The Michigan Republican-controlled House used a little-known provision in state law to cut $645 million in government funding, including slashing multiple left-wing causes, last week.
The cuts were a major move for Republicans who are up against a Democrat-controlled state Senate and a Democratic governor that have pushed for bigger state budgets and a more expansive state government. Republican House Speaker Matt Hall told The Daily Wire that the cuts came after Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer asked for an extension on $2.7 billion that had been earmarked under a previous budget, but had not been spent by the end of the fiscal year.
&#8220;We had the opportunity using this law to cut more spending before Whitmer was able to put it into her slush funds,&#8221; Hall said.
The State Budget Office, which is controlled by Whitmer, sent letters to the House and Senate budget committees, requesting an extension on the $2.7 billion in funding that was not used, Bridge Michigan <a href="https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-house-cancels-645m-in-state-spending-without-senate-ok/">reported</a>. The GOP-controlled House budget committee opposed many of the programs in the Whitmer administration&#8217;s funding request and decided to send $645 million back to the state&#8217;s general fund.
Hall accused Whitmer and Democrats of requesting &#8220;a lot more money than they need&#8221; for the budget extension, adding, &#8220;And then they keep the money and they work-project it into their slush fund, so they have it for years.&#8221;
The <a href="https://wwmt.com/news/local/645-million-programs-cut-michigan-house-republicans-work-projects-appropriations-money-politics-wwmt">biggest cut</a> was $159 million to Whitmer&#8217;s Make It in Michigan Competitiveness Fund. The fund, which Whitmer created with the approval of the state legislature in 2024, matches federal grants with the state&#8217;s job creation goals. Another target of the Republican cuts was the Community Enhancement Grants, which were denied nearly $103 million. Some of the money from the grants has gone toward a festival in Detroit to celebrate diversity, according to WWMT <a href="https://wwmt.com/news/local/645-million-programs-cut-michigan-house-republicans-work-projects-appropriations-money-politics-wwmt">News Channel 3</a>. The Community Enhancement Grants were combined under one line item, meaning Republicans had to cut all of them to slash funding for the grants that promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
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Other priorities that were among the Republican cuts included over $1.2 million for a program aimed at stocking public bathrooms with feminine hygiene products. Hall told The Daily Wire that the program also requires boys&#8217; bathrooms to be stocked with tampons. Republicans also slashed funding for some of Whitmer&#8217;s green energy projects, such as her goal to build electric vehicle chargers along the coast of Lake Michigan.
Another department that took a hit from the cuts was the Office of Global Michigan, which housed a program that Whitmer used to make government handouts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-republicans-sound-alarm-on-state-program-potentially-giving-illegal-immigrants-up-to-500-per-month-in-rental-assistance">available to illegal immigrants</a>. The Office of Global Michigan, which lost around $1.3 million in the cuts, is also riddled with diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
Michigan Democrats blasted Republicans over the cuts, calling them &#8220;cruel&#8221; and &#8220;disgusting.&#8221; Democrats specifically called out cuts to the RxKids program, which helps some parents pay for their children&#8217;s prescriptions. Democrats also blasted Republicans for making cuts to &#8220;Wigs for Kids,&#8221; which provides wigs and other services for children going through cancer treatments. Democratic state Rep. Will Snyder said the GOP cuts were one of the most “unprecedented displays of cruelty that I’ve ever seen during my time here in Lansing,” according to <a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2025/12/11/michigan-dems-say-645m-work-project-cuts-are-cruel-gops-rylee-linting-also-calls-foul/">Michigan Advance</a>.
“This budget instrument was never intended for this purpose, and using it with such haste and scale proves the dangerous nature of crossing pre-existing and long standing-lines, even if (it was) potentially legally permissible,” Snyder said. “We are just now beginning to understand the full scope of these disgusting actions.”
“There’s a special place in hell for someone willing to yank money away from moms and babies 15 days before Christmas,” said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Winnie Brinks. “I hope Matt Hall takes this holiday season to look within himself and reevaluate what exactly he’s doing here.”
Democratic leaders also suggested that they could pursue legal action to prevent the massive cuts.
Hall brushed off the criticism from Democrats, arguing that the state could still use some of the other government funding in its &#8220;slush fund&#8221; to put toward charities, such as Wigs for Kids.
&#8220;We can reappropriate funds that have a good purpose. We can come back through a supplemental budget, and we can put it back to use,&#8221; Hall said. &#8220;But I think the Whitmer administration should come in and they should explain to us where every one of these dollars is going. Something they wouldn&#8217;t do when they were trying to prevent us from making the cuts.&#8221;

Michigan State Capitol

Michigan Republicans Slash Funding For Leftist Causes With Massive Government Spending Cuts

Michigan Republicans Slash Funding For Leftist Priorities With Massive Government Spending Cuts

Gretchen Whitmer

Leftism

Michigan

spending

While the government remains shut down as Democrats continue to block a short-term spending bill, the Senate on Thursday approved a $925 billion defense package that scraps a Pentagon provision creating a chief DEI officer.
The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which sets the policies and priorities of the Department of War for the next fiscal year, <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00570.htm">passed</a> 77-20. Nearly all Republicans voted for the measure, while nineteen Democrats and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it. 
“I promised to prioritize the NDAA, and I’m glad the Senate delivered,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1976462486678184311">announced</a> after the vote. &#8220;While I’m proud our bill authorizes a much-deserved pay raise for our troops, I’m disappointed they won’t see it — or any paycheck, for that matter — until Democrats end the Schumer Shutdown. They’re holding our troops and their families hostage for political demands.”  
The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2296">bill</a> includes authorizing the purchase of additional aircraft, missiles, and ships; directs the Pentagon to develop a strategy for &#8220;emerging biotechnologies&#8221;; extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative; and repeals existing DEI provisions across the military.
“We&#8217;re ready to show on both sides of the aisle that the Senate can act in the interest of national security and get something done on a bipartisan basis,” <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/senate-vote-bill-authorizing-925-billion-military-national-security?utm_source=mux&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=social-media-autopost">said</a> Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS). 
The House approved its $893 billion defense bill earlier this year, and lawmakers from both chambers must now hammer out a final version.
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The vote comes as the government shutdown enters the end of its second week, with repeated Senate efforts to authorize a short-term funding bill continuing to fall short. 
Thune said he may allow a vote on healthcare subsidies if Democrats agree to support the temporary funding bill. The Senate has repeatedly fallen five votes short of the total needed to reopen the government.
“None of this happens absent them voting to reopen the government,” Thune <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1976436280742519207">said</a> Thursday. “Open up the government first, quit taking it hostage, and let&#8217;s get the American people and the federal workers. Let&#8217;s get them back to work.”

Senators Hold Their Policy Luncheons At The Capitol

Democrat Shutdown Drags On As Senate OKs $925B Defense Bill

Congress

Government Shutdown

John Thune

Military

NDAA

Politics

Senate

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has cut over $30 million in &#8220;frivolous and unnecessary” government grants and contracts in the last three weeks, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. 
The department said that it had cut a total of $31,692,166 in spending between August 22 and September 12. The savings were from de-obligated grants and contracts targeted as part of President Donald Trump&#8217;s efforts to cut down on government waste, the department told The Daily Wire.
“In just three weeks, Secretary Noem has saved the taxpayer more than $30 million. That’s more than $1 million per DAY,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, it is no longer open season on the American taxpayer at DHS. The Trump administration is draining the swamp, restoring accountability to the federal government, and putting hardworking Americans FIRST again.”
Under the Trump administration, all department contracts worth over $100,000 have to be approved by Noem.
In total, the Department of Homeland Security said it has saved over $12 billion during Noem’s tenure. In total, that equals out to saving about $50 million per day during the Trump administration.
Homeland Security also said that it was providing savings to American taxpayers by deporting illegal aliens.
“These savings figures don’t even include the additional savings from DHS’s immigration enforcement efforts since President Trump resumed office,” the department said.
According to an estimate from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the net cost of illegal immigration on American citizens is around $150 billion per year. These costs include schooling, health care, and food assistance for illegal aliens.
“Taxes paid by illegal aliens only cover around 17.2 percent of the costs they create for American citizens, bringing the net cost to $150.7 billion a year. For every dollar in taxes paid by illegal aliens, they and their dependents consume six dollars in benefits and services,” the organization <a href="https://www.fairus.org/new-fair-report-annual-costs-illegal-immigration-soars-1507-billion-year">found</a>.
The Trump administration is looking to use new funds allocated by the Big, Beautiful Bill to help increase deportations.

DHS Secretary Noem Testifies At Senate Hearing On Budget

Noem Cuts $30 Million In ‘Frivolous’ Homeland Security Spending In Three Weeks

Department of Homeland Security

Donald Trump

Economy

Kristi Noem

Money

President Donald Trump moved to cut another $4.9 billion in foreign aid spending through an executive maneuver last used nearly 50 years ago. 
In a Thursday letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), which was posted on social media on Friday, Trump stated that he is clawing back funding from programs run by the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development, and International Assistance Programs. Much of the funding is related to programs pushing climate and gender activism. 
The cuts will be carried out through a pocket rescission—a process allowing the president to revoke previously approved spending just before the fiscal year ends, leaving Congress no time to reauthorize the funds under federal law. Any future funding would require separate congressional approval.
On a background call with The Daily Wire, a White House official said a pocket rescission was a tool that the Trump administration had “dusted off.”
“Last night, President Trump CANCELLED $4.9 billion in America Last foreign aid using a pocket rescission,” the Office of Management and Budget posted on X on Friday. “[President Trump] will always put AMERICA FIRST!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 Last night, President Trump CANCELLED $4.9 billion in America Last foreign aid using a pocket rescission.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> will always put AMERICA FIRST! <a href="https://t.co/1DvXYGdy3B">pic.twitter.com/1DvXYGdy3B</a>
— Office of Management and Budget (@WHOMB) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHOMB/status/1961410044907458780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded the move from Trump. 
“Since assuming office, President Trump has been committed to rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse from the U.S. government, saving American workers billions of dollars,” Rubio said. “Now, for the first time in 50 years, the President is using his authority under the Impoundment Control Act to deploy a pocket rescission, cancelling $5 billion in foreign aid and international organization funding that violates the President’s America First priorities.”
Rubio said that some of the programs that were cancelled included $2.7 million for “inclusive democracy” in South Africa and $4 million for “global LGBTQI+ awareness” 
“None of these programs are in America’s interest, which is why the President is taking decisive action to put America and Americans first,” Rubio said. 
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A White House official added that the cuts also included hundreds of millions of dollars in climate projects, such as building a greenhouse gas calculator, promoting vegan food in Zambia, developing insect powder for children in Madagascar, and purchasing electric buses in Rwanda.
There is an ongoing legal battle over the use of “pocket recissions,” and some lawmakers have argued that the move is unconstitutional. 
“Given that this package was sent to Congress very close to the end of the fiscal year when the funds are scheduled to expire, this is an apparent attempt to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval,” Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said, joining Senate Democrats who spoke out against the move. &#8220;Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.&#8221;
A White House official said Friday afternoon that they believed it had &#8220;a very firm legal footing&#8221; to make the cuts, and that “we will be making that case.”

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting

Trump Slashes $5 Billion In Foreign Spending Using Rare Executive Maneuver

Budget

Executive

Marco Rubio

State Department

USAID

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would not support any Republican who voted against defunding the parent company of NPR and PBS in an upcoming bill that would enshrine DOGE cuts into law. 
Trump urged Republicans in the Senate to back a $9.4 billion rescission package already passed by the House, which would include more than $1 billion in reductions for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that was created by Congress and is funded by the federal government but is not a governmental agency. The House passed the White House&#8217;s proposed package 214-212 last month, and the Senate is expected to vote next week. 
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN &amp; MSDNC put together,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The legislation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-doge-cuts-targeting-foreign-aid-npr-and-pbs">would cut</a> $8.3 billion in foreign spending, including funding for “Net Zero Cities” in Mexico, Iraqi “Sesame Street,” and global LGBTQ+ initiatives, as well as $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In May, Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/">executive order</a> directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding NPR and PBS, saying the entities were deeply infected with leftwing bias. 
“The [Corporation for Public Broadcasting]’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party,’” the order says. “The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS.  Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
NPR and several smaller publicly funded networks have challenged the order in court, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953.1.0_1.pdf">arguing</a> that it contradicts previous funding allocations made by Congress and violates the First Amendment. The courts have yet to issue a ruling on the suit, but parts of the argument could become moot if the Senate votes to pull the previously authorized spending. 
Some Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have already voiced opposition to the proposed cuts. The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-threatens-gop-senators-over-vote-on-doge-cuts-f5a86c19?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a> that Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota also indicated he was seeking an exemption for the funding of American Indian public radio stations.

Trump departs for Texas, calls deadly flooding ‘a horrible thing’

Trump Warns Republican Senators: Defund NPR And PBS Or Lose My Endorsement

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

DOGE

Lisa Murkowski

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Susan Collins

The House passed President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Thursday, overcoming significant Democratic opposition and internal Republican hesitancy to hand the president a major legislative victory. 
The Republican-controlled House voted 218-214 to pass the measure shortly after Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrapped up an hours-long speech delaying the bill’s advancement. Trump, who imposed a July 4 deadline for its passage, is expected to sign the bill at the White House sometime on Friday.  
&#8220;With one big, beautiful bill, we are going to make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before. And every American is going to benefit from this,&#8221; House Speaker Mike Johnson said just before the vote. &#8220;Today we are laying a key cornerstone of America&#8217;s new golden age.&#8221;
To reach the final vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spent hours working with Republican holdouts to get them to back the measure. Once he opened up the vote on advancing the bill to final debate, Johnson said he would keep the vote open as long as needed to secure the votes. 
“It will have all been worth it in the end. And we will meet our July 4 deadline, which everybody mocked when I said it,” Johnson told reporters after midnight on Thursday. 
By 3:30 a.m., Johnson had the votes, and the House voted 219-213 to send the bill to a final debate and vote. 
After that vote, Jeffries spoke for more than eight hours, utilizing a rule that allows House leadership members to speak for as long as they want. During his speech, Jeffries accused Republicans of imperiling the welfare of Americans who rely on programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
Throughout the night Trump also pushed Republicans to back the measure, which makes the 2017 tax cuts permanent, increases funding for border security, enacts work requirements for able-bodied recipients of Medicaid and food stamps, defunds Planned Parenthood for a year, funds the “Golden Dome” missile defense program, and ends taxes on tips and overtime. 
“Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy,” Trump posted on Truth Social late Wednesday night as the legislation stalled. “What are Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY.”
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By morning, Trump was celebrating. 
“What a great night it was. One of the most consequential Bills ever. The USA is the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, by far!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social. 
Republican leadership also celebrated the passage of the bill.
&#8220;From the moment President Trump was re-elected, the Republican Study Committee fought tirelessly with conservatives in and beyond the halls of Congress to shape this historic reconciliation process,&#8221; said Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger. &#8220;As a result of that relentless effort, our members secured transformational provisions that advance the RSC&#8217;s core policy priorities and cement President Trump&#8217;s America First agenda.”
The Senate faced a similar marathon legislative process to pass the bill, spending all of Monday night and Tuesday morning considering amendments before holding a final vote. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 split after three Republicans refused to vote for the bill. The Senate made several major changes as it received the bill from the House, including moving to cut the solar and wind tax and stripping a provision that would have paused all state regulations of artificial intelligence for 10 years.

President Trump Attends GOP House Caucus Meeting On Capitol Hill As Budget Bill Faces Resistance

Big, Beautiful, And On The Way To Trump’s Desk: Congress Passes Historic Spending Bill

House of Representatives

Tax Cuts

Elon Musk said on Friday that while he is taking a step back from his role in the White House, the Department of Government Efficiency, which he helped spearhead, will continue to &#8220;grow stronger.&#8221;
Musk appeared alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office for a press conference on the end of Musk&#8217;s time as a &#8220;special government employee.&#8221; During the press conference, Trump praised Musk for his work with the DOGE team, and Musk said he would remain an adviser to the president.
&#8220;This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning,&#8221; Musk said. &#8220;My time as a special government employee necessarily had to end. It was a limited-time thing &#8230; but the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger.&#8221;
&#8220;It is permeating throughout the government, and I am confident that, over time, we will see &#8230; a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction,&#8221; he added.
Musk, who will return to focusing more of his attention on his companies Tesla and SpaceX — and his mission to get humanity to Mars — added that DOGE still predicts saving the federal government over $160 billion for fiscal year 2025 to 2026. &#8220;And that&#8217;s climbing,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They&#8217;re going to continue doing an incredible job, and I&#8217;ll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and adviser to the president,&#8221; Musk continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a>: &quot;This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning&#8230; The DOGE team will only grow stronger overtime&#8230; It is permeating throughout the government, and I am confident that, over time, we will see — a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/75XZ7ih8qg">pic.twitter.com/75XZ7ih8qg</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1928517327642874003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some of the government waste the White House said was uncovered by the DOGE team <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1928514412257608022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> over $100 million &#8220;for DEI contracts at the Department of Education,&#8221; nearly $59 million &#8220;for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City,&#8221; $20 million directed to make an &#8220;Arab Sesame Street,&#8221; and $8 million for gender experiments on mice.
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Trump gifted Musk a golden key and called him “one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> presents <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a> with a gold White House key as a gift for his service as a special government employee. <a href="https://t.co/vmpp3RcSTm">pic.twitter.com/vmpp3RcSTm</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1928515860101988759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk recently grew frustrated over some of the obstacles in the way of cutting government waste and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ive-done-enough-musk-says-he-will-spend-a-lot-less-on-future-political-campaigns?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99ve+Done+Enough%E2%80%99%3A+Musk+Says+He+Will+Spend+%E2%80%98A+Lot+Less%E2%80%99+On+Future+Political+Campaigns">said</a> he will dial back his spending on future political campaigns.
“I think I’ve done enough,” Musk said last week, adding, “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
Musk faced constant criticism from the Left and Democrats in Washington as he focused on searching for government waste to cut. After he became a senior adviser to Trump and pushed for major government spending cuts, Tesla has been targeted by leftist activists who have set fires to and vandalized vehicles and threatened Tesla dealerships.
Last week, Musk provided some more <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-reveals-more-about-his-decision-to-step-back-from-politics-and-it-involves-humanoid-robots?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Musk+Reveals+More+About+His+Decision+To+Step+Back+From+Politics+%E2%80%A6+And+It+Involves+Humanoid+Robots">insight</a> into his decision to step back from his White House role, writing on X that he believes &#8220;accelerating GDP growth is essential,&#8221; adding that he wants to do so with humanoid robots.
“I have come to the perhaps obvious conclusion that accelerating GDP growth is essential. @DOGE has and will do great work to postpone the day of bankruptcy of America, but the profligacy of government means that only radical improvements in productivity can save our country,” Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1925975507759243741" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.

Elon Musk

‘Will Only Grow Stronger’: Musk Says It’s Still ‘The Beginning’ Of DOGE As He Steps Back From Role

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Federal Government

Oval Office

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump promised on Friday that the major spending cuts requested by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be codified after his &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; passes Congress.
Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wK3XzFZ_ac" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed</a> DOGE during a press conference with the mastermind behind the waste-cutting effort, Elon Musk, who is taking a step back from his role in the White House to focus on his companies. The &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; pushed by Trump and passed by the House, is currently in the hands of the Senate, where it faces scrutiny from some Republicans over its lack of cuts to federal spending.
&#8220;We are totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent and stopping much more of the waste in the months to come,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We want to get our great &#8216;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8217; finished and done. After that, we&#8217;re going to be — we put some of this into the bill, but most of it is going to come later. We&#8217;re going to have it [codified] by Congress.&#8221;
The president promised that the DOGE cuts will result in &#8220;hundreds of billions of dollars&#8221; in savings.
Earlier this week, Musk said he was &#8220;disappointed&#8221; by the &#8220;massive&#8221; bill passed by the House, which he said &#8220;increases the budget deficit&#8221; and &#8220;undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.&#8221;
&#8220;I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-disappointed-by-trump-big-beautiful-bill-doge/">said</a> in an interview with CBS News, &#8220;but I don&#8217;t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.&#8221;
Musk wasn&#8217;t alone in his criticism of the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; In the House, Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio voted against the legislation, citing the federal deficit. Similarly, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Mike Lee (R-UT), among others, have raised concerns about the legislation.
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“Everybody likes a tax cut, but when you’re $37 trillion in debt on the path to over $60 trillion in debt, right when the Social Security trust fund is running out, somebody’s got to be the dad that says, ‘I know everybody wants to go to Disney World, but we just can’t afford it,’” Johnson <a href="https://thehill.com/business/budget/5322665-conservative-furor-doge-cuts/">said</a>.
Sen. Lee <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mike-lee-comes-out-against-current-version-of-trump-s-beautiful-bill/ar-AA1FFaYf">told</a> conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, &#8220;The Big, Beautiful Bill is big [but] isn’t yet as beautiful as it needs to be, but there’s still time to fix it. And the Senate version is going to be more aggressive.&#8221;
&#8220;So we got to address the spending crisis to a greater degree than this bill does,” Lee added.
Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, <a href="https://x.com/StephenM/status/1927572082780520465">said</a> earlier this week that the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; was not the right package to cram through DOGE cuts.
&#8220;DOGE cuts are to discretionary spending. (Eg the federal bureaucracy). Under senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill,&#8221; Miller wrote. &#8220;So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill.&#8221;

Donald Trump, Elon Musk

‘Totally Committed’: Trump Promises To Codify DOGE Cuts After ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued on Friday that the country&#8217;s massive debt can be controlled by growing the U.S. economy.
Bessent addressed concerns over President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; adding to the national deficit during a segment with Fox News host Bill Hemmer. A Congressional Budget Office <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-05/61422-Reconciliation-Distributional-Analysis.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released earlier this week said the Republican bill passed by the House on early Thursday morning will add $3.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. The national debt is <a href="https://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rapidly approaching</a> $37 trillion as the federal deficit currently sits at over $2 trillion.
&#8220;We think that we can both grow the economy and control the debt,&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;And what&#8217;s important, Bill, is that the economy grows faster than the debt.&#8221;
He added that Americans should focus on the debt-to-GDP ratio &#8220;because we can grow our way out of this.&#8221; In December, U.S. debt accounted for <a href="https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/united-states/government-debt--of-nominal-gdp#:~:text=United%20States%20Government%20Debt:%20%25%20of%20GDP,-1969%20%2D%202024%20%7C%20Quarterly&amp;text=United%20States%20Government%20debt%20accounted,Mar%201969%20to%20Dec%202024." target="_blank" rel="noopener">124%</a> of the nation&#8217;s nominal GDP, which was down from the all-time high of 130.4% in March of 2021.
&#8220;If we change the growth trajectory of the country, of the economy, then we will stabilize our finances and grow our way out of this,&#8221; Bessent continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a>: &quot;What&#39;s important is that the economy grows faster than the debt&#8230; If we change the growth trajectory of the country, of the economy, then we will stabilize our finances and grow our way out of this.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/aplXNS5mLP">pic.twitter.com/aplXNS5mLP</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1925907334640865476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The approach touted by Bessent focuses on reducing taxes, a major part of Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; The idea is that lower taxes and deregulation will create a thriving economy and boost manufacturing, sales, and consumer spending, which will in turn increase tax revenue without raising taxes.
Last year, however, the Congressional Budget Office <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59711" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projected</a> that the deficit would continue to outpace economic growth over the next 30 years.
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&#8220;The deficit increases significantly in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 30 years, reaching 8.5 percent of GDP in 2054,&#8221; the office stated. &#8220;That growth results from rising interest costs and large and sustained primary deficits, which exclude net outlays for interest.&#8221;
During the 2024 campaign, Bessent said that his goal is to &#8220;cut the deficit to 3% by 2028; achieve 3% real economic growth, largely through deregulation; and then add 3 million new barrels of energy per day.&#8221; He told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-07/five-questions-for-trump-adviser-and-key-square-group-founder-scott-bessent?sref=17aozLHf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a> that Trump is concerned about addressing the national debt and wants to get it under control &#8220;without causing a recession.&#8221;
Some conservative Republicans raised concerns about Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; not doing enough to cut back on government spending. Two House Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-holdouts-sound-alarm-36t-debt-crisis-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-passes-house-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted against</a> the legislation, citing the federal deficit.
&#8220;While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now. The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan. NO,&#8221; Davidson said on Thursday.
The White House called the two GOP congressmen &#8220;grandstanders.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Trump&#8217;s thoughts on Massie and Davidson. &#8220;What&#8217;s the alternative? I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt? That&#8217;s the alternative by them trying to vote ‘no.’ The president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified.&#8221;
In the Senate, the bill faces more hurdles as multiple Republicans have raised concerns on numerous topics. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5314189-rand-paul-house-gop-budget-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he will vote against the bill unless they &#8220;take the debt ceiling off of it.&#8221;
“We’ve never, ever voted to raise the debt ceiling this much. It’ll be a historic increase. I think it’s not good for conservatives to be on record supporting a $4 [trillion] or $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling,” Paul said.

Scott Bessent

Bessent Says U.S. Can ‘Grow Our Way Out Of’ National Debt Crisis By Focusing On Economy

Debt Ceiling

National Debt

Top Planned Parenthood executives are paid three times more than the average non-profit chief executive officer, according to a new watchdog report on the abortion giant and its affiliates.
The American Life League on Thursday <a href="https://all.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Final-Version-STOPP_CEOcompensation2025.pdf">revealed</a> that Planned Parenthood CEOs have seen their incomes significantly increase in the last few years, even as many of the group&#8217;s facilities <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/us/planned-parenthood-clinics-takeaways.html">face</a> financial problems. The average salary of a Planned Parenthood CEO increased from $317,564 to $352,661 — an 11% increase — between 2020 and 2023, according to tax forms analyzed by the American Life League. 
“Planned Parenthood’s CEOs and its New York headquarters employees continue to see substantial increases in their salaries, even as the organization as a whole claims financial decline,” the report, first shared with The Daily Wire, found. 
Poring through the most recent non-profit financial filings available, the American Life League found that the average CEO of a Planned Parenthood affiliate is paid much more than the average American non-profit CEO
“In the US, the average salary for a nonprofit CEO is roughly $117,000 a year. Planned Parenthood more than triples that with an average annual CEO salary of $352,661,” the report says. “It is extremely clear that Planned Parenthood’s priority is money and the ability to funnel that money back into the pockets of its own CEOs.”
The most recent yearly compensation of Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was $904,014, a 32% increase since 2021, according to the American Life League. 
The report also featured the top 20 Planned Parenthood affiliates by their income and CEO compensation. At the top were affiliates in Los Angeles, Mar Monte, the Pacific Northwest, Orange and San Bernardino Counties, and Greater New York. Additionally, it ranked the top 10 Planned Parenthood affiliate CEOs by income. 
<div id="attachment_894411" style="width: 2002px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-894411" class="size-full wp-image-894411" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM.png" alt="" width="1992" height="1221" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM.png 1992w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM-300x184.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM-940x576.png 940w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM-768x471.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-2.37.07-PM-1536x941.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1992px) 100vw, 1992px" />American Life League</div>
Planned Parenthood has received hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. According to its most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood received around $699.3 million in federal funding in 2022-2023. That is about 34% of the organization’s annual revenue. 
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&#8220;Planned Parenthood continues to grow tremendously wealthy, and taxpayers should be outraged at the nearly $700,000,000 given by our government to Planned Parenthood during this last fiscal year,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;Abortion remains Planned Parenthood’s main priority, and it admits to murdering at least 392,715 preborn children in the 2022–2023 fiscal year.
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American Life League Researcher ​​Katherine Van Dyke, who said that it was &#8220;staggering&#8221; how much the abortion execs were being paid, told The Daily Wire that she would like to see President Donald Trump cut the funding through his Department of Government Efficiency efforts. 
 “We would like to see them defunded,” she said. “We would like people to see from these numbers, we want Americans to know that this is what your taxpayer money is going toward.”

Last Abortion Clinic In Missouri Forced To Close At End Of May

EXCLUSIVE: Report Reveals Planned Parenthood CEOs ‘Staggering’ Salaries

Abortion

Planned Parenthood

Pro-Life Movement

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya promised on Wednesday to bring sunlight to the National Institutes of Health if confirmed as the agency’s director. 
Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Bhattacharya rebuked the NIH for its behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said did great damage to trust in scientists and academic institutions. Bhattacharya, an outspoken critic of the COVID lockdowns, was one of the first to express concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccine mandates. 
A professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, Bhattacharya promised to bring greater transparency to the American people about the NIH&#8217;s research, which he said had failed in its fundamental mission.
&#8220;The mission of the NIH is to address the health needs the American people have and to expand life expectancy of the American people. And we have not achieved that. It&#8217;s flatlined,&#8221; he said.
This failure, paired with a massive loss in &#8220;trust in the public health establishment&#8221; during COVID, made clear the need for the NIH to reestablish trust with the American people, Bhattacharya said. 
Bhattacharya rose to prominence for his opposition to COVID lockdowns and later his concerns that COVID vaccines posed some health risks, specifically for young men. 
&#8220;Science should be an engine for freedom. Knowledge and freedom &#8230; it shouldn&#8217;t be pushing mandates for vaccines like the COVID vaccines,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The role of the scientist should not be to say that you can&#8217;t send your kid to school for two years.&#8221;
Reflecting on his experience during the COVID pandemic, Bhattacharya said that he was &#8220;tremendously proud&#8221; to advise Florida&#8217;s response to the pandemic, which sent kids back to schools way earlier than California with little to no negative impact.
Bhattacharya condemned the censorship that was pushed by the Biden administration against critics of the vaccine mandates at the time. He said during the pandemic there was a problem of &#8220;censorship and restriction&#8221; of science&#8221; and that the &#8220;root problem was that people who had alternative ideas were suppressed.&#8221;
Bhattacharya said that he himself was the victim of pressure campaigns by the Biden administration and that the Freedom of Information Act requests he filed during the pandemic were returned fully redacted.
&#8220;You can&#8217;t have trust unless you are transparent,&#8221; Bhattacharya said, saying that that Americans should be able to &#8220;see all of the activities of the NIH openly.&#8221;
Other topics discussed during the hearing included proposed cuts to NIH funding of universities and research institutions, as well as vaccines and autism. Moderate Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) pushed Bhattacharya to disavow Trump&#8217;s cap on funding for indirect funding, which he said he would evaluate if confirmed.
Bhattacharya would help allocate tens of billions of dollars in funding if confirmed by the Senate.

NIH Director Nominee Jayanta Bhattacharya Testifies In Senate Hearing

Jay Bhattacharya Promises To Bring Accountability To NIH After COVID Failure

bill Cassidy

COVID-19

COVID-19 Vaccine

Jay Bhattacharya

Lockdowns

Pandemic

Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday morning that one of the Trump administration&#8217;s main priorities is ensuring that the federal government stops &#8220;spending the American people&#8217;s money on garbage.&#8221;
Vance answered questions from former White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp on stage at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., and detailed the Trump administration&#8217;s focus on cutting government waste and allowing the U.S. economy to flourish. President Donald Trump&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project has scrutinized multiple government agencies, suggesting spending cuts or even total agency overhauls.
&#8220;We have got to stop spending the American people&#8217;s money on garbage,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;Every dollar that we take in and spend, you have to pay for either through taxes or through inflation, and if we spend the American people&#8217;s money more wisely, if we stop taxing and spending the American people to death, that&#8217;s also going to bring relief to all of the pricing pressures that are out there.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to make it affordable to live in this country again. That&#8217;s our mandate, that&#8217;s our goal,&#8221; he added.
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Vance told attendees that &#8220;the whole goal of President Trump&#8217;s agenda&#8221; — from immigration and border policies to DOGE gutting government waste — centers on &#8220;safety and prosperity.&#8221; The vice president said that to accomplish that &#8220;common sense&#8221; goal, the United States must focus on ramping up energy production.
&#8220;Why is that so important? Because, look, we all know grocery prices got too high under Joe Biden&#8217;s leadership. Well, one of the main drivers of groceries is energy,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;Because if the farmers are paying more for energy, then we&#8217;re all paying more for what the farmers grow. And if the truck drivers, who are delivering the groceries, are paying more for fuel, then we&#8217;re all paying more for what the truck drivers are delivering to the grocery store.&#8221;
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&#8220;If we unleash American energy, that will do more than anything to drive down the cost for the American people,&#8221; he added.
Vance reiterated a point he has made during previous interviews, saying that lowering prices for the American people is &#8220;going to take some time&#8221; as the Trump administration seeks &#8220;to fix what Joe Biden broke over four years.&#8221;

JD Vance

Vance: ‘We Have Got To Stop Spending The American People’s Money On Garbage’

CPAC

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