Initially, the most striking detail in the White House Office of Management and Budget memo that has put a "pause" on huge swathes of the American economy, is how unhinged the paranoia is. The order insists that all federal grant and loan spending must be halted to combat "Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies." Ordinary people may see nothing but a local bridge being repaired, broadband internet being installed or a park getting cleaned up. Through MAGA-colored glasses, it's all a plot to turn you into transgender Marxists and probably vegans, who are worse than Satanists.
(As of Tuesday evening, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has temporarily blocked the funding freeze in response to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Democracy Forward. A separate lawsuit contesting the order has also been filed in Rhode Island by attorneys general for 22 states and the District of Columbia.)
