Arizona’s Two Biggest Universities Received Grants from USAID for Addressing Overseas Climate Change, Assisting Foreign Countries

Sen Mark Kelly, University of Arizona Tucson

The Trump administration, with the assistance of X owner Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is shutting down partisan spending under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), placing a freeze on all the agency’s spending while pursuing plans to shut it completely down — the website has already been taken down. In Arizona, hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants have gone to Arizona State University and the University of Arizona to address climate change overseas and other questionable purposes. 

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ denounced the move. “Doing away with this agency or severely undermining its capacity will not just hurt people, it will also push countries that receive our help into the arms of our adversaries, making us less safe,” he said.

Read the full story

FEMA Quietly Slid $59 Million Out the Door for Illegal Migrants to Put Their Feet Up at ‘Luxury Hotels,’ Musk Says

FEMA workers

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) handed out $59 million to “luxury” hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants, Elon Musk said Monday.

Musk — who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary agency within the Trump administration tasked with weeding out frivolous spending by the federal government — said it was his DOGE team that made the discovery. The top White House official said the payment was in violation of President Donald Trump’s executive order and efforts would be made to recover the funds. 

Read the full story

Nashville Democrat Jeff Yarbro Wants Elon Musk in ‘Jail’ if DOGE ‘Hurts Tennesseans’ by Blocking Federal Grants

State Senator Jeff Yarbro

Tennessee State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) on Thursday filed legislation that he said could lead to the jailing of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk, if the government reformer’s work “hurts Tennesseans” by denying them grant funding through DOGE’s efforts to cut wasteful spending.

Senate Bill (SB) 1128 by Jeff Yarbro, submitted Thursday as the “Shielding Tennesseans from Oligarchic Power and Eliminating Lawless Obstruction of Necessities” (STOP ELON) Act, would create a new felony offense that would be applied to anyone who, according to a description of the bill, interferes “with an individual’s or entity’s receipt of a loan, grant, or financial assistance,” to which the government previously said they were entitled.

Read the full story

Former USAID Director Mark Moyar Spills Agency’s Abuse and Waste That He Says Runs Deep

Mark Moyar

A former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) director appeared Wednesday on Fox News to reveal details on what he said were the agency’s misused resources and deeply rooted corruption.

Dating back to the early days of the Trump administration, former director Mark Moyar, who took office in February 2018, recounted, on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” what he said was an agency culture steeped in inefficiency and malpractice, starting with an unconventional orientation exercise that labeled him as a Scandinavian woman in a “privilege walk.” This exercise, meant to highlight systemic privileges and disadvantages, instead served as a prelude to the deeper issues plaguing USAID.

Read the full story

Vivek Ramaswamy Teases Ohio Governor Campaign to Turn America’s ‘Rust Belt’ into ‘Revival Belt’

Vivek Ramaswamy

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) founded by President Donald Trump and managed by Elon Musk, dropped more hints about a possible gubernatorial campaign in Ohio during a Wednesday appearance on the “Flagrant” comedy podcast.

Asked by comedian Andrew Schulz why Ramaswamy left DOGE at the start of the Trump administration, the possible candidate for governor cited the technological direction of the committee, but also said that participation in DOGE could preclude him from running for public office.

Read the full story

Commentary: ‘Liberation Day’: Eight Takeaways from Trump’s Second Inaugural Address

Donald Trump

Delivering his second inaugural address indoors because of the frigid weather conditions in Washington, President Donald Trump vowed Monday to restore integrity and efficiency to government.

Having won in November not only the popular vote, but also with a decisive Electoral College victory, Trump struck a mostly unifying tone from inside the Capitol, invoking Martin Luther King Jr. and asserting, “Impossible is what we do best.”

Read the full story

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears Release Statements Backing Federal Cuts Under DOGE

DOGE Virginia GOP

While Democrats in Virginia have suggested the incoming Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the federal government will be a political liability among voters in the Old Dominion, both Governor Glenn Youngkin and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears made statements last week declaring their support for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Youngkin was first to confirm his support for DOGE on Friday, when the governor signed a letter by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04).

Read the full story

Beacon Poll: Tennesseans Overwhelmingly Support Governor’s Universal School Choice Proposal

Classroom full of kids, that are being read a book

The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published results of a poll it conducted on Monday revealing how registered Tennessee voters feel about a number of legislative issues at both the state and federal levels.

The right-of-center think tank polled 1,200 registered voters in Tennessee from December 16, 2024, to December 27, 2024.

Read the full story

Trump Faces Federal Employee Unions in Government Efficiency Battle

AFGE members

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to drastically cut government and clean out inefficiencies, but he faces an entrenched power in Washington, D.C. that may throw a wrench in his plans: federal government public employee unions.

“For president-elect Trump to succeed at making the federal bureaucracy more efficient and accountable to the American people, he’ll have to once again do battle with federal unions,” Max Nelsen, a labor policy expert at the Freedom Foundation, told The Center Square.

Read the full story

Rand Paul Releases Report Detailing $1 Trillion in Government Waste.

Rand Paul

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul released a report on Monday outlining more than $1 trillion in government waste from the past year.

The 2024 “Festivus” report highlighted various instances of wasteful government spending from the federal government, including a pickleball complex in Las Vegas and a cabaret show on ice. This year marks Paul’s 10th annual report.

Read the full story

Commentary: Trump Vows to Slash Government Bureaucracy as Public Trust in Government Craters

Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump just announced his sweeping plan to slash the size of the federal government through a new government agency run by businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The temporary agency, which Trump has named the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will be tasked with slashing government bureaucracy, ending nonsensical regulations, and cutting wasteful expenditures, initiatives the American people appear all too happy to see put into action.

Read the full story

Tennessee U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett Worries ‘Congress Doesn’t Have the Guts’ to Enact DOGE Government Reforms

Tim Burchett

U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) on Thursday expressed doubt that Congress would have “the guts” to enact the cuts and reforms recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a commission announced by President-elect Donald Trump that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will helm.

Burchett voiced concern about his colleagues in a video posted to the social media platform X on Thursday, which the Tennessee Republican said he recorded after leaving the first meeting between Musk, Ramaswamy, and Congress.

Read the full story

House Speaker Announces DOGE Leaders Musk and Ramaswamy to Visit Capitol Hill Next Week

Mike Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who will lead President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will meet with Congress on Capitol Hill next week.

Trump tapped the pair for the roles earlier this month, after promising on the campaign trail to create a taskforce that would rein in government spending and corruption. The department is expected to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” 

Read the full story

Wisconsin Group Calls for DOGE-Style Review of Government Services, Spending

Wisconsin Capitol

A Wisconsin group is calling for its state government to undergo a review of state government spending and staffing similar to what is being proposed for the new federal Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Wisconsin’s Institute for Reforming Government is reiterating a plan it proposed in 2023 to reduce the number of full-time state employees by contracting for professional services and finding redundancies.

Read the full story

‘DOGE-Ball’: Here’s How the Trump Administration Hopes to Slash the Government

Elon and Vivek

President-elect Donald Trump has an ambitious agenda to reduce the size of the federal government, uproot the federal bureaucracy, and limit Washington’s intrusion into the daily lives of the average American citizen. Such goals have long been the aim of many a Republican executive, though few have managed to materially advance them. 

Trump himself struggled to restrict the government in his first term, encountering significant resistance from entrenched executive agencies and congressional Republicans alike. Indeed, newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Co-Chief Elon Musk on Thursday reshared a meme commenting on Republican apprehensions toward budget cuts.

Read the full story