Here’s what Trump and his administration did in just the last 24 hours:
First, he issued an executive order saying his administration would protect those with pre-existing conditions – even though it has backed a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that would strike down those protections (and other provisions) in the Affordable Care Act.
The problem here? “The order states that protecting pre-existing conditions was ‘the policy of the United States’ but did not provide any legislative guarantees that Americans would not lose such protections if the ACA were nixed by the Supreme Court,” per NBC News.
Then Trump promised to send seniors $200 gift certificates to help with their Medicare prescription drugs — with no real way to pay for it or constitutional justification how his administration (and not Congress) has the power of the purse here.
And finally, the Justice Department issued a press release Thursday saying it had started an inquiry into a handful of military ballots in Pennsylvania, bewildering lawyers and election experts because the release revealed the ballots were cast in favor of Trump, Politico writes.
“It is really improper for DOJ to be putting out a press release with partial facts,” Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt told Politico. “And it is career-endingly improper to designate the candidate for whom the votes are cast. There is no federal statute on which the identity of the preferred candidate depends.”
The first two actions — the executive order on the pre-existing conditions and then those $200 gift certificates to seniors — gave the illusion of activity. But they don’t do anything, at least not yet.
And the third — that DOJ press release — is trying to cast doubts on the legitimacy of the election.
That’s from NBC’s First Read and it a tepid recitation compared to the 5 alarm fire it should be. But then it’s not as if Trump sent some emails on a private server or anything like that. He didn’t use the word “deplorable.” But still, it’s worth noting.