Latest news with #governmentwaste
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour Peer Divides The Internet's With Her Exacerbated Response To Reform's Zia Yusuf
A Labour peer has drawn both praise and criticism online after her rather expressive display on BBC Newsnight last night. Thangham Debbonaire, a former shadow cabinet minister who lost her Bristol West seat to the Greens in the last election, made it very clear how she feels about Reform UK's Zia Yusuf's views while they were sharing the BBC sofa. As Reform's head of DOGE which aims to cut down on government waste, Yusuf attacked the government's new Online Safety Act, warning: 'This act makes children less safe!' Debonnaire just leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes and rested her head in her hand while he talked about how children could circumvent the new restrictions. When presenter Matt Chorley said he wanted to hear from Debonnaire, she replied: 'Why? I think he's fine on his own. Why don't we just him talk?' Her angry response came after they had already argued several times over the legislation. Debonnaire called out Yusuf when he claimed anti-government tweets had been censored on Elon Musk's social media platform X. 'Last time I looked, I'm not in charge of X, that'll be your friend Elon Musk,' she said, encouraging Yusuf to actually read the legislation. 'I have not censored X. I think you'll find if X has taken something down, that'll be down to X.' When their conversation returned to Musk later in the programme and the problems with his platform, Yusuf claimed any problems were caused by the AI algorithms. The Labour peer replied, 'oh, dear lord,' and then pointed out how, moments before, Yusuf had been blaming Debonnaire for problems with X. Her frustration quickly sparked a response on – where else? – X, with several people praising her for being so candid... But not everyone appreciated the peer's reaction to Yusuf, with some accounts suggesting she was rather rude... While a few complained she did not get enough air time at all... Related... Tory Peer Slams Reform Over 'Misinformation' Around Epping Protests With Thinly-Veiled Dig 'Ask Me Another Question': Reform MP Fumes At Journalist Over Afghan 'Sex Offenders' Row Reform UK MP Given Brutal Reality Check By BBC Journalist After On-Air Bust-Up
Fox News
22-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Evening Edition: President Trump Marks Six Months Into Second Term
President Trump has been in office for six months of his second term and it has become a much different presidency as he has been able to deliver on campaign promises, get his 'big beautiful bill' passed and has had major influence on the world stage. President Trump's second term has had a focus on the economy, cutting government waste and handling the border and illegal immigration in very aggressive ways. This week, President Trump will announce a new artificial intelligence initiative and a new executive order on the technology. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Mark Meredith, White House correspondent, who says this administration has hit the ground running this time around and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Fox News
20-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Biden admin spent hefty sum of US tax dollars to upgrade embassy swimming pools in Iraq, Russia
The Biden administration's State Department authorized more than $1 million in taxpayer funds for renovating swimming pools at U.S. embassies and mission residences in war-torn countries such as Haiti, Sudan and Iraq, a report from Sen. Joni Ernst's office found. "The Biden State Department threw a blowout summer pool party on your dime," Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Bureaucrats might think wasting millions is a drop in the bucket, but I am sick and tired of taxpayers getting tossed in the deep end by Washington," Ernst added. "I will continue working with the Trump administration to put a stop to the splashy spending of the Biden years." Ernst's office found that the State Department under the Biden administration authorized that two pools in Haiti, five in Iraq, three in Sudan, one in Russia, one in Zimbabwe and one in Ghana be renovated, totaling more than $1.2 million, according to the New York Post, which first reported on the pool renovations on Thursday. Taxpayers spent $41,259 to rehabilitate the pool at the U.S. embassy in Moscow in a contract inked three months after Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has continued raging. The purchase order was dated June 3, 2022, through Aug. 15, 2022, after the war began in February that same year. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was awarded a whopping $444,000 to replace its indoor dehumidification system for its pool in a contract that began on Sept. 27, 2024. While the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq received over $10,000 to conduct mechanical repairs to its pool, according to the Ernst report reviewed by Fox News Digital. In Sudan, taxpayers spent $24,000 in 2021 for the installation of a pool deck. Sudan has notably been under a State Department do not travel advisory "due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping," with the embassy in Khartoum suspending operations in 2023 over the ongoing violent conflicts in the nation. Some of the contracts detailed in the report have not been fully paid out, such as a $173,000 award to conduct work on a swimming pool in Indonesia at the embassy in Jakarta. The federal government has previously been criticized for the amount of taxpayer funds spent on U.S. embassies overseas, including spending hefty sums on artwork under the Obama administration, Fox Digital reported at the time. U.S. embassies are primarily funded through congressional appropriations to the U.S. Department of State. Ernst's report follows months of the Department of Government Efficiency reporting it has saved the federal government billions of dollars amid its ongoing investigations into various federal agencies in search of corruption, overspending and mismanagement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been at the forefront of gutting departments and programs under State's purview, including shuttering USAID earlier in July for failing to ensure its programs actually supported America's interests. "This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies – and which advance American interests – will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency," Rubio said in comment regarding shuttering USAID.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elmo and AIDS prevention: What is Congress targeting in their spending cuts?
Senate Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in spending cuts, targeting programs from PBS to global health initiatives, in response to a request from President Donald Trump. The proposal to claw back about $9 billion in federal funding reflects a portion of the cuts pursued by the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly spearheaded by billionaire and ex-adviser Elon Musk. The bill currently under consideration would impact the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and foreign aid agencies including the World Health Organization and U.S. Agency for International Development. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the voting process to kick off in the evening of July 15, though a final decision would likely come late July 16 or even early the next day. Lawmakers have until July 18 before Trump's request officially expires and current funding remains in place. "I'm hopeful we'll have the opportunity to get on that bill and to do something meaningful when it comes to reducing the size and scope of the federal government, particularly in areas of our government where we know there is waste, fraud and abuse," Thune said in a press conference July 15. This new push for spending reductions comes on the heels of Congress' "big, beautiful bill" saga. Trump's sweeping tax, spending and policy package squeaked through the legislature just ahead of his self-imposed July 4 deadline. Broadcasting services squeezed Republican lawmakers are looking at codifying a sliver of the almost $200 billion DOGE claims to have saved the federal government. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the amounts being slashed represent "wasteful and unnecessary spending," in the White House's formal request to Congress. That includes stripping a little more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Trump has set his sights on their recipient outlets NPR and PBS, accusing both of unfair news coverage. If Congress moves ahead on these cuts, local stations are expected to bear the brunt of lost funding. Sesame Workshop: Hacked Elmo X account posted 'disgusting messages' Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, had originally withheld support for the bill over the impact on public broadcasting, but he announced his change of mind July 15, after he said an agreement was reached to protect tribal broadcast services in his home state. Bulk of cuts hit foreign aid The legislation predominantly proposes cuts to foreign aid, including international peacekeeping efforts and certain global health initiatives. The Senate is set to remove one of the most controversial targets, though. Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine had criticized proposed rescissions for global AIDS prevention programs. Thune said Tuesday they plan to remove that $400 million cut, bringing the bill's total savings from $9.4 billion down to $9 billion and likely clearing one of the biggest hurdles for the upper chamber. "We hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate that the House would accept that one small modification," Thune said. When will Congress move on the cuts? Some lower chamber lawmakers are already grumbling about the possibility of receiving a diluted version of the bill. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, told Politico he will not agree to "a penny less" than what the House originally approved back in June. Meanwhile, some Republican senators began the week saying they were still in search of details from the White House regarding exactly which programs and accounts would be touched before they could confidently back the bill. "It's important that we succeed on this package, because I hope this is just a warm up for what should be tens of billions of dollars worth of rescissions," Thom Tillis said July 15. "I think we need to get it right." Vought joined Senate Republicans for lunch later that day, and during that meeting Sen. John Hoeven R-North Dakota, said the OMB director provided more information about where cuts would be made. "Now, whether that meets the specificity that some members have asked for, I'm not sure," Hoeven told reporters. Vought, coming out of his lunch with lawmakers, said besides the AIDS prevention program exception, the bill is continuing on intact. "I think everyone involved wants a successful result," Vought said, adding. "We'll focus on the Senate right now, then we'll focus on it going back to the House." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about Congress' $9 billion proposed spending cuts
Wall Street Journal
17-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Fed Building Renovation at the Heart of Trump's Efforts to Oust Powell
Few people noticed when a former Federal Reserve economist published a report earlier this year about ballooning costs in the central bank's headquarters renovation. Months later, that obscure budget critique has become the centerpiece of President Trump's pressure campaign against Fed Chair Jerome Powell—and his potential attempt to remove him from office. Trump might lack the legal authority to fire Powell for not lowering interest rates, but his advisers are seizing on the $2.5 billion building project as the next best thing: a concrete example of government waste that could erode the public trust Powell needs to function effectively.
