Is silencing a section of the government a lawful order such as the donald did

[shraby]

today?

[Cha]

1. Good Question! You would think the hell not

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. I keep on thinking that the order is a direct

violation of the First Amendment. Even if what it says is that Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .

[Warpy]

3. Nope.

He'd have to change their mission through Congress.

[manicraven]

4. I wondered the same thing as it sure feels like something a dictator would do.

[Sophiegirl]

5. I found this Trump Quote

In the WaPo comments section on this story.

"Trump in a Playboy interview from 1990, less than a year after the Tiananmen Square Massacre:

You mean firm hand as in China?

"When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ... as being spit on by the rest of the world—"

[C_U_L8R]

7. Trump is certainly a weakling

A choke artist who has to lie, deceive and employ
phony applauders to make himself feel great again.

[NYC Liberal]

6. Yes. The president has wide latitude to decide how the executive departments operate.

That includes their methods of official communication.

This is why Obama was able to do things like requiring a higher minimum wage for federal contractors paid by the government.

[HAB911]

8. We can hope

right now, insurgents like us are planning and plotting how to circumvent

[Lee-Lee]

9. It is slimey but is within his power for the executive branch.

As chief executive he and his team can establish whatever media policy they want for employees interacting with the media or public. It's nothing unique to government work my employer has a policy that employees other than those who do media work are barred from any media contact or interactions that involve or mention our employer.

Likewise with social media- we can't discuss our employer in any way in social media that would possibly lead anyone to think we are speaking as a representative of that company and we cannot discuss what work we do or if we produce any document, report or research as part of that job cannot discuss or distribute that without prior approval.