WASHINGTON — This week in Washington was marked by the horrific and tragic midair collision between an Army Blackhawk and an American Airlines plane over the Potomac and the rollout and retraction by the Trump administration of a temporary freeze on government funding to states, local governments and non-profit organizations.

The freeze on $3 trillion worth of government programs provoked chaos and panic and was reversed after a group of non-profits procured a court-mandated stay. But the effort to cut off federal funds continues.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget said it is conducting a review of 2,600 federal programs with an eye to singling out those that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, facilitate abortions or run afoul of any policy or activity Trump doesn’t like.

So, it’s highly likely the Trump administration will try to freeze government funding again, this time in a more surgical but still impactful manner.  And that attempt is likely to have to be defended in a federal court as it will be challenged as an illegal and unconstitutional impoundment by the executive branch of monies appropriated by Congress.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined 22 other Democratic attorneys general this week to sue to stop Trump’s initial attempt to freeze funding and is likely to continue to battle the issue in court.

Democratic members of Congress who are waging a public relations campaign against Trump’s attempt to eliminate programs, are also weighing a court challenge.

As far as the plane crash, President Trump blamed his Democratic predecessors – former Presidents Obama and Biden – and DEI policies for the disaster. But he provided no evidence to back up his allegations.

Meanwhile, fireworks broke out at several confirmation hearings this week, including one for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a heated exchange, Sen. Tina Smith, D-MN, brought up Kennedy’s comments against the use of antidepressants, particularly among younger Americans, and his stated link of these anti-depressants to school shooters.

“In fact, most school shooters were not treated for anti-depressants,” she said.

Kennedy said he was talking about many factors that contributed to the shootings and that anti-depressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have serious side effects and need more research.

“I just want to have good science,” he said.

Smith told Kennedy that when she was younger, she was treated with an SSRI medication, therapy and other options to live a happier life. She said RFK Jr.’s comments stigmatized those suffering from depression.

“And I’m very concerned that this is another example of your record of sharing false and misleading information that actually really hurts people,” Smith said.

From DFL to DNC?

Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin has helped many candidates during his career in politics, but now he’s on the ballot on Saturday as the Democratic National Committee elects a new chairman.

While there are a number of Democrats vying for the job, including failed presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the race is considered a two-person battle between Martin and Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Candidates have differed a little on nuts-and-bolts issues.

There’s been unanimity among the candidates that, after November’s devastating defeat at the ballot box, there is  an urgent need to improve the Democratic party’s brand, especially among working-class voters and the nation’s labor unions.

However,  Wikler, 43,  is known for his fundraising prowess, which likely played a part in his ability to win endorsements from big names in the Democratic Party, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Martin, meanwhile, has been promoting his winning strategy in Minnesota, where the DFL has won every statewide election since he was elected chairman of the state party in 2011.

Martin, 51, has spent his whole life in Democratic politics, and was a senior at Eden Prairie High School when he joined Paul Wellstone’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

He says he has secured commitments from about 200 of the 448 party officials who will cast a vote Saturday at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Whoever wins that election will replace outgoing DNC chairman Jaime Harrison and take over a party that’s in crisis and has no obvious leader. The party has also failed to coalesce around a strategy to address the problems that cost them electoral losses in November and has no unified strategy to stop President Trump’s agenda.

In case you missed it:

Reporter Peter Callaghan explained why gridlock continues in the state House – and now in the state Senate and when a resolution to the problems brought by GOP electoral wins in November and other unexpected occurrences could be resolved.

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dropped its policy against entering schools and churches to detain immigrants, reporter Winter Keefer looked at policies the St. Paul and Minnesota school districts are adopting to protect their students.

A new, expanded travel ban is in the works thanks to one of the many executive orders President Trump signed this past week. Similar to the “Muslim ban” that he established in his first term in office, this new travel ban will impact Minnesota’s Somali population and many foreign students who want to attend college in the state – and even some who are already attending classes.

Your questions and comments

A reader reacted to a story about migrants, both undocumented and with permission to work and live temporarily in the United States, who work on Minnesota farms and ranches, and their fates under the new Trump administration.

One reader wrote: “I’ve been wondering about the ag (agricultural) industry, and how you’d think it would have been OBVIOUS to it/them that Trump’s deportation plans would kneecap their businesses, yet there was no huge swell of (Kamala) Harris support from them. Nary a peep, as far as I could tell!”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at [email protected].

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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