Latest news with #SquealAwards
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. Ernst, Don't Stop Making 'Em Squeal
Sen. Joni Ernst has a ten-year record of identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in government projects and came into office with the tagline "Make Em Squeal." With a record like this, it was no surprise that she was tapped to lead the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus. Also unsurprisingly, DOGE has angered many on the left who have not stopped squealing about its work and have now decided to launch an old-fashioned smear campaign against this mother, Iowan leader, and Army veteran. Ernsts war on waste has been effective across the federal government - forcing federal bureaucrats back to the office, selling off underutilized and vacant federal office space, auditing the IRS, and exposing tax evaders at the agency. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Ernst has worked diligently to ensure the Pentagon discloses the costs of its projects that are funded by the federal government and championed efforts to end redundant and bogus spending. The senator has been calling for the timely completion of a financial audit of the Department of Defense for years, in order to ensure accountability and transparency while also identifying savings for the taxpayer. In 2019, she recognized the Pentagon for wasteful government spending, citing its purchase of 25 coffee cups with a price tag of $1,220 each and its award of an almost $4 million grant to determine whether junk food is more distracting than healthy food. Sen. Ernst is a sexual assault survivor who came to the U.S. Senate as the first female combat veteran. She has been a leader in pushing the military to reform its handling of sexual assault cases. Working in a bipartisan way, she introduced the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act that would professionalize how the military prosecutes serious crimes by moving the decision to prosecute from the chain of command to independent, trained, professional military prosecutors. The senator has no problem standing up to her brothers and sisters in the military and demanding better. To think a strong leader such as this might be unduly influenced in matters of the military is insulting. Its insulting to women and its insulting to anyone wearing the uniform. Sen. Ernst distributes monthly "Squeal Awards" to those who act piggish by wasting taxpayer dollars. Perhaps she should create a special round of Squeal Awards in response to this left-wing smear campaign: The first award goes to Pro-Publica, the donor-funded news organization that considers itself an "independent, nonprofit newsroom," which published the piece trying to discredit the senator. It is no surprise that Pro-Publica skews left; its funded by George Soros and cranks out hit piece after hit piece on conservative Supreme Court justices, Republican members of Congress, and other leaders on the right. A sloppy innuendo-filled "article" about a strong Republican woman leader working to support President Trumps DOGE mission is no surprise. The second award goes to Virginia Canter, an "ethics expert," who served as associate counsel to President Clinton at the White House, where she provided advice on ethics. Just ask Monica Lewinsky how that turned out. Canter currently works for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and, not surprisingly, this organization sued the DOGE Service last month. It seems a bit too cozy that someone affiliated with CREW is the only named source and is extensively quoted throughout the hit piece. The third and final award goes to anyone who reads the defamatory article and doesnt consider it flimsy nonsense. Sen. Ernst should show the same resolve and soldier spirit she has shown throughout her career and continue pressing on with her hard work despite those seeking to slander her. Dont stop making em squeal, Senator. Andrea G. Bottner is vice president of external relations for Independent Women and former acting director of the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DRAIN THE SWAMP Act seeks to move DC bureaucracy ‘out of crazy town,' House DOGE leader says
EXCLUSIVE: House DOGE Caucus founder Aaron Bean, R-Fla., will put forward the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act this week as part of continuing legislative attempts to target government waste. The bill aims to require that federal agency heads relocate about one-third of headquarters-based employees "outside the Beltway" while finding ways to save taxpayer money through moves like selling underused Washington, D.C., office space. Bean, who launched the bipartisan DOGE caucus in November, said his bill, which stands for the Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide To Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration and Management Priorities Act is what is needed to bring more accountability to Washington's bureaucracy. "The swamp is thick and deep here in crazy town, and I'm here to drain it," Bean told Fox News Digital Wednesday. Doge Meets Congress: Fl Rep Launches Caucus To Help Musk "It is time to remind Washington that our duty is to serve the American people," the Fernandina Beach lawmaker added. Read On The Fox News App Agencies exempt from the legislation include the Pentagon, DHS, CIA and NSA, which is based at Fort George G. Meade near Glen Burnie, Maryland. The remaining 70% of the federal workforce allowed to remain in and around the district would be required to work in person 100% of the time under the legislation. Education Bill Would Require Parental Notification To Trace Foreign Funding Of Curriculum As China Looks On The Office of Management and Budget, an executive cabinet agency, would then be directed to work toward selling — or not renewing leases on — office space vacated by the relocated bureaucrats, saving taxpayer funds. Bean quipped that the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act will ensure the federal government works for the people "and not the other way around." Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Bean's DOGE counterpart in the upper chamber, also put forward companion legislation, which helps speed up the process of reconciling House and Senate versions of a bill to make it to the president's desk. "The federal workforce has shown they clearly don't want to work in D.C., and I am going to make their dreams come true," said Ernst, who previously highlighted waste, fraud and abuse through her "Squeal Awards" that root out government "pork." Since founding the DOGE caucus, Bean has added two GOP co-chairmen to the ranks — representatives Pete Sessions of Texas and Blake Moore of Utah. Sessions, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, previously highlighted the $2.7 trillion in reported fraud and improper government payments over the past 20 years. "This is an absolutely unacceptable misuse of taxpayer dollars. Hardworking Americans deserve a government that works efficiently and effectively," Sessions said at the time. In that regard, the executive branch's DOGE leader, Elon Musk, said Tuesday from the Oval Office that finding and ending improper and sometimes anonymous payments will save U.S. taxpayers a lot of money. Musk added DOGE oversight led to the discovery that, in at least one instance, Social Security payments were being made to people recorded to be 150 years old. Moore holds key roles on the Budget and Ways & Means article source: DRAIN THE SWAMP Act seeks to move DC bureaucracy 'out of crazy town,' House DOGE leader says
Fox News
12-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
DRAIN THE SWAMP Act seeks to move DC bureaucracy ‘out of crazy town,' House DOGE leader says
EXCLUSIVE: House DOGE Caucus founder Aaron Bean, R-Fla., will put forward the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act this week as part of continuing legislative attempts to target government waste. The bill aims to require that federal agency heads relocate about one-third of headquarters-based employees "outside the Beltway" while finding ways to save taxpayer money through moves like selling underused Washington, D.C., office space. Bean, who launched the bipartisan DOGE caucus in November, said his bill, which stands for the Decentralizing and Reorganizing Agency Infrastructure Nationwide To Harness Efficient Services, Workforce Administration and Management Priorities Act is what is needed to bring more accountability to Washington's bureaucracy. "The swamp is thick and deep here in crazy town, and I'm here to drain it," Bean told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "It is time to remind Washington that our duty is to serve the American people," the Fernandina Beach lawmaker added. Agencies exempt from the legislation include the Pentagon, DHS, CIA and NSA, which is based at Fort George G. Meade near Glen Burnie, Maryland. The remaining 70% of the federal workforce allowed to remain in and around the district would be required to work in person 100% of the time under the legislation. The Office of Management and Budget, an executive cabinet agency, would then be directed to work toward selling — or not renewing leases on — office space vacated by the relocated bureaucrats, saving taxpayer funds. Bean quipped that the DRAIN THE SWAMP Act will ensure the federal government works for the people "and not the other way around." Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Bean's DOGE counterpart in the upper chamber, also put forward companion legislation, which helps speed up the process of reconciling House and Senate versions of a bill to make it to the president's desk. "The federal workforce has shown they clearly don't want to work in D.C., and I am going to make their dreams come true," said Ernst, who previously highlighted waste, fraud and abuse through her "Squeal Awards" that root out government "pork." Since founding the DOGE caucus, Bean has added two GOP co-chairmen to the ranks — representatives Pete Sessions of Texas and Blake Moore of Utah. Sessions, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, previously highlighted the $2.7 trillion in reported fraud and improper government payments over the past 20 years. "This is an absolutely unacceptable misuse of taxpayer dollars. Hardworking Americans deserve a government that works efficiently and effectively," Sessions said at the time. In that regard, the executive branch's DOGE leader, Elon Musk, said Tuesday from the Oval Office that finding and ending improper and sometimes anonymous payments will save U.S. taxpayers a lot of money. Musk added DOGE oversight led to the discovery that, in at least one instance, Social Security payments were being made to people recorded to be 150 years old. Moore holds key roles on the Budget and Ways & Means Committee.
