US agency spent millions to house illegals in luxury hotels
Elon Musk has accused the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of unlawfully spending $59 million on luxury hotel accommodations for undocumented migrants. He called for the funds to be recovered immediately, insisting that the money should have been allocated for disaster relief instead.
Musk, now one of US President Donald Trump's key advisors and head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), attacked FEMA on X on Monday for allegedly misusing millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to house illegal migrants in high-end hotels in New York City.
'The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,'
he wrote.
'That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!'
Musk, who as the head of DOGE has taken the lead on seeking ways for the federal government to cut costs and reduce the workforce, called the expenditure a
'gross insubordination'
defying a presidential executive order and said the money would be clawed back.
The billionaire provided no evidence to support his claim, and it was unclear where the $59 million figure came from.
READ MORE:
Trump readies overhaul of US emergency agency
Meanwhile, New York City officials stated that the funds it received for migrant care were appropriated by Congress and allocated to the city by FEMA last year.
Cameron Hamilton, the agency's acting administrator, reposted Musk's comments and said the payments had been suspended as of Sunday.
'I want to thank the DOGE team for making me aware of this,'
Hamilton posted.
'Effective yesterday these payments have all been suspended from FEMA. Personnel will be held accountable.'
FEMA Spokeswoman Liz Garcia told ABC News the city hasn't been informed of any funding pause, adding that reimbursements from the federal government had continued through last week. The matter will be addressed directly with federal officials, she said.
Trump has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with FEMA, even suggesting scrapping it during a recent trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and California. Upon assuming office in January, he signed an executive order establishing a review council to evaluate the agency, citing concerns over its response to recent disasters.
Despite committing nearly $30 billion in disaster aid annually for the past three years, FEMA has left vulnerable Americans without the support they need in critical times, according to Trump.
FEMA, established in 1979, is responsible for coordinating the federal government's response to natural and man-made disasters. The agency has faced criticism over the years for its handling of various emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Maria in 2017.
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The worst sin in the new old German catechism is to even try to 'understand' Russia, literally: A 'Russlandversteher' is a heretic almost worthy of the stake now. Such heretics are clearly in the way of a new course – taken by all mainstream parties – that starts from the assumption that Germany and Russia must always be enemies, as current Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul recently stated in an unguarded and therefore honest moment. Consequently, the only policy that seems to be left to such hidebound minds is to build up the military and massively increase armament spending. That such spending has already been practiced and has a miserable record of inefficiency in Europe, as even the Financial Times admits, does not matter to them. Neither will it, of course, to the arms industry and its shareholders. 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What is more substantial is that Merz was not given one inch on any topic he cares about: Regarding NATO, US-European trade, and the Ukraine War, the German chancellor got precisely nothing. On the contrary, Trump has already made sure to signal how absolutely unimpressed he is by whatever Merz may have had to say, when not modestly silent: On Ukraine, Trump has publicly conceded that Kiev's recent sneak drone attack gives Russia the right to massively retaliate. On trade, Trump has increased the pressure again with steel and aluminum tariffs that will hit the EU and Germany hard. What a world Germany has made for itself: It has the US, a hegemon and 'ally' that first either blows up or is involved in blowing up its vital-infrastructure pipelines and then gets ready to take over and repair the ruins to have even more power over Berlin. With Zelensky's Ukraine, it has a very expensive, very corrupt client that even the Germans now admit was involved in the same terrorist attack on Nord Stream. Germany's economy, meanwhile, would greatly benefit from re-establishing a reasonable relationship with Russia. But Berlin's only strategy regarding Moscow is prolonged confrontation, an extremely costly armament program, and war hysteria so intense it makes it look as if German elites are not-so-secretly longing for yet another devastating clash with Russia. And by now, Russians have taken notice, not only within the elite but the general population. Good luck, Berlin: You've poked the bear long enough to get his attention. Again.
