President’s move has convulsed Washington in a manner arguably unseen since the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973

For its potential to provoke a constitutional crisis, Donald Trump’s attempted freezing of trillions of dollars of federal funds – rescinded on Wednesday in what appeared to be a panicked retreat in the face of an angry backlash – evoked the darkest days of Watergate.

Monday’s memo from the White House office of management and budget (OMB) ordering a “temporary pause” on a vast array of spending activities across the US federal government convulsed official Washington in a manner arguably unseen since the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973.