Nancy Pelosi should use the power of the purse to defund the office of the Attorney General.

[JAD]

This will be the only way to get the Mueller Report released.

[California_Republic]

1. I don't think dismantling the government is a good ide.

This should not be Democratic Party MO.
This would make the Russians happy

[JAD]

6. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight

The Congress can vote to defund the Attorney General's office.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. No. No, no, no, no, no.

That's the sort of thing tin pot dictators do.

We need to continue to follow the Constitution and the rule of law.

[JAD]

3. The Congress is allowed to do that under the Rule of Law.

The repubs don't care about the Rule of Law.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. It's a bad idea.

And sets a worse precedent.

[onenote]

12. No.They're.Not.

It takes the concurrence of the House and Senate to pass a law.That is the "Rule of Law."

[maxrandb]

9. It's also what is required to STOP tinpot dictators

[BeyondGeography]

4. Rec'd because playing by Marquess of Queensbury rules hasn't worked for us in a long time

See Garland, Merrick, eg.

[unblock]

5. defunding prosecutors will put pressure on a bunch of criminals?

using the legitimate powers congress has to put pressure on donnie and the coverup gang is a great idea, but the target should be something he actually cares about.

not sure what that is that congress actually funds. can we cut his budget for trips to mar-a-lago somehow?

[onenote]

11. The House can't do diddly squat without the concurrence of the Senate

Remember the government shutdown? It didn't end when the House passed a funding bill. It ended when the House and Senate passed the same bill and it was signed into law.

[WillowTree]

7. Not something that's within her powers.

[onenote]

10. How a bill becomes a law 101: the House cannot unilaterally pass legislation

Pelosi has no power to unilaterally defund the Office of the Attorney General. The House can pass a bill doing so, but it won't do anything unless, as is the case with all legislation, it also is passed by the Senate and signed by the President.


And that ain't happening.

[unblock]

13. well, yeah, but ongoing funding requires new laws every year.

so, correct, to immediately defund an already funded agency or department or program, a law would have to be passed.
and, correct, the house can't do that unilaterally.

but to continue funding after the end of the fiscal year generally requires a fresh set of appropriations laws, and the house could withhold approval from those in order to gain leverage. we'd have to wait at least half a year for those fights, though.


the budget battles will be fun times regardless....

[onenote]

15. The DOJ is funded through the end of September

And there is zero chance that the House will force a government shutdown (or even a shutdown of just the entire DOJ)

[unblock]

16. well there will be far more to budget negotiations than just this anyway.

i agree that we don't want to look like the ones drooling for a shutdown, that's a republican thing.

but we certainly should be assertive in our negotiations in general.

and it's entirely reasonable to say to republicans that there will be a price to pay in october if they don't cooperate now. the timing gap is not ideal for that kind of negotiation tactic, but it's a perfectly reasonable tactic.

again, though, i wouldn't threaten the doj, that's entirely counterproductive. we should find something donnie actually cares about and target that instead.

[tritsofme]

14. So you want to hold the salaries of DOJ workers hostage and shutdown the government?

That is what people saying this seem to be advocating.