Latest news with #NationalMall
Washington Post
15 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Army leaders defend parade and border spending as Congress presses for answers
WASHINGTON — Army leaders on Wednesday defended spending as much as $45 million to add a parade to the service's 250th birthday celebration on June 14 in Washington, saying it will help boost recruitment, as Congress members argued that the money could be better spent on troops' barracks or other priorities. Members of the House Armed Services Committee also said they are concerned that the Defense Department is shifting about $1 billion from a variety of accounts — including base housing — to cover the costs of shoring up the defense of the southern border. Spending for the parade has become a flashpoint since it comes at a time when the Trump administration is slashing funding for personnel and programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department. While the Army has long planned for a festival on the National Mall to celebrate its 250th birthday, the parade was just recently added. President Donald Trump has long wanted a military parade in the city, after seeing an elaborate one in France on Bastille Day during his first presidential term, and June 14 is also his birthday. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., questioned whether the additional cost of the parade was appropriate since all the military services are facing 8% budget cuts, and said perhaps it could be used to improve troops' quality of life or warfighting capabilities. He prodded Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on what he would prioritize if Congress wrote him a blank check for $45 million. Driscoll replied that he thinks the parade offers a chance to tell the public about the Army. 'I believe very specifically that telling that story will directly lead to a recruiting boom and will fill up our pipeline for the coming years,' he said. At the same time, he and Gen. Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, told lawmakers that the service has now met its recruiting goal for the year — with 61,000 recruits. Army officials have predicted for months that they would hit the target early after making a series of changes to recruiting programs, recruiters and policies over the past several years. That prompted Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., to ask why the parade was needed for recruiting if it's already surging. Driscoll said the Army believes the parade 'will empower an entire new generation of America's youth to catch the spirit to serve their nation.' Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., defended the parade spending, saying 'you cannot put a price tag on patriotism.' House members on both sides of the aisle pressed the Army about a recent request to shift money from across the budget to support the southern border. The biggest concern, they said, is that it takes money away from base housing, which has been plagued with persistent problems, including mold, rodents and raw sewage in barracks. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., agreed the nation needs a strong border, but said lawmakers worked for the past year on a broad effort to address the housing problems. 'I feel like a decision was made that undermined this whole effort that we spent the last year doing.,' he said. Pressed on the issue by Carbajal, George acknowledged that redirecting the money has an impact on the barracks. 'If we took $1 billion out of barracks, we would be able to fix less barracks,' he agreed, but also said, ''You have to make choices, congressman.'
Associated Press
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Army leaders defend parade and border spending as Congress presses for answers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army leaders on Wednesday defended spending as much as $45 million to add a parade to the service's 250th birthday celebration on June 14 in Washington, saying it will help boost recruitment, as Congress members argued that the money could be better spent on troops' barracks or other priorities. Members of the House Armed Services Committee also said they are concerned that the Defense Department is shifting about $1 billion from a variety of accounts — including base housing — to cover the costs of shoring up the defense of the southern border. Spending for the parade has become a flashpoint since it comes at a time when the Trump administration is slashing funding for personnel and programs across the federal government, including the Defense Department. While the Army has long planned for a festival on the National Mall to celebrate its 250th birthday, the parade was just recently added. President Donald Trump has long wanted a military parade in the city, after seeing an elaborate one in France on Bastille Day during his first presidential term, and June 14 is also his birthday. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., questioned whether the additional cost of the parade was appropriate since all the military services are facing 8% budget cuts, and said perhaps it could be used to improve troops' quality of life or warfighting capabilities. He prodded Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on what he would prioritize if Congress wrote him a blank check for $45 million. Driscoll replied that he thinks the parade offers a chance to tell the public about the Army. 'I believe very specifically that telling that story will directly lead to a recruiting boom and will fill up our pipeline for the coming years,' he said. At the same time, he and Gen. Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, told lawmakers that the service has now met its recruiting goal for the year — with 61,000 recruits. Army officials have predicted for months that they would hit the target early after making a series of changes to recruiting programs, recruiters and policies over the past several years. That prompted Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., to ask why the parade was needed for recruiting if it's already surging. Driscoll said the Army believes the parade 'will empower an entire new generation of America's youth to catch the spirit to serve their nation.' Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., defended the parade spending, saying 'you cannot put a price tag on patriotism.' House members on both sides of the aisle pressed the Army about a recent request to shift money from across the budget to support the southern border. The biggest concern, they said, is that it takes money away from base housing, which has been plagued with persistent problems, including mold, rodents and raw sewage in barracks. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., agreed the nation needs a strong border, but said lawmakers worked for the past year on a broad effort to address the housing problems. 'I feel like a decision was made that undermined this whole effort that we spent the last year doing.,' he said. Pressed on the issue by Carbajal, George acknowledged that redirecting the money has an impact on the barracks. 'If we took $1 billion out of barracks, we would be able to fix less barracks,' he agreed, but also said, ''You have to make choices, congressman.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Carville blasts progressives like AOC with sharp new nickname
By Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville dumped on the so-called 'pom pom caucus' - progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders - as he tried to hand his party a potent issue to get them out of the gutter. In a new podcast for Politicon, the former adviser to President Bill Clinton said Democrats needed to focus on 'what they're doing to our veterans.' He also encouraged Democrats to rain on President Donald Trump's military parade - that marks both his birthday and the Army's - as it forced Vietnam veterans to move their annual commemoration from the memorial on the National Mall. 'Screw the Qatari jet and the Democrats' low numbers and who's the leader of the party and what's the message and all of the constipated, convoluted [expletive] you see and hear about,' Carville said. 'This is the No. 1 issue, this has every visual you can imagine, it's justice versus evil, it's being a great citizen to being a turncoat.' Carville pointed out how the Trump administration planned to eliminate more than 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including from the [self-murder] prevention hotline. 'This is, I think, a great time - you know, we've got the pom pom caucus out there "yeah team fight team fight, we're going to get him, we're going to get him." You actually have a piece of ground that you can fight on. It's a noble piece of ground,' Carville said. 'You don't have to go to Coachilla,' Carville continued, mispronouncing the California music festival Coachella, which Sanders addressed in April. 'Or somewhere and speak to rallies. You can do it right there and it's something that people give a [expletive] give a big [expletive] about.' Carville said that the messaging around veterans could force voters to ponder a bigger question. 'If they are going to screw and cut and trample and disrespect a veteran - what are they going to do to you?' the Democratic strategist said. He pointed out that Americans understand this issue. 'They know what a veteran is, they know what a [self-murder] is, they know what an obligation is, they know what a country is,' Carville said. The strategist also floated that it could be a winner with the moderate and progressive sides of the party. 'I would ask my friends on the progressive side of the equation, or whatever it is, this is something we can join together in,' Carville said. 'This is a fight that we can fight together.' Carville helped lead President Bill Clinton to victory in 1992 after 12 years of Republicans in the White House by moderating the Democrats' message. He sees a future where that move could work again, whereas Ocasio-Cortez (pictured), Sanders and other progressive members of the party has pushed for the Democrats to move leftward. 'So this is our golden opportunity,' Carville said. 'You do it in your hometown, do it in the courthouse square. Organize people. Bring them together. Use flags, use music. I'll tell you what's a good one, play When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. The Trump administration is going to [expletive] Johnny!' Carville suggested. 'That's what's going to happen to Johnny!' 'He's going to end up eating a .38! And his last call is going to be to a non-existent veterans [self-murder] prevention hotline,' Carville continued. 'Take that! Take that!' As for the Trump parade, which will take place the evening of June 14th - Flag Day - Carville rolled his eyes at the cost, while at the same time the administration is cutting veteran benefits. 'So he wants to have a parade and you know now it's going to cost $16 million to repair streets. Oh [expletive] that,' Carville said. 'We're not into $16 million here.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
James Carville eviscerates progressives like AOC with nasty new three-word nickname
Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville dumped on the so-called 'pom pom caucus' - progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders - as he tried to hand his party a potent issue to get them out of the gutter. In a new podcast for Politicon, the former adviser to President Bill Clinton said Democrats needed to focus on 'what they're doing to our veterans.' He also encouraged Democrats to rain on President Donald Trump 's military parade - that marks both his birthday and the Army's - as it forced Vietnam veterans to move their annual commemoration from the memorial on the National Mall. 'Screw the Qatari jet and the Democrats' low numbers and who's the leader of the party and what's the message and all of the constipated, convoluted s*** you see and hear about,' Carville said. 'This is the No. 1 issue, this has every visual you can imagine, it's justice versus evil, it's being a great citizen to being a turncoat.' Carville pointed out how the Trump administration planned to eliminate more than 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including from the suicide prevention hotline. 'This is, I think, a great time - you know, we've got the pom pom caucus out there "yeah team fight team fight, we're going to get him, we're going to get him." You actually have a piece of ground that you can fight on. It's a noble piece of ground,' Carville said. 'You don't have to go to Coachilla,' Carville continued, mispronouncing the California music festival Coachella, which Sanders addressed in April. 'Or somewhere and speak to rallies. You can do it right there and it's something that people give a s*** about - give a big s*** about.' Carville said that the messaging around veterans could force voters to ponder a bigger question. 'If they are going to screw and cut and trample and disrespect a veteran - what are they going to do to you?' the Democratic strategist said. He pointed out that Americans understand this issue. 'They know what a veteran is, they know what a suicide is, they know what an obligation is, they know what a country is,' Carville said. The strategist also floated that it could be a winner with the moderate and progressive sides of the party. 'I would ask my friends on the progressive side of the equation, or whatever it is, this is something we can join together in,' Carville said. 'This is a fight that we can fight together.' Carville helped lead President Bill Clinton to victory in 1992 after 12 years of Republicans in the White House by moderating the Democrats' message. He sees a future where that move could work again, whereas Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and other progressive members of the party has pushed for the Democrats to move leftward. 'So this is our golden opportunity,' Carville said. 'You do it in your hometown, do it in the courthouse square. Organize people. Bring them together. Use flags, use music.' 'I'll tell you what's a good one, play When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. The Trump administration is going to f*** Johnny!' Carville suggested. 'That's what's going to happen to Johnny!' 'He's going to end up eating a .38! And his last call is going to be to a non-existent veterans suicide prevention hotline,' Carville continued. 'Take that! Take that!' As for the Trump parade, which will take place the evening of June 14th - Flag Day - Carville rolled his eyes at the cost, while at the same time the administration is cutting veteran benefits. 'So he wants to have a parade and you know now it's going to cost $16 million to repair streets. Oh f*** that,' Carville said. 'We're not into $16 million here.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
DOGE took over the US Institute of Peace. Now, the inside looks like a zombie movie, security chief reveals
In March, operatives with DOGE, erratic billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, seized control of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a congressionally funded and quasi-governmental – but fully independent – nonprofit organization, following a dramatic standoff with staffers. As the DOGE team forced their way into the institute's gleaming Moshe Safdie-designed concrete-and-glass headquarters at the northwest corner of the National Mall, local police and FBI agents ejected everyone from the building, including institute president George Moose, a career diplomat who served for 30-plus years under Republican and Democratic administrations alike. The institute was established in 1984 by Republican president Ronald Reagan with a stated mission to advance international stability and promote global conflict resolution. Still, less than a month into Donald Trump's latest term as president, he issued an executive order taking aim at USIP as 'unnecessary.' DOGE then swiftly fired USIP's workforce and replaced its board with MAGA loyalists, after which the purported cost-cutting agency locked the doors to $500 million structure and essentially walked away – attracting rats and roaches and letting conditions erode to such a point that the facility will now likely require hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs, according to USIP chief of security Colin O'Brien. O'Brien, along with a contract engineer, was the first to thoroughly inspect the institute's building last month after a federal judge declared DOGE's takeover illegal, ruling its actions as 'null and void.' O'Brien, a U.S. Army veteran who then worked in law enforcement before joining USIP in August 2023, said what he found was, in a word, 'offensive.' The offices that were abandoned for two months looked like a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie, frozen in time, with everything left exactly as it was when the house was cleaned out, according to O'Brien. And this, he said, was precisely the problem. 'Anyone who manages large commercial buildings understands that maintenance is not something you can just stop doing for two months,' O'Brien told The Independent. 'After DOGE took over, they canceled a lot of contracts and critical functions stopped happening.' Rodents became a problem because DOGE employees neglected to clear out any of the food left on the premises after taking over, O'Brien explained. USIP had a cafe managed by a contractor, with food being stored onsite, he said. Additionally, O'Brien said, USIP personnel had food in refrigerators throughout the building, along with snack items they didn't have a chance to remove from desks and cabinets before DOGE summarily booted them from the property. Over the next eight weeks, DOGE wouldn't let any USIP staff in the building, and didn't do anything to prevent the moldering food from spoiling further, which quickly attracted vermin. Roaches were also attracted to the abandoned perishables throughout the space, entering through wastewater and drainage pipes that had dried up from lack of use, O'Brien said. 'There were several water leaks, as well, that contributed to their ability to come into the building,' he added. Beyond the various infestations, O'Brien recalled that, among other things, ceiling tiles were mysteriously missing throughout the building, water damage was rampant, vehicle barriers had become non-operational, and weeds were growing in the cooling tower on the roof – a potential vector for Legionnaires' disease. Since the location was left without adequate security, graffiti also appeared on an exterior wall. 'These things can turn into major, $100,000-plus repairs for lack of maintenance,' O'Brien said. 'Now we're in a rush to play catchup.' However, according to O'Brien, the issues 'went beyond maintenance.' 'They ripped the main logo off the wall when you come into the lobby, and while we have most of the parts back, would you be surprised that we're still missing four letters: U, S, I, and P?' O'Brien said. 'That's not coincidental.' More than a dozen USIP flags were also removed from their flagpoles and remain unaccounted for, which O'Brien believes were taken, along with the USIP logo remnants, as 'war trophies.' He called the situation 'uncharted,' and struggles to accurately put into words the mix of emotions he felt upon walking back into the USIP building. 'The closest thing you can compare this to is McCarthyism, and even that pales in comparison to the total destruction that is occurring right now,' O'Brien said. O'Brien's colleagues at USIP are 'the most incredible group of people, who care about making the world better,' oftentimes at the expense of their own health and personal safety, he continued. While the current administration claims to see USIP's programs as expendable, the institute in fact grew during Trump's first turn in office from 2016 to 2020. To O'Brien, the disconnect is massive. '[Trump] gets sworn in on January 20, and in his inauguration speech, he said, 'I'm a peacemaker,'' O'Brien said. 'USIP is the only publicly-funded private institution that is dedicated to peace in the developed world. We are unique, with a 40-year legacy of trying to do the right thing and make this world just a little bit better.' Regardless of political affiliation, the men and women at USIP are still prepared to cooperate with the Trump administration however necessary 'in order to leave the world a little bit better than we found it,' according to O'Brien. 'It's not that we're against the administration, or against Trump,' he said. 'It's that we're ready to do this work with whomever.' On May 19, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the DOGE seizure of USIP had been unlawful, and ordered Moose and his staff reinstated. In handing down her opinion, Howell said Trump's 'efforts here to take over an organization… represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better.' As USIP once again assumes control of its building, Musk left DOGE as his 130-day tenure as a 'special government employee' comes to an end. The hastily formed agency managed only a fraction of its promised spending reductions, while crippling a raft of vital government programs and reportedly leading Trump to ask, ' Was it all bulls**t?' The 80-year-old Moose now has a daunting task in reconstituting and relaunching USIP, according to O'Brien, who insisted he 'would take a bullet' for his boss 'without hesitation.' 'He is that kind of person, a wonderful man, great leader, and something to live up to,' O'Brien said. 'Ride or die, I'm standing next to him.'
