Latest news with #DogeReview
The Independent
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Will Nigel Farage's ‘Doge' project achieve anything useful?
Having impressively seized control of 10 county councils in the recent elections, Reform UK are delivering on their promise to undertake Elon Musk/ Doge -style reviews of the operations of the various local authorities under their command. The first to get the treatment is Kent County Council. Some doubt whether such a comic-opera version of the American exercise is really serious, or if it's just a stunt... Why are they doing this? Well, it was an election pledge, and ostensibly it could save some money that would otherwise be wasted, and make some services more efficient. Nothing wrong with that. Who is on the crack team? It's fair to say that some are quite successful businesspeople, and some, apparently, are IT experts; but, unlike the US Doge brigade, the British team actually includes the new leader and deputy leader of the council, Linden Kemkaran and Brian Collins. It is also fair to say that none of the Reform UK Doge team are able to rival the expertise, let alone vast wealth, of Elon Musk (or, perhaps, the skills of the small group that the world's richest man brought to DC). Nor does the slightly pretentious letter signed by Kemkaran, Nigel Farage and Reform chair Zia Yusuf possess the gravitas of an executive order signed by the president of the United States of America. It contains a good deal of Trumpian menace, but the fact is that Kemkaran is in no stronger a position than anyone would be in a comparable role in local government. So a lot of the Reform/Doge activity, including the 'We mean business' pics, is 'performative', as they say. The full list is: Nathaniel Fried, 'open-source intelligence' guru (head of Doge) Arron Banks, businessman and Reform politician (adviser to Doge) Zia Yusuf, chair of Reform UK Linden Kemkaran, leader of Kent County Council Brian Collins, deputy leader of Kent County Council We shall see how high-powered they are, and also how easily bored. So it is a stunt? Yes, to the extent that any council leader can task their officers with finding efficiency savings, and/or hire consultants to do the same. Plus councils are regularly and independently audited in any case, by law. It's pretty unnecessary, and American Doge was, arguably, an embarrassing flop. Will there be waste, fraud and abuse? It's difficult to believe there won't be any at all, but then again it all depends on what's meant by 'waste'. Was almost the entire USAID budget consumed by waste, fraud and abuse, or did the vast majority of it save lives and serve US foreign policy? In the smaller context of a local authority area, will a flower bed enlivening the town hall, however economical its maintenance, count as essential or a frippery? What about a mother-and-toddler group? Or the green waste collections? Or, in somewhere like Lincolnshire, flood defences? These are, in reality, just routine political choices, and the whole panoply of a British Doge is unnecessary for them to be made. It's also not too cheesy to suggest that waste, fraud and abuse are simple facts of human life; that they exist, sadly, in private enterprise; and that even Musk and Trump have blown a few dollars here and there rather unwisely. What about gold-plated pensions? Most former refuse collectors, ex-leisure-centre staff and retired planners didn't earn enough for anyone to be that envious of their pension, but in any case, they are protected and their payments are contractual. The Doge team could certainly chop future pension entitlements not yet earned by staff, but that wouldn't yield much in the way of immediate savings. They could also freeze or reduce council salaries, and change future pension rules, but with the risk of industrial action and/or not being able to recruit people. The six-figure salaries of senior professionals could also be reduced, but that carries the danger of not being able to find capable replacements, and amateurs are legally only allowed to do so much. What could go wrong? Lots. As anyone with any exposure to local government knows, most of its expenditure is mandated under law – on housing, adult and child social care, and special educational needs. So this is where the major savings could be made. One way would be for contracts with, say, a care home provider to be renegotiated, with no loss of amenity for the residents in terms of their supervision, timely referrals for medical attention, cleanliness, recreation or standard of meals. Or, more crudely, a Doge-style functionary could just chop the value of the contract in half, without much interest in the horrific consequences for those in the homes, or for the children needing special help with their development. Like the Militant-run Liverpool City Council in the 1980s, political posturing and playing with people's jobs and lives could cause real suffering for purely political mischief. In extremis, a local council run by Reform UK that breaches its statutory obligations under the Local Government Act 1972 and other legislation could find itself subject to legal action brought by the secretary of state, Angela Rayner (which they'd no doubt welcome for theatrical purposes). What will Reform Doge achieve? Misery and mayhem, most likely. Yes, they will surely find some minor extravagance, misrepresent valuable programmes, and hype up whatever money they save, playing down any diminution in the services provided. Very much like the real Musk Doge show, in fact. If they do save more substantial sums – enough, say, to cut residents' council tax – then it will probably be at the expense of some highly vulnerable people, and their obligations under the law. The same goes for any attempts to ignore the strictures of the Equality Act 2010, or unlawful action against asylum-seekers, or interference in operational matters in the police force. It could get very messy.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dems slam Trump admin over alleged $436B spending block
Two top Democrats have blasted President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for what they claim is the administration's withholding of more than $430 billion in already congressionally approved funding. The frozen allotments span the federal government, according to the first estimate of the potential impoundments in the project led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who released the figures to coincide with the administration marking its 100 days in office. They accuse the Trump administration of ignoring constitutional spending rules and denying Americans the funding they are legally owed. How A Doge Review Can Actually Improve The Programs That Fight Hiv/aids Murray and DeLauro estimate that the Trump administration has withheld at least $436.87 billion in congressionally approved federal funding across multiple agencies, including for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Transportation Departent. Trump campaigned on slashing government waste and reducing the size of the federal government. He appointed Musk to be head of the Department of Government Efficiency to root out waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government in order to expedite his agenda and also sought to pull all monies for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Read On The Fox News App "While President Trump is pushing to pass massive new tax breaks for billionaires like himself, he is unilaterally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in investments owed to the American people," Murray and DeLauro said in a joint statement. "No American president has ever so flagrantly ignored our nation's spending laws or so brazenly denied the American people investments they are owed." The lawmakers released a tracker to keep the public up to date with the figures. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to verify if the figures were accurate. According to the tracker, almost $42 billion was frozen or canceled for the State Department, including the frozen support for USAID, along with another $62 billion-plus in competitive grant funding for the Transportation Department. Doge Slashes 'Wasteful' 'Problem-solving' Contract Worth $50K In Latest Round Of Eliminations The Democrats also detailed $943 million frozen for the Head Start early-education program and more than $10 billion in frozen and canceled funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The $436.87 billion is the minimum amount of federal funding the Committees believe the administration is currently freezing, canceling, or fighting in court to block, they said. "Instead of making our communities and our nation safer, President Trump is holding up public safety grants and critical investments Congress has made to strengthen our national security," the Democrats said. "Bottom line: instead of investing in the American people, President Trump is ignoring our laws and ripping resources away from them—insisting our country cannot afford to help families make ends meet at the same time he seeks over $5 trillion in new tax breaks for billionaires." The Democrats also singled out Russ Vought, the head Office of Management and Budget. The administration's refusal to spend congressionally authorized funds amounts to a challenge of the Constitution, which gives Congress oversight over spending, the lawmakers said. The administration has not submitted any formal rescission requests, as required under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The Democrats also said that DOGE promised to be transparent but has failed to provide Congressional oversight requests and refused to answer basic questions from the press. "The unprecedented lack of transparency and responsiveness makes tracking what funding is being blocked all the more difficult, and it remains the Trump administration's responsibility to not only follow our spending laws but to explain its actions to date," Murray and DeLauro said. Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Dems slam Trump admin over alleged $436B spending block
