Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar says President Donald Trump is moving to form a dictatorship and is causing a Constitutional crisis.
The Minnesota Congresswoman made the statement at a Democratic news conference on Monday afternoon decrying the administration's decision to close the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development to staff.
"This is what the start of dictatorship looks like," Omar said. "When you gut the U.S. Constitution and you install yourself as the sole power, that is how dictators are made."
Democrats say that Trump does not have the authority to stop making payments that Congress has authorized.
"What Trump and Elon and all of their cronies are trying to do is take away the constitutional power of Congress," Omar said.
"We have the power of the purse," she added.
Omar noted that she had lived in a USAID-funded refugee camp in Kenya for four years as a child after fleeing Somalia
She says that the agency shows people around the world the compassion of the American people and creates goodwill.
At least 600 personnel said they were locked out of the USAID's database overnight while staffers with access received emails that said the headquarters "will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3," the Associated Press reported.
