Latest news with #SEC
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fox News
DOGE slashes over $5 million by cutting thousands of unused software licenses
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saved over $5 million a year after discovering several agencies paid for far more software than they were actually using. For example, the IRS was paying for 3,000 licenses for software but only used 25. Once DOGE discovered the waste, it cut the remaining 99% of the licenses. "Agencies often have more software licenses than employees, and the licenses are often idle (i.e. paid for, but not installed on any computer)," DOGE wrote in a post on X. "These audits have been continuously run since first posted in February." The Department of Labor slashed 68% of unused "project planning" software licenses, DOGE noted, and the Securities and Exchange Commission cut 78% of the remote desktop software programs it was paying for after finding the commission was only using 22% of the programs. According to DOGE, the three changes saved over $5 million a year. DOGE raised a red flag in February that agencies were paying for more software licenses than employees when it shared a post about the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). With 13,000 employees, GSA was paying for 37,000 licenses for WinZip, a program used to archive and compress files. The agency also pays for 19,000 training software subscriptions, 7,500 project management software seats for a division with only 5,500 employees and three different ticketing systems. The most recent post comes as billionaire Elon Musk steps down as the face of DOGE. While DOGE was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the budget, its efforts led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment cuts and other ways to eliminate costs, according to an update on DOGE's website. The savings translate to about $1,087 in per taxpayer, the website notes. Musk told reporters in the Oval Office Friday the savings will continue to build, and he is confident total cuts will amount to $1 trillion in the coming years. "The DOGE influence will only grow stronger," Musk said. "I liken it to a sort of person of Buddhism. It's like a way of life, so it is permeating throughout the government. And I'm confident that, over time, we'll see $1 trillion of savings, and a reduction in $1 trillion of waste, fraud reduction."
USA Today
5 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Texas A&M star third baseman will reportedly return for the 2026 season
Texas A&M star third baseman will reportedly return for the 2026 season Friday's news was both positive and negative for the Texas A&M fan base after Athletic Director Trev Alberts announced that first-year head baseball coach Michael Earley will return for a second season in 2026, following the Aggies' 30-26 and 11-19 records in SEC play. This was a surprise to many given Texas A&M's bizarre season, which included early non-conference losses combined with three consecutive SEC series losses before the Aggies randomly found their footing, winning series against Tennessee (road), South Carolina, Arkansas, and LSU, before last-place Missouri shockingly swept A&M in Blue Bell Park. The loss to the Tigers ultimately ended the Aggies' postseason hopes, following their defeat to Georgia at the end of the regular season. Despite wins over Mississippi State and Auburn in the SEC Tournament, Texas A&M was eliminated from the postseason after a close 4-3 loss to LSU, casting doubt on Earley's future. This week, Trev Alberts stated that he would "evaluate" Earley's performance during his rookie coaching season, concluding that the injuries the team dealt with at the plate and on the mound ultimately proved too much to handle, which included star sophomore third baseman Gavin Grahovac. With the news that Michael Earley will stay in College Station, Grahovac reportedly told TexAgs analyst Ryan Brauninger that he will officially return next season after serving as the program's first base coach towards the end of the year, while continuing to rehab, and will be in full health going into the winter months. Before his injury, Grahovac recorded five hits and two home runs in six games, hitting .227 at the plate. This is just the start of the future return announcement, with Earley's return finalized. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
US SEC lays out plan to keep budget flat, lower staff levels
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said it was asking Congress to keep its budget unchanged next year and its workforce significantly leaner following recent deep staff cuts. The agency asked for $2.15 billion in funding for the 2026 fiscal year, keeping levels flat from the current amount approved by lawmakers. The budget request, published on the agency's website on Friday, also said the SEC is seeking a total of 4,101 full-time positions versus the current year's congressionally approved level of 4,548, a drop of 9.8%. Paul Atkins, the agency's chairman, is due to deliver Senate testimony about the budget request on Tuesday. An agency spokesperson declined to comment beyond the contents of the budget request. The SEC's current fiscal year runs through the end of September. The annual request shows the agency expects to remain significantly leaner after hundreds of employees left the agency through early-resignation programs. Wall Street's top regulator saw key divisions lose 15% to 19% of their full-time headcount over the course of several weeks earlier this year. Some 600 staff have taken resignation offers amid President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to remake the federal workforce. Keeping its budget flat will give the agency an excess of $100 million in its coffers, the report said. The SEC said the excess funding may be needed because of a "number of uncertainties", including the potential for Congress to give the regulator responsibilities from a U.S. audit watchdog that may be effectively eliminated.
CNBC
6 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
$TRUMP and other meme coins won't be protected by SEC, Commissioner Hester Peirce says
LAS VEGAS — Now that the SEC is out of the business of regulating meme coins, investors shouldn't expect any guidance on $TRUMP, according to Hester Peirce, one of the agency's veteran commissioners. The SEC said in February that it does not deem most meme coins securities under U.S. federal law. That took the crypto tokens out of its purview just weeks after President Donald Trump launched his own meme coin and saw it immediately soar in value, lifting his paper net worth by billions of dollars. Peirce told CNBC that it's a similar situation to when nonfungible tokens (NFTs) gained popularity in 2021. They weren't securities but they did rise and fall in value based on investor activity in the market. Peirce said the SEC missed an opportunity to announce publicly that the agency wasn't getting involved. "Here was something where I saw a lot of interest in this out in the world — in meme coins — and it made sense for us to say, 'People, if you are expecting that there's SEC protection around these, you should not expect that,'" Peirce said in an interview at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas. "You can package almost anything into a securities transaction. But generally, it's good for people to know, I should not be looking to the SEC for protection in this area." In other words, buy at your own risk. Since President Trump took office in January, the SEC has been rolling back its enforcement in crypto, taking a more industry-friendly approach to the asset class. It's a controversial strategy, as the president and his family deepen their involvement in crypto, profiting in a way that's led many Democratic lawmakers to declare a clear conflict of interest. The $TRUMP token, 80% of which is controlled by the Trump Organization and affiliated entities, has become the centerpiece of Trump's expanding crypto empire. Like most meme coins, the token has no underlying value. But after debuting in January, just ahead of the inauguration, $TRUMP soared to a $15 billion market cap, fueled by President Trump's social media posts declaring, "It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!" Within days, the token lost most of its value. Still, the project creators get a fee for every trade. The White House previously told CNBC that Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children, and there are "no conflicts of interest." But Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, is among a growing list of Democratic lawmakers warning that the Trump family's crypto holdings may serve as a backdoor for foreign and corporate interests seeking access to the president. Meanwhile, crypto billionaires once targeted by regulators like the SEC are regaining political and financial influence. On Thursday, the SEC dropped its long-running lawsuit against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao, bringing to an end one of the most aggressive crypto enforcement actions brought by former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. The agency had accused Binance of misleading investors, commingling customer funds, and allowing wealthy U.S. users to evade restrictions. After pleading guilty to federal money-laundering violations in November 2023, Zhao served just four months in prison and emerged with most of his crypto empire intact. Forbes now estimates his net worth at over $67 billion. Leading up to the dismissal, Zhao had deepened ties to Trump-affiliated networks. As Binance prepared to list USD1, a new stablecoin that funnels profits to Trump-aligned entities, Zhao disclosed that he had applied for a presidential pardon from Trump's Justice Department. Weeks later, Binance received a $2 billion capital injection into USD1 from an Emirati state fund. Peirce rejected the idea the SEC's actions are politically motivated. "We didn't have a clear set of rules," Peirce said, regarding the Binance case. "There were a lot of questions about how this particular activity in the crypto space intersected with our existing securities laws. So we're trying to take a step back, use our regulatory tools to write those rules, and then enforce those rules." That same philosophy guided the SEC's January decision to rescind Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, a controversial directive that had effectively blocked traditional financial institutions from offering crypto custody. "It wasn't even a rule," Peirce said. "It didn't go through the normal process. it was just a pronouncement." She said the policy had the effect of excluding banks and other experienced custodians from participating in the crypto space. "It said that lots of traditional entities that would have done custody for crypto, practically speaking, could not participate," she said.
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Next-Gen Crypto Funds That Offer Rewards Beckon After SEC Signal
A new generation of crypto ETFs that allow investors to earn yield — not just bet on prices — looked poised for their Wall Street debut. REX Financial and Osprey Funds have received a so-called effective registration from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for two new exchange-traded funds tied to Ethereum and Solana on Friday. These products offer so-called staking, which allows investors to earn rewards by pledging Ether tokens to help operate the blockchain.
