The Cost of Power Is Always Paid by the Powerless
How Trump’s allies got pardons, protections, and potential payouts while America’s most vulnerable got left behind
In the span of just a few weeks, several things happened in Washington, D.C. — not in secret, not in the shadows, but right out in the open.
On November 10, Congress passed a temporary stopgap budget (a Continuing Resolution) to narrowly avoid a further prolonged government shutdown. It doesn’t expand social programs. It doesn’t fund long-term solutions. It merely keeps the lights on until January 30, 2026, while still leaving millions of low-income families in limbo, unsure whether food stamps or healthcare access will be there in the future.
Yet buried in that bill, lawmakers added a provision that allows Republican senators to sue the Department of Justice for alleged “unlawful surveillance” during its January 6 investigation. It was a quiet clause, one most Americans haven’t heard about. However, it’s historic: the first time sitting elected officials could directly retaliate against the DOJ over a probe into their possible ties to an attack on the Capitol.
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The Same Day, Trump Pardons His Inner Circle
The same day the bill passed the Senate, Donald Trump signed a sweeping pardon order clearing Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and 77 others of any federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
This came on the heels of his January 20, 2025, executive action — his first act after being sworn in for a second term — when Trump pardoned over 1,500 people involved in the January 6 insurrection. Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, rioters, strategists — all wiped clean.
The justification? “A grave national injustice,” Trump said.
But let’s be clear: these weren’t pardons of conscience. They were pardons of complicity, delivered to loyalists who worked to keep Trump in power, even after losing an election. Now those associated with the attack on the Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election are free from federal judicial action. And thanks to the rider in the Senate CR, some Senate Republicans can sue for being investigated for their potential role in the Jan 6 attack.
“They owe me a lot of money.” — Donald Trump
Just weeks previously, Trump had set the precedent for an elected official to sue the DOJ for an investigation into possible crimes.
In a press interview in October, Trump claimed he was owed $230 million by the federal government, compensation for being investigated by the DOJ during his first term. Specifically, he cited the Russia probe and the search of Mar-a-Lago for classified documents.
“All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money,” Trump said. “And that decision would go across my desk.”
See our reporting here:
Let that sink in: the President of the United States is demanding a payout from the department responsible for investigating him, and openly acknowledging he’d be the one to approve it.
Now the Senate is demanding the same.
Pardons, Protections, and Payoffs for the Powerful
This is what’s been normalized:
Those who tried to subvert an election are now legally shielded.
Those who incited an insurrection have been absolved.
Those who were supposed to be investigated are now suing the investigators.
And the man at the center of it all believes the Department of Justice should write him a check.
Meanwhile…
What Didn’t Make It Into the Budget
Let’s talk about what wasn’t included in that same funding bill:
No long-term guarantee of SNAP or WIC funding.
No protection or back pay for federal contractors — the janitors, cafeteria workers, and security staff who missed paychecks during the shutdown.
No expansion of Medicaid or mental health supports.
No housing aid increases, no school lunch boosts, no care economy investment.
The government found time and space to shield senators from accountability, but not to feed children or care for the elderly.
A Government That Punishes the Poor and Protects the Powerful
The priorities are clear and shameful.
Those in proximity to power are not just escaping consequences. They’re being rewarded. Pardoned. Paid. Protected in law.
And everyone else?
They’re being told to wait.
That’s not democratic dysfunction. It’s authoritarian design, a quiet consolidation of impunity, where justice no longer applies upward.
If you’re poor, sick, working class, or dependent on social programs, you are a budget line to be debated.
If you helped overturn an election? You’re family.
Where Do We Go From Here?
This isn’t about politics. This is about power — who wields it, who escapes it, and who pays the price for both.
And if this isn’t a turning point, it’ll become precedent.
So no, we can’t accept this as another headline cycle. We need to call it what it is: A protection racket disguised as government.
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Sources:
“US Senate passes bill to end government shutdown, sends to House”, Reuters, Nov 10, 2025.
“What’s in the deal to end the longest US government shutdown?”, Reuters, Nov 10, 2025.
“US Senate backing bill to end record government shutdown; voting continues”, Reuters, Nov 11, 2025.
“John Thune secures provision in government funding bill letting senators sue for phone records seizure”, Politico, November 10, 2025.
“Deal to end US shutdown would also allow some Republican senators to seek $500,000 for January 6 probe”, Reuters, November 11, 2025.
“Trump pardons Giuliani, others accused of seeking to overturn his 2020 defeat”, Reuters, Nov 10, 2025.
“Trump issues pardons for Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and others involved in 2020 fake‑elector scheme”, The Independent, Nov 10, 2025.
“Trump pardons Giuliani, Meadows and others over plot to steal 2020 election”, The Guardian, Nov 10, 2025.
 | A guest post by
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If and when the right wing/ Republican world is finally cornered, they'll just tell us what we already suspected: they don't care about anything but themselves and their power. They don't care about whether children live or die. They don't care. Trump is a pedophile rapist. They don't care about whether women live or die. They don't care about whether America crumbles into a banana Republic.
What they really want to say to everyone in the world is this: we don't care and you can't do anything about it.
You all are right: this isn’t dysfunction, it’s authoritarian design. The powerful are being pardoned and protected while everyone else waits for table scraps.
In my latest piece, I argue that this moment was years in the making—not in the shadows, but out loud, while pundits obsessed over whether Trumpism was “real conservatism.” Spoiler: it was. And while they debated, he built.
More thoughts: https://www.stewonthis.com/p/debating-conservatism-while-the-house