m not sure. …
The administration had appealed, and then appealed again, the district court judge’s decision. I honestly don’t know why. The issue is moot, the money is gone. …
This judge has cracked the code. Just order compliance immediately and you can’t be overruled. This Administration, unlike the the previous one, will always comply with every legal ruling, however absurd. Usually, when a higher court does finally get around to overuling the overreach, the facts can’t be reversed.
The updates at that link nicely piece together the point of its title: “Federal judges are ruling that the president has discretion to fund certain activities even without any Congressional appropriation, the opposite of the Democratic Party’s position, as of last month. So let’s take advantage of it.” …, “Trump should reopen any part of the government he wants to, and then let district court judges reopen the rest, one program at a time.“
Just like they do with elections, Democrat party operatives here make a complete mockery of the Constitution…and the dereliction of duty by ‘conservative’ Chief Justice John Roberts smells worse every day.
UPDATE:
Shenanigans! Over a Dozen States Outmaneuver the Supreme Court and Take Full SNAP Money Anyway
A handful of states used the time lag between a rogue ruling by Rhode Island District Court Judge…and that ruling being slapped down by the U. S. Supreme Court to make off with what would’ve been a 65 percent payment for the entire universe of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients. …
The real news here was not the First Circuit agreeing that a single federal judge can assume the powers of both Congress and the President, because, of course, they did. …
In the few hours between the Trump administration appealing Judge McConnell’s decision to take appropriation authority on himself and the Supreme Court disabusing him of that notion, several states took their full allocation of SNAP benefits and loaded beneficiaries’ EBT cards.
Blame it all on ‘Skid Mark’ Roberts.
UPDATE 2: From Madam Althouse we are treated to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson empowers Trump to continue withholding food money. and this little nugget of less-than-serious intellect:
“Trump fought for this,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, a Democrat, said in a post on social media. “He doesn’t care if millions of Americans go hungry.”
Which drew an appropriate response: Did Hochul say that before or after Jackson showed she “doesn’t care”? But the best reaction to the whole mess comes in the comments:
Didn’t expect that leftists would be demanding Trump write hot checks to cover SNAP while other lefties demand Trump undo their Obamacare fuckup while they hold SNAP recipients hostage but here we are in Contradictionville.
Don’t even get me started on Obamacare.
***** ***** *****
RELATED POSTS
The Spotlight on Chief Justice ‘Skid Mark’ Intensifies (April 4, 2025)
Evolution of Chief Justice ‘Skid Mark’ – The ‘Slowly, then all at once’ Edition (April 12, 2025)
This Weekend in the Chief Justice ‘Skid Mark’ Saga (April 20, 2025)