Latest news with #CostEfficiencyInitiative
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FEMA reopens National Fire Academy after nearly three-month, DOGE-driven shutdown
Instructors fit a firefighter's gear. (Photo courtesy U.S. Fire Administration) Almost three months after the Federal Emergency Management Agency abruptly canceled classes at the National Fire Academy, saying it would only support mission-critical functions, someone at FEMA apparently decided that fire training is critical to the agency's mission. FEMA announced Thursday that classes would resume June 2 at its 'national schoolhouses': the National Fire Academy and the National Disaster and Emergency Management University, both in Emmitsburg, and the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama. Classes at all three had been canceled abruptly and without explanation in an email on March 7, a Friday, that said programs were suspended effective immediately and that the cancellations would remain in place indefinitely. But in Thursday's announcement, FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration said they had 'determined certain courses provide effective training to enhance national readiness for state, local, tribal and territorial emergency managers, first responders and local leaders. FEMA's principles for emergency management assert that disasters are best managed when they're federally supported, state managed and locally executed.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX More than 60 members of Congress — including every Democrat in the Maryland delegation — wrote to the head of FEMA and to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 17, demanding to know why the center had been closed and when they would reopen. They never got an answer to their letter, but Thursday's reopening announcement said the closing ordered as part of the work of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Service. The shutdown was in response to a Feb. 26 executive order from President Donald Trump on 'Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative, to ensure alignment with the Administration's priority of good use of taxpayer funds.' It came in the early, heady days of DOGE, when grants and payments were suspended and programs put on ice, before courts stepped in and started slowing or reversing DOGE actions. Even though they never got an answer to their letter, Maryland lawmakers welcomed the news Thursday that the fire academy would soon be back in business. 'I am happy to share that programming will be resuming immediately for dedicated fire fighters and first responders from around the nation,' said Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th). 'The rash decision to close the academy wasted valuable resources and undermined our communities' safety, resilience, and response efforts. ' McClain Delaney, whose district include the academy, called the original closure 'senseless.' That was echoed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in a joint statement on the reopening. 'The Trump Administration's decision to abruptly cancel these classes made no sense – and what's more, it risked significant harm to our communities and those who protect them,' Van Hollen's statement said. 'While the good work done by the men and women [of the] National Fire Academy never should have been halted, I'm glad to see the Administration has heeded our calls to lift this senseless ban.'
Fox News
24-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Multiple federal agencies end LinkedIn contracts over DEI
FIRST ON FOX - Multiple federal agencies told Fox News Digital they have dropped millions of dollars in contracts for LinkedIn services over the business social network's embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). LinkedIn, which boasts of being the world's largest professional network with over 1 billion users worldwide, has been dropped by the Departments of Treasury, Interior and Veterans Affairs after the Trump administration issued executive orders banning federal agencies from contracting with companies that embrace DEI policies. "Every American taxpayer should be angry that the Biden administration wasted so much money on contracts like these. Under the leadership of President Trump, we have been combing through hundreds of thousands of contracts here at the Department alone and are canceling wasteful, woke, and downright ridiculous contracts that do not align with the will of the American people. This contract is being terminated as we speak," an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital about a $1 million contract for LinkedIn services. The Treasury Department has ceased doing business with the networking site to be in compliance with Trump's executive orders, a senior Treasury official told Fox News Digital. According to Treasury had over $1.5 million in contracts for LinkedIn services during Trump's second term, with two that ended in Jan. and Feb., and another two set to end next week and in Sept. "The VA is not doing any business with LinkedIn. In February, the department terminated two contracts with LinkedIn in order to comply with the White House's executive orders on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, and Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative," a spokesperson for the VA told Fox News Digital. Veterans Affairs had nearly $2 million in contracts for LinkedIn services on one of which was terminated on February 20 and the other is set to end in 2026. Federal agencies often contract with middlemen known as "value-added resellers" who purchase technology products, such as LinkedIn, instead of going directly to each company. LinkedIn hosts a "DEI Hub" that provides companies with tools and products that promote DEI in their organizations. Among the services offered is a page devoted to getting "organizational buy-in" for DEI, a recruiting page which offers employers tips on signaling their commitment to DEI in job postings, resources for more equitable hiring and tips on achieving gender equity in the workplace. LinkedIn also provides products to achieve DEI objectives on their job boards. One such product is "LinkedIn Talent Insights," which allows employers to "leverage real-time insights to inform hiring goals, make a business case for diversity-focused initiatives, and identify and compare binary gender balance in talent pools." Companies can also use "LinkedIn Recruiter" to achieve DEI objectives. The program allows companies to modify their settings in order to achieve diversity outcomes in hiring. The program can allow an employer to "fix gender imbalances with 'diversity nudges'" and hide applicants' pictures and names to reduce bias. A diversity nudge appears when "less than 45% of a talent pool is male or female" and provides recommendations to achieve gender parity in applicants. The federal agencies said they were no longer using LinkedIn products in order to be in compliance with Trump's executive order not to do business with companies that engage in DEI, but made clear that they were not using LinkedIn's DEI products. Representatives for the agencies said they had no knowledge of whether the Biden administration used LinkedIn's DEI products or not. LinkedIn, however, said this wasn't accurate. When pressed for specifics about factual inaccuracies, LinkedIn provided only the following comment. "Like every business, the organizations that use our products change, often driven by shifts in their budgets and priorities. We're keeping our focus on helping our customers achieve the objectives they've set," a LinkedIn spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Popular Air Force event canceled for 2025
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — An event that draws a significant number of U.S. Air Force leaders to the Dayton area has been canceled for 2025. A spokesperson for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center confirmed to that the 2025 Life Cycle Industry Days has been canceled. Dayton Defense, a group of area defense organizations, released a statement saying the Air Force has received guidance to focus on 'mission-critical categories of exempted travel.' 'Based on Air Force guidance on mission-critical categories of exempted travel consistent with Executive Order 14222, 'Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative,' and in consultation with the Dayton Development Coalition and representatives of the State of Ohio, we have canceled the 9th annual Life Cycle Industry Days and Wright Dialogue with Industry this year,' said AFLCMC. In 2024, the event reported having a 'record-setting attendance.' The 2025 event was planned for July 28-29. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOD civilian employees given $1 spending limit for travel cards
The Defense Department effectively barred its civilian employees from using their government-issued travel charge cards, according to a DOD memo. The new spending rules, spelled out in a March 5 memorandum signed by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick, came a week after President Donald Trump issued a Feb. 26 executive order outlining government cost-saving initiatives, including some that targeted federal workers' spending habits. 'DOD civilian employees must cancel all future non-exempted official travel reservations, and those currently on non-exempted travel must return to their respective permanent duty stations as soon as feasible,' the DOD memo read. The spending limit for the government-issued travel cards of federal civilian employees was officially reduced to $1.00, per the instructions. The memo exempts DOD civilian employee travel that directly supports military operations or a permanent change in station. Trump's executive order — entitled 'Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative' — called for a 'transformation in federal spending' by cutting costs and harnessing the power of the increasingly controversial DOGE agency to do the heavy lifting. Pentagon touts $80M in DOGE cuts, but public receipts don't add up Two tenets of the executive order, 'non-essential travel justification' and 'credit card freeze,' provided more detailed instructions. Agencies will be tasked with installing a technological system in which approvals for federally funded travel for 'conferences and other non-essential purposes' are logged. Employees will not be allowed to travel unless the head of that agency submits a written justification through the system. Federal employees' credit cards will also be frozen for 30 days, save for credit cards tied to disaster relief or natural disaster response benefit assistance. Elon Musk, the Trump-appointed special government employee who leads DOGE and is the CEO of automotive company Tesla, has faced criticism for the substantial firings his agency has made in the name of cost savings. Cuts have impacted a long list of federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, the National Parks Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is planning to cut 80,000 employees. DOGE has also received backlash for emails it sent out requiring federal employees, including DOD civilians, to reply with a detailed list of their professional accomplishments for the week in an attempt to assess productivity.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's order to freeze 4.6M federal credit cards, reduce waste could impair services millions of Americans rely on
President Donald Trump has ordered a 30-day freeze on 4.6 million government-issued credit cards as part of a larger effort to tighten federal spending. 'This order commences a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public,' the order states. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) A near-record number of Americans are grappling with $1,000 car payments and many drivers can't keep up. Here are 3 ways to stay ahead Protect your retirement savings with these 5 essential money moves — most of which you can complete in just minutes The directive falls under the administration's Cost Efficiency Initiative, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) program, which tweeted that nearly $40 billion was charged to government-issued credit cards last year. With a federal budget promising $4.5 trillion in income tax cuts, the credit-card freeze is one aspect of the Trump administration's effort to find $2 trillion in savings to pay for those cuts. Over the years, government watchdogs have uncovered credit-card misuse, revealing charges ranging from Lego sets to multi-course meals. Last year, as the Federal Times reported, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley grilled the Pentagon on its use of credit cards earmarked for COVID-19 expenditures to purchase Nordic skiing machines, among other items. Read more: Home prices in America could fly through the roof in 2025 — here's the big reason why and how to take full advantage (with as little as $10) But beyond credit cards, Trump has made it clear his top priority in shrinking the workforce. On Jan. 20, he signed an executive order to freeze civilian hiring across departments and agencies, including the IRS. Thousands of probationary employees without civil service protections have been cut. 'We're bloated. We're sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren't doing their job,' Trump said Wednesday, when he announced plans to slash up to 65% of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has already been effectively shuttered. Meanwhile, workers at the Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration are bracing for similar cuts, raising serious concerns about how these reductions will affect critical services relied on by millions of Americans. Even the credit-card freeze has left some federal workers concerned about how their departments are supposed to function and serve Americans on a daily basis. 'Are [federal] employees still supposed to travel? Are they just supposed to use their personal cards and hope they get paid back?" one government employee asked Newsweek. Jamie Dimon issues a warning about the US stock market — says prices are 'kind of inflated.' Crashproof your portfolio with these 3 rock-solid strategies 'I like this stuff': Self-made $500M mogul and YouTuber reveals his 'essential' US portfolio that he says Amazon 'can't hurt' — here's his secret formula and how you can copy it in 2025 Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
