Latest news with #DepartmentOfDefence
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
CNMI's delegate seeks clarification from US Treasury on use of federal tax revenues
According to Section 703(b) of the CNMI's Covenant with the US, federal income taxes and other federal revenues derived from sources in the CNMI needs to be returned to the local government. Photo: Supplied The delegate for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to the United States Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, has formally asked the US Treasury to clarify how fedeal taxes generated in the territory are being utilised. Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds sent a formal request to US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent seeking clarification. According to Section 703(b) of the CNMI's Covenant with the US, federal income taxes and other federal revenues derived from sources in the CNMI needs to be returned to the local government. In her letter, King-Hinds raised concerns that significant tax revenues linked to federal activity in the CNMI are not being returned to the local government as the Covenant provides. She pointed specifically to recent Department of Defence construction projects on Tinian totaling more than $153 million. Despite the scale of federal spending, the CNMI government received only $87,000 in reported tax revenue. "This provision was included in the Covenant to ensure that when activity happens in the CNMI, the returns from that activity are shared with the CNMI," she said. " "The people of the Northern Marianas and our government should see the benefit of economic activity occurring in their islands, especially when it is federally funded." Section 703(b) outlines a range of federal taxes that are to be paid into the CNMI Treasury, including income taxes derived from the CNMI and taxes on goods produced or consumed in the Commonwealth. King-Hinds noted that the provision applies regardless of where a contractor is headquartered, so long as the income is derived from work in the CNMI. "Nearly five decades after this language was adopted, we still do not have clear implementation of this section," she said. "As more federal funding and contract work flows into the CNMI, the question of how those revenues are treated under the Covenant is increasingly urgent." King-Hinds is requesting that the Department of Treasury clarify its interpretation of Section 703(b) and determine whether income taxes collected on work performed in the CNMI, particularly by off-island contractors, are appropriately credited to the CNMI government. She also indicated that if legislative steps are needed to reinforce the Covenant's requirements, she is prepared to work with Congress to advance those changes. "This is a practical issue with real consequences for the CNMI's ability to operate and plan for the future," King-Hinds said. "The Covenant will only endure if we remain committed to upholding its terms and ensuring its provisions are followed, including making certain the CNMI receives the revenues it is owed. I appreciate Secretary Bessent's attention to this request and look forward to a constructive dialogue on how we can ensure the Covenant is implemented as intended." During a recent CNMI House of Representatives hearing, Rep. Marissa Flores said the CNMI only collected a mere $87,000 in fees and taxes from $153-million worth of military activities in the Northern Marianas. Flores shared that data, which she said was shared at a recent meeting with the military, at the end of the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means budget hearing from the Department of Finance (DOF) last 9 July. "Why are we not collecting? What is the problem?" Flores asked DOF and the Division of Revenue and Taxation. "All this military build-up is happening…Are you collecting tax on developer's tax at all with the military?" she added. Division of Revenue & Taxation director Daniel Alvarez responded, "I do not believe the military projects fall under developer tax. I would probably have to confirm that with legal." Flores said the CNMI also needs to monitor how many military developers are being brought in because the island does not have the workforce. "We're losing money in that area. So many projects came and left, and we're only charging on the construction tax. Again, which is another problem, because now we know that they're bringing in their construction material," she explained. The lawmaker recommended that DOF have an increased presence on Tinian. Finance Secretary Tracy Norita later clarified that it has been a long-standing issue. "This is a conversation that has been going on between the municipality of Tinian and my office and [Department of Public Works] on who's going to assess the tax. "We've received information from DPW, I believe they've asked for [the Attorney-General's] opinion on whether they can assess the tax. To this day, I don't believe they're assessing it because there is no legal authority to assess the developer's tax on the military projects. "And so at this point, I believe it's legislation that's required to specify what exactly is exempted from the developer tax, whether it's a military project with an independent contractor or only military projects that are conducted by the military themselves," Norita added. "So again, it goes back to the legislation and the authority for DPW to assess the developer's tax." DPW Secretary Ray Yumul said they submitted an internal Legal Services Request form to the CNMI AG a few months ago but have not received a response.
BBC News
14-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Musk's Grok signs $200m deal with Pentagon just days after antisemitism row
The Pentagon has signed a multi-million dollar deal to begin using Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, as part of a wider rollout of AI tools for government use, the Department of Defence on Monday by Musk's company xAI, the $200m (£149m) contract is part of its "Grok for Government" programme, and aligns with the Trump administration's push for more aggressive adoption of artificial comes just days after Grok sparked backlash for spouting antisemitic posts, including praise for Adolf Hitler on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. Musk said the bot was "too compliant" and "too eager to please". He said the issue was being addressed. Musk's xAI says the new deal will give US government departments access to Grok 4, the latest version of the chatbot, and offer custom tools for national security use. The company also plans to provide technical support for classified Pentagon also announced awarding similar contracts to Anthropic, Google and OpenAI - each with a $200m ceiling."The adoption of AI is transforming the Department's ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries," said the administration's Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty. Musk says Grok chatbot was 'manipulated' into praising HitlerWhat is AI and how does it work? Musk's expanding government partnerships come amid a deteriorating relationship with President Donald Tesla and SpaceX boss had spent a quarter of a billion dollars on Trump's re-election effort in 2024, and actively campaigned for him. He was later appointed to run the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) - a federal cost-cutting initiative tasked with reducing the size of the US government. But in recent months, Musk began openly criticising what Trump had dubbed the "Big Beautiful Bill", a sprawling spending and tax cuts legislation that the Tesla boss said was too costly for Americans. Musk resigned from his post at Doge in May, though the department has not been officially disbanded. Since then, Trump had suggested Doge could be deployed to harm Musk's also suggested he might deport Musk, who is an American citizen and was born in South Africa. He also holds Canadian citizenship. While at the helm of Doge, the White House was criticised for allowing Musk to have unfettered access to troves of government data on American the fall-out, Musk's xAI has continued to expand its government work. Its newly-announced contract may also create an avenue for that data collection to was introduced in late 2023 as a more unfiltered alternative to other AI chatbots like ChatGPT. It is already integrated into Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
South China Morning Post
02-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US munition hub plan for Philippines' Subic Bay sparks China retaliation fears
A proposal to build a US ammunition manufacturing and storage hub in Subic Bay – the site of a former American naval base in the northern Philippines – is raising fears of strategic entrapment, local economic disruption and Chinese retaliation, despite tentative backing from Manila's defence chief. Experts said while the move could help plug logistics gaps in the Indo-Pacific and deepen alliance coordination, it might also undermine the Philippines' policy of strategic ambiguity and reignite long-held fears about military dependence. The plan emerged in a report released on June 24 by the US House Committee on Appropriations' defence subcommittee, which noted the lack of a munitions hub in the region and suggested setting up one at the former Subic Bay base. 'The committee is concerned with the lack of a forward-staged ammunition manufacturing facility in the Indo-Pacific,' the report said. 'Therefore, the committee directs the Department of Defence to assess … the feasibility of establishing a joint ammunition manufacturing and storage facility at United States Naval Base Subic Bay.' Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr has welcomed the idea of a US arms hub in Subic Bay. Photo: AP Although no formal proposal has been made, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr welcomed the idea, citing potential economic and strategic benefits. 'Any production entity which would be of benefit to the Philippines, not only in terms of our resilience, but improving, giving employment and other technological transfers, that might be encouraged,' he said on Monday.
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Tracking sea ice is ‘early warning system' for global heating - but US halt to data sharing will make it harder, scientists warn
Scientists analysing the cascading impacts of record low levels of Antarctic sea ice fear a loss of critical US government satellite data will make it harder to track the rapid changes taking place at both poles. Researchers around the globe were told last week the US Department of Defence will stop processing and providing the data, used in studies on the state of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, at the end of this month. Tracking the state of sea ice is crucial for scientists to understand how global heating is affecting the planet. Sea ice reflects the sun's energy back out to space but, as long-term losses have been recorded, more of the planet's ocean is exposed to the sun's energy, causing more heating. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The National Snow and Ice Data Center, based at the University of Colorado, maintains a Sea Ice Index used around the world to track in near real-time the extent of sea ice around the globe. In two updates in the past week, the centre said the US government's Department of Defence, which owns the satellites that contain onboard instruments used to track sea ice, would stop 'processing and delivering' the data on 31 July. Climate scientists have been warning that Trump administration cuts have targeted climate functions across government, and there has been fears the sea ice data could be targeted. The news comes as new research, some of which relied on the data, found that record low amounts of sea ice around Antarctica in recent years had seen more icebergs splintering off the continent's ice shelves in a process scientists warned could push up global sea levels faster than current modelling has predicted. Dr Alex Fraser, a co-author of the research at the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), said NSIDC's sea ice data was 'our number one heart rate monitor' for the state of the planet's ice. 'It's our early warning system and tells us if the patient is about to flatline. We need this data and now [the scientific community] will be forced to put together a record from a different instrument. We won't have that continued context that we have had previously.' NSIDC has said it is working with alternative and higher-resolution instruments from a different satellite, but has warned that data may not be directly comparable with the current instruments. Fraser said: 'We are seeing records now year on year in Antarctica, so from that perspective this could not have come at a worse time.' The research, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, found a link between increasing numbers of icebergs calving from floating ice shelves and the loss of sea ice. While the loss of sea ice does not directly raise sea levels, the research said it exposed more ice shelves to wave action, causing them to break apart and release icebergs faster. Glaciologist Dr Sue Cook, also from AAPP, said 'like a cork in a bottle' those shelves help to slow down the advance of land-based ice that does raise sea levels if it breaks off into the ocean. She said the higher rates of iceberg calving seen in Antarctica were not accounted for in calculations of how quickly the ice sheet might break apart and contribute global sea levels. 'If we shift to this state where summer sea ice is very low but we continue using models based on previous periods, then we will definitely underestimate how quickly Antarctica will contribute to sea level rise,' she said. The study also outlined other knock-on effects from the record low sea ice levels in the Antarctic, including the loss of more seals and penguins if trends continued. As many as 7,000 emperor penguin chicks died in late 2022 after the early break-up of the stable ice they used for shelter while they grow their waterproof plumage. Guardian Australia has requested comment from NSIDC and the US Department of Defence.
National Post
27-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Jesse Kline: Carney can't fix the military by meeting NATO's 5% target alone
Article content During the election, Carney presented himself as a serious man coming in to clean up the mess left behind by the child we put in charge of the country for the past decade. Yet he has fallen into the typical Canadian trap of handing out goodies to the electorate without any means to pay for them and committing to international targets we have little hope of realizing. Article content There is, of course, the possibility that NATO members agreed to the five per cent target as a means of appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump, knowing full well that he will likely (this is Trump, after all) no longer be in office when they all break their promises 10 years from now. Article content But if, for the sake of argument, we were to reach that target, our defence budget would have to increase to a whopping $151.7 billion by 2035. Before we embark on such a costly excursion, it would be prudent to ask whether that level of spending is necessary to achieve our goals, or if we'll simply be flushing money down the proverbial toilet. Article content In this, the United States should serve as a case study on why not to spend money for spending's sake. Indeed, despite being the world's foremost military power — paying more for defence than the next nine highest-spending countries combined — the U.S. defence budget currently represents just 3.38 per cent of its gross domestic product. Article content Even at current levels, the Department of Defence admitted in a 2017 report that it had '19 per cent excess capacity.' And large swaths of that money gets wasted, including by purchasing equipment that is completely unnecessary. Article content As a feature published in Reason magazine earlier this year details, the U.S. military has a history of losing track of military equipment or allowing it to fall into disrepair. It also has a long track record of treating defence procurement as a make-work project. Article content In the early 2000s, for example, the U.S. Navy began designing new littoral combat ships, but they were such a failure, they ended up being nicknamed the 'Little Crappy Ship.' In 2017, the navy was already planning to replace them by 2020 but nevertheless made a budget request for one additional vessel, for the sole purpose of keeping the shipyards that produce them in business. Article content But even that wasn't enough for the Trump administration: even though the navy admitted it didn't actually want the ships, the White House altered its budget to include two vessels, at a cost of US$500 million a pop. Article content And the profligate spending continues: a press release issued by the U.S. Senate committee on appropriations last year bragged that lawmakers were allocating US$3 billion more for aviation procurement and an additional US$732 million for shipbuilding than the military had requested. Article content It's very likely that the U.S. could cut its defence budget in half and still fend off any challenges from adversaries like China or Russia, which spend a fraction of the money Americans are forced to pay. Article content Such is the peril of focusing solely on total spending, in absolute dollars or as a percentage of GDP, rather than taking the time to figure out exactly what the military needs to meet its objectives, and coming up with a concrete strategy to procure the necessary supplies. Article content When Carney announced the increase in defence spending earlier this month, he said that, 'Our goal is to protect Canadians, not to satisfy NATO accountants.' Let's hope he remembers that in the future. Article content Article content
