From§Each

Page F2From§Eachthe late evening edition — 30 September 2026

THE UNUSED TOOL

Sen. Ron Johnson holds the vote that could save $810 million, declines to cast it.

By The Wrecking CrewThe Remedy Desk

“Congress Failed Again to Stop Trump’s Iran War. This Group Is Trying Through the Courts.”, 24 September 2026 (Photo via The Intercept — the original report)

As it ran on the front

On September 3, Congress passed and the president signed a stopgap bill, funding the government through the midterms into December — the machine running as built: Congress approves, the executive spends.

Six days later, at the party's midterm convention in Dallas, the president promised every adult American a $5,000 check if Republicans hold Congress in November. Congress had approved no such thing. The same week, 750,000 Americans lost their health coverage.…

…(cont) The chief sent the crew to the next job: on September 24, an advocacy group sued on behalf of Iranian Americans to stop the war with Iran, because Congress, again, had not voted to stop it — the courts standing in for a legislature that declined to use the power it already had. Two days later, the administration canceled nearly $1 billion in federal funding by pocket rescission, a process that lets the executive sidestep congressional approval entirely. Most of what it cut funded HHS's Minority Health office and programs for unaccompanied immigrant children already in court.

That left the parts on the bench by September 30: a law — the Impoundment Control Act — written to make exactly this move answerable to a floor vote, and $810 million already approved by Congress sitting on the chopping block. The planner liked the assembly fine: the tool existed, Congress held it, a senator could call the vote. The tinkerer set it out in plain parts — holder of the vote, trigger of the vote, floor to hold it on. Senator Ron Johnson held the part. He did not use it. The muscle had nothing to wreck; the structure that needed wrecking was the one nobody touched. The pilot's job was never to promise the fix flies. It was to point at the tool, sitting there the whole time, and let the reader watch it not get picked up.

“Follow the money, not the speeches: Congress votes to spend it, the executive un-spends it, and the one guy with a wrench in his hand just leaves it on the bench. They call it "wasteful" — turns out wasteful means lawyers for immigrant kids in court and a minority-health office. Nobody stole this money. It just stopped being yours the way a door stops being locked when nobody turns the key.”
Sal
“Look, the administration is cutting waste, that's just fiscal responsibility — Congress already had its say when it passed the budget, so — wait, no, that's backwards, Congress already approved this money, that's the whole point. Fine, the senator used his judgment, that's not blocking anything, that's — restraint. Did I say restraint? I meant leadership. Either way it's $810 million, that's rounding error money, barely a Tuesday.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

Congress Failed Again to Stop Trump’s Iran War. This Group Is Trying Through the Courts. NIAC Action sues to stop Trump's Iran war, calls it a 'constitutional crisis'
The Intercept§

“It is all hands on deck to stop this full-blown constitutional crisis,” said the head of NIAC Action, which filed suit on behalf of Iranian Americans. The post Congress Failed Again to Stop Trump’s Iran War.

· Trump rescinds nearly $1B in federal funding, bypassing congressional approval from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Trump signs stopgap funding bill into law, temporarily avoiding shutdown from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· The Big Beautiful Bill Is Starting to Bite Before the Election from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· 'Sickening and Unacceptable': Anger Mounts as Trump and Vance Gleefully Rip Healthcare From 750,000 from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Many Americans are relying on multiple forms of credit to cover expenses. When is it a warning sign? from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Trump gave ‘the red meat,’ Vance was playing for independents: Bob Cusack from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Fox News’s Baier presses Vance on Trump’s $5K dividend promise from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Pritzker: Vance is Trump's 'chief bootlicker' from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Bessent Defends Faltering Bond Market Intervention from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Bessent says Treasury is ‘examining’ ability to cut $5,000 checks without Congress from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Bessent’s move to tamp down rising rates backfires as bond yields jump, stocks tumble from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· The bond market is revolting — and your mortgage is the first casualty from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Fiscal hawks skeptical of Bessent’s claim that US can ‘grow our way out’ of $40 trillion debt from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026

· Bessent blasts Warren’s ‘sciolistic’ letter about yen policy from the morgue, 29 Aug 2026

· Soros-funded Philadelphia district attorney insinuates Trump is a ‘35-time felon,’ calling $5,000 dividend a bribe from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Soros-funded Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Thursday from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

· Voters have a blunt message for Trump about his idea to dole out $5,000 checks from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Why Donald Trump has a Joe Biden problem from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Does Trump have a 'Biden problem' on the economy? from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Trump’s $5,000 dividend falls flat with GOP senators from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Trump sees backlash over $5K dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump plan to raise debt limit on shaky ground from the morgue, 26 Aug 2026

· 5 things to know about Trump's $5K dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Vance strikes back at concern $5,000 Trump dividend will stoke debt: ‘Wealth will go back to the people’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Marshall backtracks on support for $5,000 Trump dividend in Kansas Senate debate from the morgue, 12 Sep 2026

· Vance and MAGA Inc. work to defend Roger Marshall in redder Kansas from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Roger Marshall Sued 700 Patients for Debts; 81 Were Arrested. Now He’s a Senator. from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Conservatives would scream ‘bloody murder’ if Democratic president offered dividend to maintain power: Guy Benson from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Will Trump's payout promises boost Republican appeal to white women? from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Republicans need a Reagan-style vision to win the battle over America's future from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Trump’s promised $5,000 ‘dividend’ checks: What to know from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump’s Reckless $5,000 ‘Dividend’ from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Republicans bet the House on Trump from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Axelrod dismisses the idea of the proposed $5000 ‘Trump dividend’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump pledges $5K 'Trump dividend' if Republicans hold onto Congress from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump says $5K dividend checks to Americans will 'happen 100 percent' from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026

· Lawler deflects on supporting Trump's $5K dividend pledge: 'How do you pay for it?' from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026

· GOP rep says priority 'needs to be the military,' not $5K checks from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026

· Susan Collins calls Trump’s $5,000 dividend proposal with no cap ‘extraordinarily costly’ from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Bret Baier presses Paxton on Trump $5K dividend payment support from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Gavin Newsom calls Trump’s $5K voter payout ‘bulls—’ and a ‘desperate’ power grab from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Trump pitches $5,000 checks, but only if GOP wins House and Senate from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump's $5,000 payments would reignite inflation, economists say from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Why Trump's promised $5,000 payments to Americans are unlikely to happen from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Bond yields rise modestly after Trump's dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· GOP leaders blindsided by Trump’s promise of $5K checks from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump promises Obamacare rebates to people in swing states from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Steve Scalise says details of $5,000 dividends would "obviously have to be worked out by Congress" from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump’s $5,000 dividend pledge divides Republicans over spending from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Many Republicans skeptical about Trump plan to tie $5,000 dividends to GOP wins from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Anger Grows Over 'Pathological Liar-in-Chief' Donald Trump's $5,000 Midterm Bribes from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Spiking Bond Yields Pay the Rich and Squeeze Everyone Else from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump-aligned group releases first midterm ads — and they’re all about him from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· The Memo: Bond market turmoil heightens midterm risks for Trump and GOP from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump’s Plan To Cut $5,000 Checks For Americans Not Landing With Many Midterm Convention Attendees from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa backs Trump’s $5,000 dividend but rejects conditional payout from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Voters may accept Trump’s bribes, but the bond markets aren’t biting from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· In Trump's Second Term, Average US Family Forced to Spend $3,800 More on Essentials from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026

· Why not to bank on Trump's $5,000 dividend checks happening from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump shares details on $5,000 dividend with CBS News Texas from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Some Republicans Balk at Trump’s $5,000 ‘Dividend’ Offer from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· The political risk behind Trump’s $5,000 pledge: From the Politics Desk from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Bob Cusack raises concerns over Trump’s $5,000 check proposal: ‘Deficits matter, debt matters’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Global sell-off in government bonds intensifies from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Trump vs. the Bond Market from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· The United States House of Representatives passes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 by 227 votes to 203. After being sent to the United States Senate for a vote, the Senate's parliamentarian found tha from the morgue, 19 Dec 2017

· The attorney general of New York announces she is suing the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors, President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. (CNBC) from the morgue, 14 Jun 2018

· Trump gambles big on midterm elections with convention spotlight from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Vulnerable Republicans divided over wisdom of Trump’s midterm convention from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Republican strategist knocks Trump for not spending more on GOP candidates from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Republicans ready for 'very hasty' 'Trump-a-palooza' convention in Texas from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026

· Some Republicans are planning to skip Trump’s GOP convention from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Trump promises $5,000 ‘dividend’ for adult Americans if Republicans win midterms from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump claims $5,000 midterm dividends wouldn't need congressional approval from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump's $5,000 dividend checks would come with a major catch under GOP senator's plan from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump faces reckoning as GOP figures label $5K promise a 'socialist vote-buying scheme' from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividend blindsides Congress, angers fiscal conservatives: ‘A dangerous arms race’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump Wants to Give Out $5,000 Checks. It Would Cost More Than $1 Trillion. from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump Promises Americans $5K Checks If GOP Wins Midterms, Raising Legal Questions from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Ansarallah advances on Bab al-Mandab; Trump offers to pay Americans $5,000 for midterm votes; U.S. kills 3 in Caribbean boat strike from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump's Republican midterm convention included $5,000 pitch and Iran war expectations from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Treasury boosts debt buyback cap to $6 billion from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.