Latest news with #OfficeofGovernmentEfficiency
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Some Kentucky lawmakers are hoping to model the new presidential administration's increased focus on transparency and eliminating waste. If Kentucky were to create its own Office of Government Efficiency under this bill, it wouldn't exactly mirror the cuts we're seeing by the similarly named DOGE in Washington, D.C. Instead, the bill would make use of the existing powers of Kentucky's auditor. Beshear confirms 24 severe weather deaths in Kentucky 'Truck Stop Serial Killer' sentenced to an additional 65 years in prison Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE 'This is a continuing effort of fiscal responsibility,' the bill's sponsor, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield), said to lawmakers at a committee meeting on Monday. Tichenor said the intent of the bill is to see more accountability and transparency with how Kentucky spends taxpayer money. Senate Bill 257 would create a dedicated Office of Government Efficiency that operates within the existing Auditor of Public Accounts office. It would require annual performance audits of state agencies to identify waste and opportunities to cut costs. 'It's been sort of left to the wayside for the last few administrations. And that's really a matter of resources. There hasn't been the staffing; there has been the funding available to do that kind of work,' Auditor Allison Ball explained to lawmakers. Ball said this is technically nothing new, and the office already has the power to do performance audits. By putting this into law, it makes them an annual requirement, with the findings required to be published in a report each year to the governor and the Legislative Research Commission. The office would not have the power to make cuts itself. Lexington high schools ranked among Kentucky's best in 2025, according to Niche 6 day hikes for spring in Kentucky Music, food, bourbon and cars: Time for Kentucky's 2025 spring festival season 'That should give people a lot of comfort that there are guidelines. We're not just making stuff up and just sort of looking through things; there are guidelines for how to figure out 'is this efficient,'' Ball explained. Ball said the office would not need any new money right now to start hiring personnel and would lean on existing money the office is able to generate but needs the legislative green light to use. Unlike the federal DOGE, this would be a permanent function of the auditor's office. Senate budget chair Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights) voted in favor of the proposal, but not without underscoring the need to understand the full scope of the bill. 'This is one of those situations where if we get it right, it will do wonderful things. If we get it wrong, we will embarrass ourselves, and we have to be right,' McDaniel said. Linda McMahon confirmed as Trump's Education secretary Democrats want Trump to confront the human toll of layoffs at address to Congress Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE The bill passed committee with 9 members in favor and a single Democrat passing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks lawsuit, upholds Musk's authority
Since entering the White House nearly a month ago, President Donald Trump is facing a whole new kind of legal trouble. It seems that nearly every day, a federal judge pauses the progress of any one of the 65 executive orders Trump has signed so far this year. As of Monday, NewsNation reported 74 lawsuits filed against the president's executive actions, 33 of which were related to his Office of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk. Democratic politicians are trying to use legal leverage to stop the Trump administration on a variety of issues — from accessing computer data to a challenge to birthright citizenship. But Democrats had a setback Tuesday when a judge declined to immediately deny Musk and his team access to data or take away their ability to fire federal employees. The most recent lawsuit, filed last Thursday by U.S. government employees who used the pseudonym J. Doe, referred to Musk as the 'de facto DOGE Administrator.' The complaint argued that Musk does not have proper authority in his access to power due to 'a lack of any formal announcement by President Donald J. Trump or any public process affiliated with the selection of that position.' In a similar case filed in Washington, D.C., 14 Democratic attorneys general across the country sued Musk and Trump. The plaintiffs accused the tech billionaire of having an unconstitutional role in the Trump administration and claimed that Trump violated the appointments clause by creating DOGE without congressional approval. But on Tuesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee to the Federal District Court, decided to leave in place much of Musk's and the DOGE team's authority, saying the AGs had not proven irreparable harm, according to court records. 'Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight,' Chutkan said in her ruling. Though she held skepticism of Musk and the authority he has been given by Trump, she added that the lawsuit does not provide 'clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm' that would give her the judicial right to enact a temporary restraining order. Before the judge's decision was released, Nevada AG Aaron Ford told NewsNation that while he supports regulating government departments to prevent fraud, inefficiency, waste, etc., he believes that this must be done within the confines of the law. 'The fact is, the Constitution prevents the president from making unilateral changes to existing laws as they concern the structure of the executive branch and federal spending,' he said. 'The president himself is forbidden from establishing or extinguishing federal agencies. ... Nor can he delegate to someone that ability to do so.' In the complaint, the state AGs compared the issue to 18th-century British colonialism: 'Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th-century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st-century tech baron. In recent weeks, defendant Elon Musk, with President Donald J. Trump's approval, has roamed through the federal government unraveling agencies, accessing sensitive data, and causing mass chaos and confusion for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people.' Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett spoke against the lawsuit during a segment on 'Fox and Friends,' arguing that Trump has protection under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution. 'Trump is exercising a core responsibility (which is) serving the public's interest. That's his solemn duty,' Jarrett said, calling the legal question of whether Trump can appoint Musk to lead DOGE without a Senate confirmation as 'nonsense.' 'There's a large body of law that says the president absolutely can — on his own without the Senate — confer administrative powers to others like DOGE. ... Ultimately, I think the Supreme Court will weigh in, and that's where Trump will prevail, the law's on his side.' On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order establishing DOGE. On Feb. 11, he signed another DOGE-related executive order focused on its 'workforce optimization initiative.' At the signing, both Musk and Trump discussed the 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in corruption that DOGE had apparently already identified. In his remarks last Tuesday, Musk said one of DOGE's priorities is addressing the country's deficit. 'We've got a $2 trillion deficit. And if we don't do something about this deficit, the country's going to be bankrupt,' Musk said, adding that the interest payments on the debt exceed the budget of the Defense Department. If nothing changes, 'We're essentially going to bankrupt the country. So what I really want to say is it's not optional for us to reduce the federal expenses. It's essential.' Musk has been targeting programs that the Trump administration considers unnecessary. Some of his actions so far include curbing wasteful spending, securing access to the Treasury's payment system, spurring a wave of federal resignations and setting in motion plans to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Education — moves that have each triggered their own round of lawsuits. Utah Sen. Mike Lee has outwardly supported Musk and the Trump administration's efforts to regulate federal funding. Last week, he responded to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' criticism of Musk's firing of large groups of federal employees. 'If our bloated federal government can't fire employees—when it has far more of them than it can afford, and many of them aren't even showing up to work—what does that do to you and to the tax burden of the American people,' he said on social media. Lee also posted on Monday, 'The U.S. Department of Education was taking your hard-earned money and using it to foment racial tensions and promote racial discrimination(.) Not cool(.) Yet another reason to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.'
