The government shutdown drama unfolding in Washington is political theater covering up something far worse. While legislators argue over budget details, they’re ignoring an uncomfortable truth: Congress has already surrendered its most important power — the power to control spending — and the bill has arrived.
That bill totals $170 billion over the next decade.
This isn’t money Congress approved. It’s money the Executive Branch simply decided to spend, creating mandatory costs through administrative decisions that lawmakers are now forced to fund. How? By strategically expanding “parole” authority under immigration law to reclassify millions of people, instantly making them eligible for federal benefits Congress never authorized.
The Parole Loophole
The whole system turns on a single phrase: “lawfully present.” Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Homeland Security can “parole” non-citizens into the country temporarily. The magic number is one year — parole someone for a year or more, and federal law labels them “lawfully present,” opening the door to federal benefits.
By the end of 2024, the administration had implemented 605 immigration-related executive actions, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Critics say this was deliberate: Administratively expand who qualifies for benefits without asking Congress. Millions who entered illegally were transformed, through bureaucratic paperwork, into people with legal claims on taxpayer-funded programs.
Hellbound and Down 