America First is America Alone

I will also note that I contacted Senator Grassley’s office on 2/12 asking what he will do if the Executive Branch does not adhere to court rulings and Senator Ernst’s office on 2/10 asking how she will stand up to uphold the right of Congress to approve spending. I have not yet received a reply from either office.

As I was reminded in a comment on my previous post, the most effective method of communication with Members of Congress is calling their office. Therefore, the phone numbers for the Des Moines offices of my representation are included if you wish to make your voice heard.

𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 – (𝟓𝟔𝟑) 𝟑𝟐𝟐-𝟒𝟑𝟑𝟏

𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐄𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐭 – (𝟓𝟏𝟓) 𝟐𝟖𝟒-𝟒𝟓𝟕𝟒

𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐮𝐧𝐧 – (𝟓𝟏𝟓) 𝟒𝟎𝟎-𝟖𝟏𝟖𝟎

I completely understand the concept of America First; we cannot reasonably help others if we do not ensure we are adequately cared for ourselves. However, one of the biggest strengths of the United States since the start of the Cold War has been the maintenance of a major international coalition of allies willing and able to stand together.

Under the guise of America First, Donald Trump has chosen to either implement or threaten tariffs on many countries throughout the world – this includes our closest allies in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, despite the fact that one of the underlying agreements (USMCA) was his own. These tariffs and the uncertainty and instability that comes with them is widely expected to cause significant issues with international trade and supply chains and they will ultimately serve to show other countries that we cannot be trusted as international trade partners forcing them to move away from international trade with the United States. Reduction in trade will ultimately cause prices to rise, decrease our export market, and harm the United States. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭; 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.

Claiming significant waste in USAID, Donald Trump has chosen to cut all outlays for the program. This is another mechanism to claim an America First policy and slash international humanitarian aid. However, with major cuts to USAID there will be ramifications for the United States economy as well as international relations, and impacts to American health. Much of the food and medical aid provided to countries in times of crisis are provided by American companies and American farmers. Pulling funding for this aid will immediately impact both of those industries and harm the American economy. In addition to the economic impacts here, this also will likely exacerbate health conditions in developing countries causing disease and famine to spread which will inevitably have worldwide consequences.

The United States has been providing aid worldwide for decades – USAID and PEPFAR both immediately come to mind. Not only is this aid morally justified by the immediate impacts it has on the people who receive it directly, it also helps strengthen the international presence of the United States and improves our diplomatic efforts worldwide. 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭; 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.

Constitutionally, the ability to levy tariffs lies with Congress, not the President. However, a series of Congressional Acts over the past century have ceded that authority from Congress to the President, largely for use in emergency situations where National Security is threatened – unfortunately, there is little to no legal definition for such an emergency. However, Congress has not ceded their authority to allocate funding and the President should not be able to simply refuse to carry out acts of Congress.

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.