Joe: DOGE ignored the rules and made things worse in Washington
DOGE's intense scrutiny of federal spending is forcing employees to spend hours justifying even the most basic purchases, the Washington Post reports. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Marjorie Taylor Greene Now ‘Proud' She Voted for Bill She Bashed a Day Ago
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is tying herself in knots over Donald Trump's spending bill. On Tuesday, the Georgia Republican admitted she hadn't read some of the bill's contents before voting for it, and she didn't like them. She specifically called out a section of the bill that would stop states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next decade. Greene said she was 'adamantly OPPOSED' to this 'potentially dangerous' measure and 'would have voted NO if I had known this was in there.' She later added to her criticism on the House floor, saying 'we must always limit federal power and protect state power,' and urged the Senate to strip the clause. But on Wednesday, when pressed during a congressional hearing, she flip-flopped on her flip-flop, insisting she was 'proud' to have voted for the legislation. Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, brought it up during a DOGE subcommittee hearing as he highlighted Elon Musk's vicious opposition to the GOP bill. 'It's also interesting, because Chairwoman Greene, I understand, now regrets voting for this bill, as she mentioned yesterday,' Garcia said to the congresswoman, who leads the subcommittee. 'Is that correct, Chairwoman Greene?' Greene replied, 'The bill actually destroys what you guys voted for for the past four years, and I'm proud to have voted for that bill to fund border security to deport all of those illegals you guys let in.' It's a curious departure from her remarks just a day earlier, when she called the AI provisions she unwittingly voted for 'pretty terrifying.' Attempting to justify her oversight on NewsNation Tuesday, she had explained, 'We don't get the full bill text until very close to the time to vote for it, and so that was one section that was two pages that I didn't see.' It marked a rare crack in Greene's reliable loyalty to the president and his agenda. Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' has exposed deep Republican divisions after passing the House by just one vote last month. Musk set off a firestorm this week when he declared it an 'outrageous, pork-filled ... disgusting abomination' and excoriated Republicans who voted for it. The infighting has erupted over several flashpoints, including the $2.4 trillion it's estimated to add to the national debt over the next decade. Sen. Rand Paul has been a leading GOP critic of the bill, blasting it for ballooning the deficit and lifting the debt ceiling. He's drawn heated rebukes from Trump, who claims the bill will drive 'tremendous GROWTH.' Democrats broadly oppose the legislation, arguing it gives tax breaks to the rich while hurting the low-income Americans. The budget package would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts and introduce new ones, including no taxes on tips, while imposing work requirements for Medicaid, cutting food stamp access, and directing billions toward immigration measures to boost border security and fast-track deportations.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
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Miller Tweets Through His Feelings as Wife Leaves With Musk
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller continued to pump up the Trump administration's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' amid criticism from Elon Musk and others on the right. Miller, who spent considerable time Tuesday defending 'the most essential piece of legislation... in generations,' didn't mention Musk by name in his new batch of posts. But the tech billionaire leaving DOGE and bringing Miller's wife, Katie, out the door with him has added another level of intrigue to the spat. Miller began by disputing how the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the GOP's bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. 'One of the bigger points of confusion on the BBB is spending vs. tax cuts,' Miller wrote Wednesday morning. 'The lefty CBO says extending the 2017 tax cuts (preventing their expiration) increases the deficit. Some critics have seen this figure and claimed or implied the bill increases *spending.* Even according to CBO, the bill cuts spending over $1.6 trillion,' he continued. 'So when a libertarian (eg Rand [Paul]) attacks the 'deficit' impact of the bill, they are attacking the tax cut. Of course, honestly accounted, extending current tax rates has zero deficit impact which is why the bill, because of its spending cuts, reduces the deficit.' In the same post calling the proposed legislation a 'dream bill,' Miller touted that it 'has not a single Democrat provision or vote.' Despite Miller's view of the situation, fiscal conservatives are wary. After Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul voiced his displeasure over the cost, Trump attacked him. Wisconsin's Ron Johnson also spoke up, pledging to stop the bill even if the White House were to launch a pressure campaign against him. Johnson named two others in the Senate with a similar stance: Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah. Yet Miller maintained that their concerns were off-base. 'The only spending change in the bill is a giant spending cut,' he wrote in response to Office of Management and Budget head Russ Vought accusing the CBO of using a 'big gimmick' in its calculations. 'The entire 'deficit' change per the lefty CBO was not expiring the Trump Tax Cut from 2017,' he added. 'Further, because it's a [party-line] reconciliation bill, no monies are appropriated in the bill to fund government.' Miller also responded directly to Paul in a post later Wednesday after the Kentucky Republican said he was in favor of voting on the debt ceiling and the tax cuts separately. Paul's 'sole objection is that he wants to force Republicans and President Trump to make a deal with Schumer to raise the debt ceiling that he can then vote against,' Miller argued. 'Of course, a deal with Schumer to raise the debt ceiling means a tax HIKE and a spending HIKE.' 'So, his sole demand, is to take a course of action that equals more spending and more taxing and still of course extends the borrowing limit.' Fiscal conservatives in the Senate aren't the only obstacles to the bill, though. Republicans who have objected to the proposal's cuts to Medicaid include Josh Hawley of Missouri, Maine's Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Jim Justice of West Virginia. The CBO estimates that the Republican bill would cause 10.3 million people to lose Medicaid coverage, the majority being residents of states Trump won in 2024.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
House Democrats investigate alleged Elon Musk drug use
The top House Democrat on a key investigative panel is asking President Trump whether he had any knowledge of alleged drug use by Elon Musk. Why it matters: The investigation comes as even House Republicans have grown exasperated with Musk's erratic antics, as Axios reported on Wednesday. Musk has stirred considerable anger with his erstwhile Republican allies by coming out harshly against Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill." But he's winning few friends in the Democratic Party, which is still seething at his shock-and-awe tactics as the head of DOGE. Driving the news: Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), the acting ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, sent Trump a letter asking him "any information you or any Administration officials have regarding whether Mr. Musk consumed any illicit substances" while running DOGE. He also asked for information about whether Musk specifically took drugs while in the White House or other federal buildings or during the 2024 presidential campaign. Lynch cited reporting by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Musk used illicit drugs including ketamine, psychedelic mushrooms and ecstasy before and during his time campaigning for Trump. The other side: Musk denied the NYT's reporting that he took illicit drugs while on the 2024 campaign trail, posting on X that he is "NOT taking drugs!" He added, "I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so ... so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven't taken it since then." Reality check: Trump is unlikely to respond to the letter, and Lynch as the ranking minority member on the panel has no power to compel him to testify or turn over documents.
