How a Vivek Ramaswamy run for Ohio governor could jeopardize DOGE
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to co-head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have other plans. According to multiple reports, Vivek Ramaswamy is planning to step away from the task force to run for Ohio governor.
What’s happening?
CBS News reported Sunday, Jan. 19, that Ramaswamy might announce his run for Ohio governor as soon as the month’s end.
The reports come as Musk reportedly expressed frustration with Ramaswamy over his lack of participation in brainstorming DOGE policy. DOGE is an unofficial government advisory board designed to eliminate government spending deemed wasteful.
One person close to the Trump team, who chose to remain anonymous, told CBS News: “Vivek has worn out his welcome.”
What happens now?
Ramaswamy’s potential departure from DOGE could jeopardize the task force, which aims to cut government spending by up to $2 trillion by July 2026.
Neither Musk nor Trump’s transition team officially commented on the reports of Ramaswamy’s potential exit.
What happened before this?
Ramaswamy recently met with Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, over the state’s U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Vice President-elect JD Vance.
However, DeWine has since said he is appointing his Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the seat.
Who is Ramaswamy?
Ramaswamy ran for president during the 2024 campaign as a candidate with no previous political experience. Before he exited the race, he endorsed Trump.
Republicans may place conditions on California wildfire aid
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Republicans may place conditions on aid for California wildfire victims to counter what he called bad governance that may have made the disaster worse. State and local officials are being criticized for their response to the fires that have burned more than 40,000 acres and killed at least 24 people.
“We have to make sure there are safeguards on the precious Treasury of the American people,” Johnson said. “There are natural disasters, of course. But if they are made much worse by human error and deliberate policy choices that were unwise and were stated as such at the time, then I think that’s something that needs to be carefully regarded.”
Republicans are considering multiple options for approving recovery funding that would cover areas in and around Los Angeles. They could attach the disaster relief to a debt limit extension. They may also include the aid in the government funding bill, which Congress has to pass before March 14.
“We don’t want to play games in any way. This is not politics,” Johnson said. “We need sound public policy and we need states to follow common sense. They have not done that in many respects in California.”
“It is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said. “We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes.”
Democratic leadership said Johnson’s plan is an indication that Republicans require help from Democrats to authorize the federal government to borrow more money.
“Because what Speaker Johnson is doing, he does not have the votes to raise the debt limit, so he is trying to do everything he can so Donald Trump can have a victory,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said.
Congress approved $110 billion for the disaster relief fund in December, so FEMA has enough to address immediate needs. But getting enough money to rebuild will require a formal estimate and a supplemental disaster request from the White House.
Republicans will increase debt limit in reconciliation bill to avoid Democrats
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Congress will increase the debt limit in a budget reconciliation bill House Republicans hope to pass next month. The clock is ticking. If Congress doesn’t increase the debt limit, the nation will default on its bills, causing widespread economic consequences.
The debt limit is the maximum amount of money the federal government is authorized to borrow to pay its bills. The nation hit the ceiling on Jan. 1. However, the Treasury Department can avoid a loan default for a number of months by moving money around from nonessential accounts.
Budget reconciliation packages amend spending that has already been approved by Congress. Lawmakers cannot increase the baseline number, they can only adjust what it’s being used for.
Reconciliation bills require only a simple majority for approval in both chambers, so Republicans have the numbers to do it without any input from Democrats. That’s exactly what Speaker Johnson says they plan to do.
“If it runs through regular order and regular process … then you have to have both parties negotiating, and we feel like we’re in a better stead to do it ourselves,” Johnson said.
Johnson explained the Republican Party’s philosophy regarding spending and the debt ceiling. He said raising the borrowing limit will not be an excuse to spend more than the government’s revenue, which is currently happening.
“Our intention and our mission is to reduce the size and scope of government, to reduce spending in a meaningful way so that we can restore fiscal sanity and get our country back on the right track,” Johnson said.
“So raising the debt limit is a necessary step so that we don’t give the appearance that we’re going to default in some way on the nation’s debt, that’s important to the bond markets and the stability of the dollar and all the rest,” he continued.
There are a number of measures Republicans hope to include in the reconciliation package but everything has to be related to the budget. The Senate parliamentarian can remove items from the bill if they determine it is not budget-related.
Republicans want to expand oil drilling in the Arctic, repeal electric vehicle subsidies and rescind tailpipe emissions rules. In addition, some Republicans want to restore state and local tax deductions, which they repealed in the 2017 tax bill.
“The thing that’s interesting about the whole state and local tax deduction issue is that the Republicans burn the house down and now want to pretend that they’re firefighters. Are you kidding me?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. “The state and local tax deduction was obliterated as part of the GOP tax scam in 2017.”
President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with Senate Republicans the night of Wednesday, Jan. 8, to discuss the budget reconciliation package. It’s a top priority and House Republicans hope to pass it out of their chamber by February.
House approves spending bill to avoid government shutdown
Democrats and Republicans in the House voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill to keep the government open until Friday, March 14. The bill passed just hours before the government was set to shut down.
Notably, the bill –– known as a continuing resolution –– did not maintain the debt ceiling suspension, something President-elect Donald Trump advocated for. However, it did include language from the annual Farm Bill as well as disaster relief aid.
Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., delivered a holiday-themed pitch on the House floor before the vote.
“‘Twas five days before Christmas and all through this House, not a lawmaker was resting, not even their spouse. The [continuing resolution] stalled, the debates full of heat, while a shutdown shadow loomed over our streets. My friends, it’s time to fund our defense and aid for our farms and disaster relief to protect our very own citizens from harm,” Alford said.
The House has revised the bill multiple times over the last few days. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not move the first version forward after it received extensive public criticism on Wednesday, Dec. 18, from Elon Musk and the president-elect.
A second version, released Thursday, Dec. 19, would have raised the debt ceiling, but it fell short despite Trump and Musk’s backing. Thirty-eight House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against that bill.
Democrats mostly supported the bill but criticized Musk, accusing him of sabotaging and complicating the process.
“At the behest of the world’s richest man who no one voted for, the Congress has been thrown into pandemonium,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said.
“It leads you to the question of; who is in charge? I thought that there was a Republican majority in this body. Not a President Musk majority,” DeLauro added.
The final version of the bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, as well as research into other diseases, including Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, breast cancer and cervical cancer.
A separate bill for pediatric cancer research that passed in the House last March is still awaiting a vote, but Senate Democrats have not brought it up. Republicans have said they support that bill and believe the Senate should approve it there, as opposed to making it part of the continuing resolution.
In the hours following the passage of the continuing resolution, the Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill the House passed last March. That legislation now heads to President Biden’s desk.
We had enough to worry about here with the U.S. economy, but what really grabbed your attention was an economic experiment happening in South America. Voters in Argentina had just elected a brash, unconventional choice for president in Javier Milei.
He’s the guy who promised to take a chainsaw to the economy and carried a chainsaw at rallies. He has a friendship with President-elect Donald Trump and has been called a “mini Trump” in the past.
A year following his election, SAN checked in with economists to grade Milei’s year. Despite the poverty rate under his policies spiking to include more than half the population, he’s made serious progress on inflation and the economy is starting to grow. There’s real hope he can turn things around there if the people of Argentina don’t run out of patience.
When Warren Buffett makes money moves, the world pays attention. So when financial disclosures showed he was regularly selling Apple stock and hoarding cash, you wanted to know why — or rather, what he knew.
“We will have Apple as our largest investment,” the Berkshire Hathaway CEO said in May. “But I don’t mind at all, under current conditions, building the cash position. I think when I look at the alternative of what’s available in the equity markets, and I look at the composition of what’s going on in the world, we find it quite attractive.”
There it is from the horse’s mouth. However, an analyst quoted in our story speculated the Apple sale might have more to do with the death of Buffett’s right-hand man, Charlie Munger, who may have always been more comfortable with the company.
The boycott of Bud Light was a huge business story in 2023, and by 2024, the beer still hadn’t recovered. But this year, conservatives found a new target in Dunkin’ Donuts and set out to give it the “Bud Light Treatment.”
The hashtag #BoycottDunkinDonuts splattered across social media after the CEO of Rumble said Dunkin’s parent company refused to advertise on the site because of its “right wing culture.” Rumble is a conservative counterpart to YouTube.
The boycott proved to be no Bud Light. Former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks correctly predicted in our story that the momentum would fizzle out because Dunkin is a privately-held company. Unlike with Bud Light, there’s no public data and regular industry reports to reinforce the success of the boycott.
Your No. 2 story is a topic I could talk about every day of every year and never run out of things to say. In fact, there are a lot of reasons to talk about it right now. We’re talking about the U.S. national debt, which is at $36 trillion
We started the year by breaching $34 trillion in debt and set out to tell you who holds it all.
We knew you had a serious interest in which foreign countries hold the bag. Japan has the biggest purse, followed by China, then the U.K. But foreign governments account for less than a quarter of the whole pie. Private investors hold the biggest share, followed by foreign countries, U.S. government accounts and the Federal Reserve.
When Boeing machinists walked off the job for the first time in 16 years, many thought the strike would be a quick one. But weeks in, management completely botched negotiations by releasing details of an offer to the media before the union had responded.
“I thought the arrival of new management with a lot of experience and understanding in the industry would make things different, but that doesn’t appear to be the case at all, I’m afraid,” said Richard Aboulafia, a top aviation analyst and managing director of Aerodynamic Advisory.
The story “Boeing strike strategy ‘baffles’ top aviation analyst” is at the top of our list. It would be nearly another month after this interview before machinists voted to return to work.
In the end, workers got Boeing up from a 25% raise to 38% over four years. It was new CEO Kelly Ortberg’s first test in a long line of challenges we’ll be talking about for years to come.
Government shutdown looms as House votes against latest funding bill
A government shutdown looms nearer after the House rejected a bill that would have kept it funded into March. And drones are now banned in parts of New York and New Jersey after a spate of mysterious sightings. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
House votes against latest stopgap bill aimed to avoid government shutdown
The House rejected a stopgap bill Thursday, Dec. 19, that would have kept the government running. The vote came ahead of a potential shutdown starting at midnight Saturday, Dec. 21, when lawmakers head home for the holidays.
The bill fell short of the needed two-thirds majority to speed up its passage. More than three dozen Republicans joined 197 Democrats in voting against it. Republicans split with each other on how the bill handles government spending.
“Three hundred and thirty billion dollars. Congratulations. You’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again on Nov. 5,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said.
Roy voted against the bill.
He added, “It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday in certain respects. But to take this bill, to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion, is asinine.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said on the House floor, “The deal on the table will keep the government open for the American people and if you guys so choose to shut it down, it will be on you but not the Republican Party.”
She added, “We will not be going back to the table. This deal stands as it is. So let you go back home on Christmas and explain to your people why you shut down the government because we won’t be doing it.”
The latest spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, is a quickly amended bill tailored to the liking of President-elect Donald Trump and his top ally Elon Musk.
Musk postedrepeatedlyonX condemning the original bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., worked on it with bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats.
However, when both Musk and Trump opposed the bill, that guaranteed most House Republicans would vote against it and forced Johnson to craft a new bill.
Now, there are two conflicting interests. Musk wants major government spending cuts, and while Trump agrees, he also wants to permanently suspend the debt ceiling.
The new plan lifts the debt limit, leading Trump to support the bill in a Truth Social post.
“Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish,” Trump posted.
But Democrats attacked the bill over what spending Republicans chose to cut.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”
The bill removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, studying genetic conditions like Down syndrome and treatment options for sickle cell disease as well as cancers.
It will be on Johnson to craft a bill to secure votes from the majority of the House.
However, Johnson may not have the political leeway to rely on support from Democrats. He’ll need nearly every returning member of the House Republican caucus to vote for him next month to remain speaker.
The new Congress takes office in the new year.
New details of accused UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter’s plan emerge
Newly unsealed court documents put into perspective what led up to the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. A federal complaint shed light on 26-year-old Luigi Mangione’s “hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
In a notebook found on Mangione when he was arrested, he allegedly wrote of his plans to “wack” an insurance company CEO at its investor conference. Federal prosecutors said he traveled from Georgia to New York to stalk and kill Thompson.
Magione appeared in a New York courtroom Thursday, and four new federal charges were levied against him. The charges included murder with a firearm, which is an offense punishable by the death penalty.
The hearing followed Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania, where police arrested him on Dec. 9, to New York.
Armed guards surrounded Mangione as NYPD officers walked him off a helicopter upon his arrival in Manhattan. New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined the walk.
“Police Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch and I all want to send a very clear and loud message that this act of terrorism and the violence that stems from it is something that will not be tolerated in this city,” Adams told the press at the site of the helicopter arrival.
Mangione already faces state-level charges in New York. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought charges against him Tuesday, Dec. 17, including for murder as an act of terrorism.
However, Mangione also received a hero’s welcome from protesters outside the courthouse. Thompson’s killing sparked backlash against the health insurance industry and its coverage policies.
While judges have not set any dates yet, Mangione will face state-level charges first. A federal trial will follow.
New York abolished the death penalty, meaning it’s not an option for Mangione in the state-level case. However, the death penalty can still be exercised in the federal case.
FAA temporarily bans drones in parts of New York and New Jersey
Drones are now banned in parts of New York and New Jersey — at least for the time being. It comes amid an investigation into multiple mysterious sightings over the last month that set off fear and speculation.
In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the Federal Aviation Administration’s bans are “purely precautionary.” Meanwhile, the FAA’s restrictions in New Jersey are largely aimed at limiting drone flights over power stations and infrastructure.
The FAA implemented emergency flight restrictions across New Jersey, prohibiting drone operations until Jan. 17, 2025, for “special security reasons.” Unless operators obtain special government clearance, the directive bans uncrewed aircraft within a one-nautical-mile radius of designated areas and up to 400 feet in altitude.
The FAA designated areas such as Camden, Jersey City, Elizabeth and South Brunswick as “National Defense Airspace.”
Violators may face severe penalties, including interception, detention, certificate revocation and potential criminal charges. In extreme cases, authorities are authorized to use “deadly force” against drones posing an “imminent security threat.”
These restrictions follow a surge in unexplained drone sightings across New Jersey and nearby states that began in mid-November. Federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Defense (DOD), received over 5,000 reports of drone activity.
Dow Jones snaps worst losing streak in 50 years
The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped its worst losing streak in 50 years Thursday. The losing streak lasted 10 days.
During the losing streak, the market wiped out all of its post-election gains. The Dow ended Wednesday down 2.5% from when Trump won the election.
Also on Wednesday, Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, had its second-biggest percentage spike in history. The VIX shot up 74% after the Federal Reserve shared its outlook for the coming year.
On Wednesday, the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate for a third time in 2024, which was widely predicted.
Feeling the holiday blues?
The holidays are often called “the most wonderful time of the year,” but the season can bring about sadness and stress for many. This -emotional shift, commonly known as the “holiday blues” or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), can affect millions of people across the country.
Licensed adult psychiatrist Dr. Patrice Mann said the holiday blues are due to several factors. They include social pressures, disruptive routines and financial strain.
“Things like having a bunch of holiday events on the calendar, not to say we don’t look forward to them oftentimes, but they take a toll on us,” says Dr. Mann. “You’re up late, interacting with a lot of people, and that’s not everyone’s nature.”
Grief and seasonal depression can also complicate these feelings. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, seasonal depression affects millions of Americans every year, but many may not even realize they have it.
Symptoms of holiday blues and seasonal depression can include a persistent low mood, loss of interest in activities and changes in eating or sleeping habits. If these symptoms last more than two weeks, Dr. Mann said it could indicate a more serious depressive episode. In such cases, seeking professional help is important.
Dr. Mann recommended several self-care strategies to help manage both the holiday blues and seasonal depression. She suggested getting tested for vitamin D deficiency and taking supplements during winter. Vitamin D plays a vital role in mood and energy levels.
She also advised getting as much sunlight as possible during the shorter winter days. Light therapy boxes can mimic outdoor sunlight if natural sunlight isn’t available. Using them for 20 to 30 minutes in the morning can help trick the brain and improve mood.
For those experiencing grief during the holidays, Dr. Mann encouraged reflecting on personal needs and communicating with trusted friends or family members. She also recommended incorporating new social activities into your routine and checking in with yourself after attending events.
For those supporting others through grief, it’s important to recognize that everyone processes emotions differently. Dr. Mann suggested engaging in activities with those less open about mental health, such as cooking or playing games, to help create a comfortable environment for them to express themselves.
While the holiday season brings unique challenges, small steps can make a big difference. Prioritizing self-care, maintaining routines and reaching out for support are important practices to help manage holiday stress.
If you or someone you know is struggling, remember that professional help is available. The National Suicide Hotline is available 24 hours a day by calling 988.
House defies Trump and Musk, votes against bill to avoid government shutdown
The House of Representatives rejected a bill on Thursday, Dec. 19, that would have kept the government open. The vote came ahead of a potential shutdown starting at midnight on Saturday, Dec. 21, when lawmakers head home for the holidays.
The bill fell short of the needed two-thirds majority to speed up its passage, with 38 House Republicans joining 197 Democrats in voting against it. Republicans split with each other on how the bill handles government spending.
“Three hundred and thirty billion dollars. Congratulations. You’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again on Nov. 5,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who voted against the bill, said while addressing his fellow Republicans.
Roy added, “It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects. But to take this bill, to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion, is asinine.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said on the House floor, “The deal on the table will keep the government open for the American people and if you guys so choose to shut it down, it will be on you but not the Republican Party.”
She added, “We will not be going back to the table. This deal stands as it is. So let you go back home on Christmas and explain to your people why you shut down the government because we won’t be doing it.”
The latest spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, is a quickly amended bill tailored to the liking of President-elect Donald Trump and his top ally Elon Musk.
Musk postedrepeatedlyonX condemning the original bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., worked on it with bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats.
However, when both Musk and Trump opposed the bill, that guaranteed most House Republicans would vote against it and forced Johnson to craft a new bill.
Now, there are two conflicting interests. Musk wants major government spending cuts, and while Trump agrees, he also wants to permanently suspend the debt ceiling.
The new plan lifts the debt limit, leading President-elect Trump to support the bill in a Truth Social post.
“Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish,” Trump posted.
But Democrats have attacked the bill over what spending Republicans chose to cut.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”
The bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, research into diseases such as Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, as well as breast and cervical cancer.
It will be on Johnson to craft a bill that would secure votes from the majority of the House.
However, Johnson may not have the political leeway to rely on support from Democrats. He’ll need nearly every returning member of the House Republican caucus to vote for him next month to remain speaker. The new Congress takes office in the new year.
Trump says he supports abolishing the debt ceiling
President-elect Donald Trump said he supports abolishing the debt ceiling, which the federal government is on track to reach in January. During an interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the federal government’s borrowing limit would be the smartest thing Congress could do.
“The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge,” Trump told NBC.
NBC reported that Trump suggested the debt ceiling, or the maximum amount of money the government can borrow to pay its bills, is meaningless.
“It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically,” Trump said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not reveal what he thinks of Trump’s proposal.
“The debt limit issue and discussion is premature at best,” Jeffries told reporters.
“I just think it’s common sense, it’s reasonable and it’s rational that we spend less next year than we spend this year. Every household would do this,” McCarthy said at the time.
Fiscal hawks oppose raising the debt ceiling because they don’t believe the government should continue outspending its revenue. The reality is every time Congress needs to give the Treasury Department approval to borrow more money, it does.
“I’m with President Trump. I do think that the debt limit is this fake sort of a deadline that we’ve never allowed to lapse. One hundred seven years, we’ve never defaulted on the debt. The only thing we have done is continue to increase the debt,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said.
“There’s some Republicans who never voted to raise the debt limit and never will. So that’s just a reality,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “So you have to get Democrats where you lose Republicans.”
Even if the government hits the borrowing limit in January, the Treasury can use fancy accounting to keep paying the bills for many months before it defaults.
Congress needs to fund gov and military, pass farm bill and raise debt ceiling
Congress has a list of vital legislation it must approve before the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. Failure to act will result in a government shutdown and a potential default on the nation’s debt.
There are two key deadlines
The first is Dec. 20 when government funding expires.
Congress has two options: approve a bill for the rest of fiscal year 2025 or approve another temporary measure, which would mean the permanent solution is finalized when Republicans are in total control of Washington.
The next deadline is Jan. 1 when the nation hits the debt ceiling, which is the maximum amount of money it’s allowed to borrow without further approval.
The deadline was set in 2023 by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a compromise between then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Biden.
The Treasury Department can use some fancy accounting to push the deadline back a couple of months, but eventually Congress will have to increase the amount of money the government is allowed to borrow because the country spends more than it brings in.
Congress also has to approve the farm bill, which only comes up about once every five years. The farm bill that was approved in 2018 is expiring.
This legislation has a tremendous impact on the nation’s food supply. It covers crop insurance, training for young farmers on sustainable practices and provides assistance for low-income families so they can buy healthier foods.
‘Festivus Report’ finds hundreds of billions in government waste
Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., ninth annual “Festivus Report” has been released, outlining hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending which the senator describes as wasteful. It includes payments to dead people, an island to breed research monkeys, and military equipment left outside to rust.
The report includes more than 20 examples of what Paul labels as waste. Here are just a few.
Big spending:
Two of the biggest numbers are $659 billion for interest payments on the national debt and $236 billion in “improper federal payments.”
The federal government spends more than it collects in revenue each year and borrows money from countries like China to make up the difference.
The national debt currently sits at about $34 trillion, and the government made $659 billion in interest payments alone in 2023.
Improper payments are defined as money paid by the federal government to the wrong person, for the wrong amount or for the wrong reason. That includes payments for Medicaid, earned income tax credits, and the VA purchasing long-term services and supports.
COVID fraud:
The government wanted to make it easy to get COVID relief money, but this example shows that in some cases it was way too easy.
Fraudsters got past the AI system used to validate proof of identity for Paycheck Protection Program funds by using Barbies.
The Messenger
It is unclear the exact amount that went to these fakes, however, in June the Small Business Administration (SBA) estimated that it disbursed more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID funds, including Paycheck Protection Program money and economic injury disaster loans. At least $30 billion has been seized or returned to the SBA.
Monkey Island:
WJCL exposed “Monkey Island” about a decade ago. The island, on the coast of South Carolina, is used as a breeding colony where thousands of monkeys live to ultimately be taken to research labs around the country for testing.
According to the Post and Courier, the federal government paid Charles River Labs $16.7 million to run the facility between 2018 and 2022.
According to the Festivus Report, the National Institutes of Health signed another $33 million contract this year, which will pay a local company to house, feed and care for the monkeys.
Military waste:
The military had an $816 billion budget in 2023, but Sen. Paul said millions were wasted. The Festivus Report highlighted a Defense Department audit that found $170 million worth of engines, transmissions and vehicle treads were left outside for years.
A report from the Army Times went even more in-depth and found that $1.8 billion in military equipment was left outside to either deteriorate or be at risk of deterioration.
