Latest news with #Washington
Washington Post
27 minutes ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
DC United, New England withstand each other in furious ending for 1-1 draw
WASHINGTON — DC United's Gabriel Pirani leveled it in extra time and New England keeper Aljaz Ivacic made two key saves and the two teams each gained a point with a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night. Pirani scored a minute into extra time to pull DC United (3-7-6) into a 1-all tie. His left-footed shot from the left outside the box found the top left corner.
Zawya
33 minutes ago
- Business
- Zawya
Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure
WASHINGTON - Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after leading a tumultuous efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies, but ultimately failed to deliver the generational savings he had sought. His "off-boarding will begin tonight," a White House official told Reuters late Wednesday, confirming Musk's departure from government. Musk earlier on Wednesday took to his social media platform X to thank President Donald Trump as his time as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency draws to an end. His departure was quick and unceremonious. He did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, who added that his departure was decided "at a senior staff level." While the precise circumstances of his exit were not immediately clear, he leaves a day after criticizing Trump's marquee tax bill, calling it too expensive and a measure that would undermine his work with the U.S. DOGE Service. Some senior White House officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, were particularly irked by those comments, and the White House was forced to call Republican senators to reiterate Trump's support for the package, a source familiar with the matter said. While Musk remains close to the president, his exit comes after a gradual, but steady slide in standing. After Trump's inauguration, the billionaire quickly emerged as a powerful force in Trump's orbit: hyper-visible, unapologetically brash and unfettered by traditional norms. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he brandished a red metallic chainsaw to wild cheers. "This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," he declared. On the campaign trail, Musk had said DOGE would be able to cut at least $2 trillion in federal spending. He did not hide his animus for the federal workforce, and he predicted that revoking "the COVID-era privilege" of telework would trigger "a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome." But some cabinet members who initially embraced Musk's outsider energy grew wary of his tactics, sources said. Over time, they grew more confident pushing back against his job cuts, encouraged by Trump's reminder in early March that staffing decisions rested with department secretaries, not with Musk. Musk clashed with three of Trump's most senior cabinet members - Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He called Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro a "moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks." Navarro dismissed the insults, saying, "I've been called worse." At the same time, Musk began to hint that his time in government would come to a close, while expressing frustration at times that he could not more aggressively cut spending. In an April 22 Tesla conference call, he signaled he would be significantly scaling back his government work to focus on his businesses. DOGE GOES ON Musk's 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was set to expire around May 30. The administration has said DOGE's efforts to restructure and shrink the federal government will continue. "The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government," Musk said. Trump and DOGE have managed to cut nearly 12%, or 260,000, of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce largely through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, a Reuters review of agency departures found. Musk on Tuesday criticized the price tag of Republicans' tax and budget legislation making its way through Congress. "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk told CBS News. His political activities have drawn protests and some investors have called for him to leave his work as Trump's adviser and more closely manage Tesla, which has seen falls in sales and its stock price. Musk, the world's richest person, has defended his role as an unelected official who was granted unprecedented authority by Trump to dismantle parts of the U.S. government. Having spent nearly $300 million to back Trump's presidential campaign and other Republicans last year, he said earlier this month he would substantially cut his political spending. "I think I've done enough," Musk said at an economic forum in Qatar. (Reporting by Nandita Bose, David Shepardson and Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing by Chris Sanders and Stephen Coates)
Washington Post
38 minutes ago
- General
- Washington Post
D.C. United ends goal drought with a dose of drama, earns draw with Revs
Weeks had passed since D.C. United last scored in league play, match after winless match as the toothless MLS club tumbled down the Eastern Conference standings. Wednesday's disheveled affair against the New England Revolution was clunking along on a similar empty path when, as the 90th minute gave way to stoppage time, Gabriel Pirani smashed a shot of power and purity.
The National
an hour ago
- Business
- The National
US judge to hear closing arguments before deciding penalty in Google antitrust case
A federal judge is set to hear closing arguments on Friday before determining how he will punish Google for illegally maintaining a search engine monopoly. The case, brought by the US government, could throw Google's expansion plans into turmoil just as it looks to strengthen its artificial intelligence offerings. District Judge Amit Mehta last year sided with the US Justice Department and ruled that Alphabet-owned Google had been illegally exploiting its dominance in the search sector to stifle competition, ultimately harming consumers with less choice. Last month, the trial moved into a second phase, with Mr Mehta listening to technology executives, economists and regulatory experts as he considers what penalty he will levy against Google. His decision could be one of the most consequential in technology regulation since 1982, when the Department of Justice broke up AT&T's monopoly through its Bell telephone system. Another landmark case came in 2000 when a judge found that Microsoft breached antitrust laws by engaging in predatory practices. The Justice Department wants Mr Mehta to enact far-reaching penalties that would be a warning to other companies. Prosecutors want Google to divest its popular Chrome browser from its portfolio, and it wants the tech giant to share coveted search data with competitors. The department also wants to end the lucrative deals arranged by Google where it pays companies such as Samsung and Apple to make Google's search tool the default option on devices. Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, has studied antitrust policy for several decades. He said Google's ubiquitous presence presents the judge with a unique challenge. Mr MacCarthy voiced concerns that a court-ordered requirement for Google to share users' search data could see companies exploit that information without people's consent. Forcing Google to share data "would require unprecedented co-operation among the courts involved", he said. 'My view is that this would be better done by a new digital regulatory agency.' Google has been pushing its own proposed remedies. These are far lighter than those proposed by the department, including a solution that would give users the ability to change their default search provider at least every 12 months. 'Our proposal allows browsers to continue to offer Google Search to their users and earn revenue from that partnership … but it also provides them with additional flexibility,' Google said, adding that it would give options to hardware sellers to make deals with other search engines. 'Browser companies like Apple and Mozilla should continue to have the freedom to do deals with whatever search engine they think is best for their users.' Google has also proposed what it described as a 'robust mechanism' to ensure that it would comply with the proposed remedy. The case playing out in Washington is not the only legal battle Google is fighting. The tech giant is appealing against part of a recent ruling that found it unfairly used its internet advertising dominance and crushed competitors. In that case, both Google and the government are trying to shape what remedy will ultimately be decided. The worst-case scenario for Google in that case could be that it is forced to spin off its advertising technology division, which would mean the loss of a significant amount of revenue for the search engine. Perhaps more importantly, whatever ensues could have ripple effects across the technology ecosystem revolving around Google. Eric Mulheim, chief financial officer of Mozilla, maker of the Firefox web browser, spoke about that shortly after testifying in the antitrust remedy trial. 'We believe the court should ensure that small and independent browsers are not harmed in any final remedies,' Mr Mulheim said, referring to Mozilla's paid partnership with Google that could be threatened by what the judge decides. 'Without this, we risk trading one monopoly for another, and the vibrant, people-first web we've spent decades fighting for could begin to fade." In a separate court filing, Mozilla pushed for a 'more tailored' approach to whatever remedies are decided on, that will not affect independent web browsers. Even with so much legal scrutiny, in terms of influence, market share and revenue, Google is still a force to be reckoned with. To regulators, that is the whole point, and the legal walls seem to be closing in. On Friday, however, both Google and the department have one more chance to influence the final decision as Mr Mehta considers closing arguments.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Musk to exit US government role after rare break with Trump
Billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday announced he was leaving his role in the US government, intended to reduce federal spending, shortly after his first major break with President Donald Trump over his signature spending bill. 'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' he wrote on his social media platform X. 'The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,' he added. The South African–born tech tycoon had said Trump's bill would increase the deficit and undermine the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has fired tens of thousands of people. Musk – who was a constant presence at Trump's side before pulling back to focus on his SpaceX and Tesla businesses – also complained that DOGE had become a 'whipping boy' for dissatisfaction with the administration. 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk said in an interview with CBS News, an excerpt of which aired late Tuesday. Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' – which passed the US House last week and now moves to the Senate – offers sprawling tax relief and spending cuts and is the centerpiece of his domestic agenda. But critics warn it will decimate health care and balloon the national deficit by as much as 4 trillion dollars over a decade. 'A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both. My personal opinion,' Musk said in the interview, which will be aired in full on Sunday. The White House sought to play down any differences over US government spending, without directly naming Musk. 'The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill,' Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said on Musk's social network, X, after the tech titan's comments aired. All DOGE cuts would have to be carried out through a separate bill targeting the federal bureaucracy, according to US Senate rules, Miller added. But Musk's comments represented a rare split with the Republican president whom he helped propel back to power, as the largest donor to his 2024 election campaign. Trump tasked Musk with cutting government spending as head of DOGE, but after a feverish start Musk announced in late April he was mostly stepping back to run his companies again. Musk complained in a separate interview with The Washington Post that DOGE, which operated out of the White House with a staff of young technicians, had become a lightning rod for criticism. 'DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,' Musk told the newspaper at the Starbase launch site in Texas ahead of SpaceX's latest launch on Tuesday. 'Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.' Musk blamed entrenched US bureaucracy for DOGE's failure to achieve all of its goals – although reports say his domineering style and lack of familiarity with the currents of Washington politics were also major factors. 'The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,' he said. 'I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC, to say the least.' Musk has previously admitted that he did not achieve all his goals with DOGE even though tens of thousands of people were removed from government payrolls and several departments were gutted or shut down. Musk's own businesses suffered in the meantime. Protesters against the cost-cutting targeted Tesla dealerships while arsonists even torched a few of the electric vehicles, and the firm's profits slumped. 'People were burning Teslas. Why would you do that? That's really uncool,' Musk told the Post. Musk has also been focusing on SpaceX after a series of fiery setbacks to his dreams of colonizing Mars – the latest of which came on Tuesday when its prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean. The tycoon last week also said he would pull back from spending his fortune on politics, having spent around a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump.
