Page 17 - Us Government

'Remove roots of the weed': Elon Musk wants US govt to cut entire agencies

Elon Musk's DOGE aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, largely by eliminating agencies deemed inefficient or unnecessary

Trump may revive 1930 trade discrimination law for reciprocal US tariffs

Trump has said the new US tariff rates would take effect "almost immediately," and Section 338 of the Trade Act of 1930 would give him a quick path to imposing them

US CFPB likely terminates some probationary staff due to inefficiency

The removal is a possibility as White House asked agencies for lists of probationary employees and recommendations on whether they should stay- a move by administration to neutralize CFPB

White House plans to nominate new chiefs for bank, market regulators

White House intends to nominate Jonathan Gould as the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Brian Quintenz as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Elon Musk, other Trump allies ratchet up a rhetoric against US judiciary

Musk took to his X social media platform to attack the judge who ordered US health agencies to temporarily restore websites they took offline in response to an executive order by Trump

US cyber agency puts poll security staffers who worked with states on leave

Staffers at the nation's cybersecurity agency whose job is to ensure the security of U.S. elections have been placed on administrative leave, jeopardizing critical support provided to state and local election offices across the country. In recent days, 17 employees of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who have worked with election officials to provide assessments and trainings dealing with a range of threats from cyber and ransomware attacks to physical security of election workers have been placed on leave pending a review, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Ten of those employees are regional election security specialists hired as part of an effort to expand field staff and election security expertise ahead of the 2024 election. The regional staffers were told the internal review would examine efforts to combat attempts by foreign governments to influence US elections, duties that were assigned to othe

Billionaire Trump says time's up for lowly US 'penny', halts production

For many Americans, the coin has become a nuisance that ends up being discarded in drawers, ash trays and piggy banks

No action despite tariffs, serious about Canada becoming 51st state: Trump

President Donald Trump said he is serious about wanting Canada to become the 51st state in an interview that aired Sunday during the Super Bowl preshow. Yeah it is, Trump told Fox News Channel's Bret Baier when asked whether his talk of annexing Canada is a real thing" as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently suggested. I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen," he said. "Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially a subsidy to Canada? The US is not subsidizing Canada. The US buys products from the natural resource-rich nation, including commodities like oil. While the trade gap in goods has ballooned in recent years to $72 billion in 2023, the deficit largely reflects America's imports of Canadian energy. Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada would be better off if it agreed to become the 51st US state a prospect that is deeply unpopular among ...

Elon Musk dodges DOGE scrutiny while expanding his power in Washington

Elon Musk made a clear promise after Donald Trump decided to put him in charge of making the government more efficient. It's not going to be some sort of backroom secret thing, Musk said last year. It will be as transparent as possible," maybe even streamed live online. It hasn't worked out that way so far. In the three weeks since the Republican president has been back in the White House, Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work. He has not answered questions from journalists or attended any hearings with lawmakers. Staff members for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have sidelined career officials around Washington. It is a profound challenge not only to business-as-usual within the federal government, which Trump campaigned on disrupting, but to concepts of consensus and transparency that are foundational in a democratic system. Musk describes himself as White House tech support, and he has embedd

US spending Bill in limbo as differences between Republicans-Democrats rise

Before President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress can enact much of their legislative agenda, they have to deal with some unfinished business completing work on the current budget year's spending bills. It's a task that by all accounts is not going well. The current stopgap measure lasts through March 14. After that, without congressional action, there would be a partial government shutdown. Five weeks is an eternity when it comes to resolving spending bills in Washington. But Trump's first weeks in office have escalated tensions between the two parties as the new administration reshapes agency priorities and dismantles existing programs without congressional approval. A look at where the talks stand: Republicans accuse Democrats of abandoning negotiations Republican and Democratic leaders of the two appropriations committees in Congress were holding spending bill talks in late January; aides said the two sides were committed to getting a deal done. But optimism has faded

TikTok to let US Android users download app via kits on its website

Apple and Google have not reinstated TikTok to their app stores since a US law took effect on January 19 requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance either to sell on national security grounds or face ban

Donald Trump pauses 'de minimis' repeal as packages pile up at US customs

The initial change, implemented with just over 48 hours' notice, caused the USPS to temporarily stop accepting packages from China and Hong Kong earlier this week

Musk to bring back DOGE staffer who resigned after report of racist posting

Elon Musk said on Friday he is re-hiring a staff member at the Department of Government Efficiency who resigned a day earlier after he was linked to social media posts that espoused racism. Musk, in a post on his social media network X, said he would bring back Marko Elez after Vice President JD Vance called for him to be rehired. President Donald Trump later endorsed his vice president's view. Marko Elez resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal linked the 25-year-old DOGE staffer to a deleted social media account on X that posted last year, I was racist before it was cool and You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity, among other posts. The account in September included a post that said, Normalize Indian hate." The vice president's wife, Usha Vance, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Vance, in a post on Musk-owned X, said Elez should be brought back and blamed journalists who try to destroy people. I obviously disagree with some of Elez's posts, but I don't

US Attorney probe threats against govt employees following Musk's referral

Martin reaffirmed his commitment to investigating any unethical actions, emphasised the importance of holding accountable those who abuse American taxpayer dollars

Judge halts Trump order of USAID workers' leave giving them 30 day deadline

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, sided with two federal employee associations in agreeing to a pause in plans to put the employees on paid leave as of midnight Friday. The workers associations argue that Trump lacks the authority for his swift dismantling of a six-decade-old aid agency enshrined in congressional legislation. CLOSE IT DOWN, Trump said Friday on social media of USAID. Crews used duct tape to block out the agency's name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters Friday, and a flag was taken down. Someone placed a bouquet of flowers outside the door. A group of a half-dozen USAID officials speaking to reporters Friday strongly disputed assertions from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the most essential life-saving programs abroad were getting waivers to ..

Forced leaves start for thousands at USAID under Trump's plan to gut agency

Forced leaves pulling all but a small fraction of staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development off the job around the world began Friday, while employees turned to federal courts to try to roll back the Trump administration's swift dismantling of the six-decade-old aid agency and its programs worldwide. A judge was holding a hearing Friday afternoon in the lawsuit from federal workers associations, who argue that President Donald Trump lacks the authority to shut down an agency enshrined in congressional legislation. CLOSE IT DOWN, Trump said Friday on social media of USAID. Crews used duct tape to block out the agency's name on a sign outside its Washington headquarters Friday, and a flag was taken down. Someone placed a bouquet of flowers outside the door. A group of a half-dozen USAID officials speaking to reporters Friday strongly disputed assertions from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the most essential life-saving programs abroad were getting waivers to ...

House lawmakers push to ban Chinese AI app DeepSeek from US govt devices

A bipartisan duo in the the US House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., on Thursday introduced the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act," which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited the Chinese government's ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks. The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans," Gottheimer said in a statement. We simply can't risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security." The proposal comes after the Chinese software compa

Trump wants Ukraine's rare earth elements as condition of further support

President Donald Trump on Monday indicated that he wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine to gain access to the country's rare earth materials as a condition for continuing US support for its war against Russia. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump complained that the US had sent more in military and economic assistance to Ukraine than its European partners, adding, We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earth and other things." Trump suggested that he's received word from the Ukrainian government that they'd be willing to make a deal to give the US access to the elements critical to the modern high-tech economy. I want to have security of rare earth, Trump added. We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they're willing to do it. Trump, who had previously said he'd bring about a rapid end to the war, said talks are ongoin

Musk's DOGE commission gains access to sensitive Treasury payment systems

The Department of Government Efficiency, run by President Donald Trump's billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems, according to two people familiar with the situation. The move by DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations, means it could have wide leeway to access important taxpayer data, among other things. The New York Times first reported the news of the group's access of the massive federal payment system. The two people who spoke to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, on Friday sent a letter to Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment .

Most US govt websites online and accessible despite reported pause plan

Trump has moved quickly to quash federal diversity initiatives since taking office on Jan. 20