Trump on verge of next Cabinet victory with late-night Tulsi Gabbard Senate vote
President Donald Trump is on the cusp of seeing his 14th Cabinet member confirmed in former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard is slated for a final Senate confirmation vote to be Trump’s director of national intelligence (DNI) after midnight in the early morning hours of Wednesday. This is when the 30 hours of post-cloture debate expires on her nomination. Frequently, the debate between the cloture motion and the final vote is minimized in what’s referred to as a “time agreement” between Republicans and Democrats. But with the controversial nature of Gabbard’s nomination and ongoing frustrations with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its government audit, no such agreement is expected. NOEM, HEGSETH, BONDI PLEAD WITH CONGRESS FOR MORE BORDER FUNDING AMID LARGE-SCALE DEPORTATIONS Gabbard is expected to be confirmed and has already amassed support from hesitant Republicans who voted against Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, requiring Vice President JD Vance to break the tie in the upper chamber. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who are often considered the conference’s moderate members, have both already come out in support of Gabbard. Both lawmakers voted against confirming Hegseth. LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER: THE LITTLE-KNOWN TRUMP NOMINEE WHO MAY NEED TO RELY ON DEMS Collins is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and voted in favor of the nomination, helping advance it to the full Senate floor. Gabbard also snagged the backing of key Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Todd Young, R-Ind., despite the latter being uncertain before the committee vote. TRUMP NOMINEE TULSI GABBARD CLEARS LAST HURDLE, HEADS FOR FINAL CONFIRMATION VOTE Young is also on the Intel Committee and ultimately voted to advance her to the floor, but only after some prodding and discussions with Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vance, who operated rigorous operations to ensure the nomination got through. SCHUMER REVEALS DEM COUNTER-OFFENSIVE AGAINST TRUMP’S DOGE AUDIT Some concerns that followed Gabbard through her confirmation hearing were her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her previous FISA Section 702 stance and her past support for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. But these worries were apparently quelled by her answers and the persuasive support of both Cotton and Vance.
Missouri AG sues Starbucks over ‘race-based’ hiring, DEI initiatives
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Starbucks on Tuesday for using “race-based hiring practices” in alleged violation of anti-discrimination laws. Bailey’s lawsuit alleges that Starbucks violates the Missouri Human Rights Act. The lawsuit highlights programs Starbucks offers to promote “BIPOC” employees, referring to Black, indigenous and people of color. It also targets the company for “setting and tracking annual inclusion and diversity goals of achieving BIPOC representation of at least 30 percent at all corporate levels and at least 40 percent of all retail and manufacturing roles by 2025,” according to a draft of the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital. “With Starbucks’ discriminatory patterns, practices, and policies, Missouri’s consumers are required to pay higher prices and wait longer for goods and services that could be provided for less had Starbucks employed the most qualified workers, regardless of their race, color, sex, or national origin,” Bailey claimed in a statement. Starbucks did not respond by press time to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’ “As Attorney General, I have a moral and legal obligation to protect Missourians from a company that actively engages in systemic race and sex discrimination,” Bailey said. “Racism has no place in Missouri. We’re filing suit to halt this blatant violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act in its tracks.” Bailey’s lawsuit relies on the Supreme Court ruling that federal law prohibits discrimination based on race in college admissions, arguing that the decision also applies to hiring practices. TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW By allegedly linking its hiring practices to race and gender quotas, Starbucks has “blatantly violated the law,” the lawsuit claims. “Additionally, the company discriminates based on race and gender when it comes to board membership. All of these actions are unlawful,” Bailey’s office said in a statement. The lawsuit comes just weeks after news that Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol warned the company’s employees about incoming layoffs in March. In a message to employees, he highlighted how the company aims to deliver on its “Back to Starbucks” strategy, a series of changes announced last year that aims to enhance customers’ in-store experience, but also said it needs to strive for better efficiency, which will ultimately result in layoffs. “We have recently begun the work to define the support organization for the future. We are approaching this work thoughtfully, but it will involve difficult decisions and choices. I expect that, unfortunately, we will have job eliminations and smaller support teams moving forward,” Niccol wrote.
As Democrats regroup outside DC, GOP attorneys general adopt new playbook to defend Trump agenda
GOP state attorneys are taking on a renewed role during President Donald Trump’s second administration as “freedom’s front line,” Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) incoming executive director Adam Piper told Fox News Digital, arguing that Democrats – deflated from losing control of both houses of Congress – are turning to left-leaning state attorneys to “undermine” the White House’s America First agenda. Right now, there are 29 Republican attorneys general in the United States who are “uniquely qualified to be the tip of the spear, to be freedom’s front line and be a foundation for the future and a foundation for freedom every single day,” Piper told Fox News Digital. “These men and women are working tirelessly to ensure their states are the safest places possible. But they’re also working tirelessly to defend freedom, to help President Trump to ensure the American people have the system of government they voted for, they expect, and they deserve one that is free and one that is fair.” In Trump’s first three weeks in office, Democratic attorneys general have sued the Trump administration on several matters related to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That includes New York Attorney General Letitia James leading 19 state attorneys in suing over DOGE leader Elon Musk’s access to Treasury Department records. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction in that case Saturday. TRUMP HAS HIGHER APPROVAL RATING THAN AT ANY POINT DURING FIRST TERM: POLL Democratic attorneys general also partnered with the country’s largest federal labor unions to sue over Trump’s deferred resignation offer that would allow workers eight months of paid leave if they agree to leave their jobs voluntarily. In turn, Montana’s Republican attorney general, Austin Knudsen, led 22 states in an amicus brief Sunday asking the court to deny a motion for a temporary restraining order and allow Trump to manage the federal workforce how he sees fit. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston federal court on Monday proceeded to push back the deadline a second time on Trump’s “Fork in the Road Directive,” which gives most federal employees the option to resign with pay and benefits until Sept. 30. “During the Biden administration, Republican AGs were the last line of defense. We were the goal line stand, keeping the equivalent of a ‘tush push’ out of the end zone,” Piper told Fox News Digital. “During the Trump administration, we have to play offense, defense and special teams,” he continued. “We have to be freedom’s front line. Working with the administration to ensure this DOGE regulatory reform agenda gets done, that we return to America’s Golden Age. But we also have to play defense and special teams. You’re going to see Democratic AGs take our playbook, bastardize it, and push back on the Trump administration. You will see states like New York and California get more aggressive, and Republican AGs are there to defend the rule of law, to promote freedom, and to ensure we work with President Trump to return America’s Golden Age.” As for the DOGE injunction led by James, Piper said it equates to “partisan gamesmanship from Democratic attorneys general who want to do everything possible to thwart President Trump’s agenda.” “This is why Republican attorneys general are so critical to the success of the Trump administration in pushing back against Democratic attorneys general and their attempts to crowbar what President Trump and his team are trying to accomplish in Washington, D.C., which is returning freedom to the American people, returning government efficiency, eliminating fraud, waste and abuse,” he said. REPUBLICAN AGS BACK TRUMP FEDERAL EMPLOYEE BUYOUT AS JUDGE DECIDES ‘FORK IN THE ROAD’ DIRECTIVE’S FATE Regarding James, in particular, Piper noted how New York’s attorney general led cases against Trump during his 2024 re-election campaign that are now defunct and have failed. “A lot of her push back on the Trump administration is more about political theater than it is the rule of law in a court of law,” he said. “And today and moving forward, you will see Republican attorneys general being President Trump’s best friend from a policy standpoint. We will be his best champion from a policy standpoint. There’s no more effective elected official in the United States than the state attorney general. We’re more effective than the members of Congress, more effective than U.S. senators, more effective than even governors… You know, we can push back on some of this lawfare that you’ll see from Democratic attorneys general.” The Republican Attorneys General Association has seen alumni advance to the federal level in the Department of Justice. Most notably, that includes the newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Piper said he also hopes to see the Senate confirm Aaron Rice, an alum of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, to join the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. He noted 51 Republican attorneys general or staff alumni held Senate confirmed positions in the first Trump administration. “Republican attorneys general and their staffs are truly America’s farm team. You know where the best incubator of talent to ensuring President Trump has known conservative fighters who are willing to fight every day for the American people,” Piper said. “And from Attorney General Bondi. There’s no better person to be the attorney general of the United States of America.” As RAGA looks ahead, Virginia Attorney General Jason Myares is defending his office this year in what’s expected to be a competitive race, and then 30 attorneys general races will be on the ballot in 2026. “There’s an urban myth that Richmond goes the opposite way of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are going to make sure that myth is just an urban myth and just a fable. Attorney General Jason Myers is truly one of our best when you look at the issues across the board. We will have probably an uphill battle,” Piper said. “Virginia is a state the Republicans carried by two points four years ago. We have to have a good ground game. We
Heritage president reacts to ‘Project 2025′ promptly dropping from liberals’ lips as DOGE takes ax to DC
FIRST ON FOX: In the heat of the 2024 election cycle, the name Project 2025 was on the lips of Democrats and mainstream media figures everywhere, until it was not. President Donald Trump’s win ushered in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its de-facto leader, Elon Musk. At the same time, Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, launched DOGE committees in Congress, and Project 2025 appeared to fall to the political wayside. Trump himself repeatedly dispelled allegations he and Project 2025 – a thousand-page policy proposal product of the conservative Heritage Foundation – were joined at the political hip. Meanwhile, Heritage leaders past and present, like Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese and Heritage President Kevin Roberts, rejected claims there has been anything radical about Project 2025. The quadrennial work has been published under various titles and compositions since the 1980 presidential cycle, with some exceptions. PROJECT 2025 REMAINS NONPARTISAN, TRUE TO 1980S GOOD-GOVT INCEPTION DESPITE WILD OUTCRY: KEY FIGURES Roberts, who wrote the foreword to Project 2025, said voters’ collective voices ushered in Trump and DOGE’s current work, not necessarily the policy proposals of Washington’s conservative “do-tank” or scholars inside-the-beltway writ-large. “The American people delivered a clear mandate in November: dismantle the bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy that is the Deep State. And the latest polling – a 53% approval rating – confirms overwhelming support for President Trump’s efforts to do just that,” he said. When asked about liberals’ panic over Project 2025 and how it has been muted with the rise of DOGE, Roberts suggested the left will latch onto anything to make an issue out of it if they believe they can make gains. “The Left has no new ideas—just unpopular ones. When they fail to win on substance, they simply choose to attack. First, it was Project 2025. Now, it’s DOGE. Different name, same baseless fearmongering,” Roberts said in a Monday interview. “But make no mistake: the American people are ready for real change, and we’re not backing down.” Nonetheless, Project 2025 became styled as a “right-wing boogeyman” talking point on the left. TRUMP PLANS FIRST PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO HELENE-RAVAGED NC Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., founded the “Stop Project 2025 Task Force” last year, comparing the project to a “Blitzkrieg” and saying that lawmakers must understand it and “prepare ourselves accordingly.” At the Democratic National Convention, both Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, held up copies of Project 2025 on stage. “It is a radical plan to drag us backwards, bankrupt the middle class, and raise prices on working class families like yours and mine,” said Kenyatta, who has since been elected DNC vice chairman along with gun control activist David Hogg. The Project’s rumored reputation became fodder for constituents at town halls as well, including in one swing-seat congressional race where a Republican’s incredulous response led to a viral moment, according to Politico. PROJECT 2025 ISSUES BLISTERING RESPONSE TO HARRIS VIA DOZENS OF INDEPENDENT FACT CHECKS New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. was asked about Project 2025 at such an event and responded he had never read the document. “The first time I’ve ever heard of being supportive of it was when I was accused of supporting it,” Kean reportedly replied. One of Trump and Musk’s more recent major endeavors – taking an ax to USAID – is more a project of DOGE, while Project 2025 suggests a more measured approach to rein in the agency’s expenditures and politicization. That project section, authored by former agency COO Max Primorac, describes USAID as having been “deformed” by the Biden administration to pursue a “divisive political and cultural agenda.” Primorac suggests the next administration “scale back” USAID’s global footprint and return it to pre-COVID budget levels while “deradicalizing” its programs and cutting its international affairs accounts. Additionally, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote in Project 2025 that the president should “pursue legislation to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security” and that it has not “gelled into one DHS” as was its goal when founded after 9/11. DOGE MEETS CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’ Cuccinelli had argued that breaking up DHS along “mission[-related] lines” would lead to a more effective government apparatus. Instead, Trump and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem have expanded DHS’ role versus the Biden administration, including the addition of former ICE acting Director Tom Homan as border czar. DOGE’s ruminations about reforming or trimming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – which have enraged the likes of its proverbial “founder” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. – were, however, mirrored in the policy proposal anthology. “Elon Musk and the guy who wrote Project 2025, Russ Vought, are trying to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Warren said Monday. “If they succeed, CEOs and Wall Street will once again be free to trick, trap and cheat you.” Vought did not write Project 2025. He was credited as the author for Chapter 2, which analyzes the executive office of the president. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Former Chase-Manhattan Bank Vice President Robert Bowes called CFPB “highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable” in a section of the project he authored. “It is unconstitutional. Congress should abolish the CFPB and reverse Dodd–Frank Section 1061, thus returning the consumer protection function of the CFPB to banking regulators,” Bowes wrote. Recent media headlines have tried to tie DOGE to the project, with critical stories headlined “Project 2025 Architect” in reference to people like Vought. Roberts said Trump’s team should be the beneficiary of such headlines, in that “he and his team deserve the credit” – and that it is a welcome sight that people who embody Heritage’s guiding principles are being tapped for top positions in the new administration. “Heritage is thrilled to see President Trump appoint so many hardworking patriots who put America First. Russ is one of the great statesmen of our age—a brilliant, principled leader with the vision and intellect
Delhi-NCR schools holiday: Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, schools closed tomorrow due to…
Schools in Noida sent notices to the parents regarding the closure of schools on Wednesday.
Texas Senate panel votes to cut property taxes for homeowners
The marquee proposal would increase the amount of a home’s value exemption from school taxes to $140,000 from $100,000.
Trump meets with Jordan’s king amid tense talks about resettling Palestinians
President Donald Trump welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, a visit that comes amid contentious discussions between the U.S. and Arab nations about relocating Palestinian refugees to Jordan and other neighboring Arab countries to rebuild Gaza. Trump unveiled plans on Feb. 4 that the U.S. would seek to “take over” the Gaza Strip in a “long-term ownership position” to deliver stability to the region during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, Trump’s proposal prompted swift backlash from Arab countries, including Jordan, and Egypt announced plans on Sunday for an emergency Arab Summit to discuss “new and dangerous developments” regarding the resettling of Palestinians on Feb. 27. Trump doubled down on his plans though in an interview that aired Monday with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier and said that he expects Abdullah ultimately will choose to let in Palestinians. “I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also,” Trump told Baier. “They have good hearts.” TRUMP NOT COMMITTING TO PUTTING US TROOPS ON THE GROUND IN GAZA, WHITE HOUSE SAYS However, Trump also issued a warning that withholding aid to Jordan could happen should Jordan refuse to take in Palestinian refugees. The U.S. distributed nearly $1.7 billion in foreign aid to Jordan in fiscal year 2023, according to the State Department. “Yeah, maybe, sure why not,” Trump said when asked. “If they don’t, I would conceivably withhold aid, yes.” Trump welcomed Netanyahu to the White House on Feb. 4 and disclosed his plans to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump told reporters. “Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” Trump said. “Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.” He also said “all” Palestinians would be removed from Gaza under his plan, although White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the next day their removal would be “temporary” during the rebuilding process. Even so, Trump told Fox News on Monday that Palestinians would not return to Gaza under his plan. TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABLIZE MIDDLE EAST Lawmakers on Capitol Hill shared mixed reactions to the plan. “I’m speechless, that’s insane,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told Jewish Insider on Feb. 4. However, Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., did not appear fazed by the remarks. “I think he wants to bring a more peaceful, secure Middle East and put some ideas out there,” Thune told reporters on Wednesday. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
House Dems organize rapid response task force and litigation group to combat Trump agenda
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sent House Democrats a letter Monday announcing the formation of a rapid response team and litigation group to “push back against the far-right extremism” since President Donald Trump took office. In the “Dear Colleague” letter, Jeffries wrote, “I write with respect to our ongoing effort to push back against the far-right extremism that is being relentlessly unleashed on the American people.” Jeffries characterized the political landscape as “a multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration.” The letter states House Democrats have as a result officially established a Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group chaired by Colorado Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse. DEMS FLIRT WITH GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREAT DESPITE PAST FUROR OVER SPENDING CLIFF Jeffries said that Democrats would continue to be “committed to driving down the high cost of living for everyday Americans.” He criticized House Republicans for continuing to “launch far-right attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public safety and the education of our children,” saying the American people were “counting” on Democrats to stop them. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Jeffries’ office and Neguse’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back. SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS HOUSE WILL MATCH TRUMP’S PACE AS DEMOCRATS ARE LEFT ‘FLAILING’ Jeffries responded to a Fox News inquiry about the task force, saying, “It’s been an ongoing effort to push back against far-right extremism.” Jeffries told Fox that “not a single thing that [Republicans have] actually done is a matter of law right now” and said such actions suggest Republicans are “in disarray.” Jeffries, along with House Democrat colleagues, have unveiled efforts to resist the president’s agenda since Trump took office in mid-January. Just last week, House Democrats announced legislation that seeks to secure the personal data of Americans amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) spending sweep. HOUSE DEMOCRAT LEAVES CONGRESSIONAL DOGE CAUCUS, SAYING MUSK IS ‘BLOWING THINGS UP’ The legislation, titled the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, was revealed Thursday to “shield the American people from this out-of-control power grab, permanently, and make sure that the financial, personal, medical, and confidential information of the American people is protected.” Elon Musk’s DOGE team has spent the last several weeks identifying “wasteful” spending within various governmental agencies. DOGE became the target of various lawsuits in the weeks following its establishment. A federal New York judge on Saturday ruled to block DOGE officials from accessing personal data such as social security numbers and bank account numbers. Trump’s Justice Department railed against the order, calling it an “anti-Constitutional” ruling. Vice President JD Vance also called the ruling unconstitutional on X, saying it was an example of judicial overreach. “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” Vance wrote Sunday. Fox News’ Kelly Phares, Tyler Olson, Aubrie Spady, and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Trump’s House allies unveil bill ‘hand in hand’ with DOGE crackdown
FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is pushing to give President Donald Trump more control over the federal spending process, as his administration continues to crack down on funding that does not align with the GOP agenda. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is leading legislation to repeal the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 Nixon-era law aimed at stopping the president from having unilateral say over government spending. It would give Trump greater ability to accomplish his goals for Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Clyde told Fox News Digital in an interview. SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN “I think it goes hand in hand with what DOGE is doing right now and with what the president has in mind to do, and that is to make our government more effective and more efficient,” Clyde said. “They’re simply bringing the fraud, waste and abuse to light. And, then the rest of us, you know, the president and the executive need to take action on it. And then Congress needs to look at that and say, hey, we need to codify that into law to make sure that it stays beyond just this presidency.” His legislation has more than 20 House GOP co-sponsors and a companion bill in the Senate led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Clyde told Fox News Digital that he intends to raise his bill with members of the Trump administration, which has also driven significant pushback against the Impoundment Control Act. Russell Vought, Trump’s recently confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has previously called the Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional. Trump himself has made similar arguments. “Since the Empowered Control Act of ‘74, we have seen a tremendous increase in spending. And I think that’s part of the problem right there. The president is required now by law to spend the exact amount that Congress authorizes or appropriates for a specific program,” Clyde said. ‘WE’RE THE GOLD STANDARD’: GOP LAWMAKER CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OVER DC PLANE CRASH “Well, as a small business owner, I understand the rules of business. And I think that if you can accomplish the same goal and be more financially efficient, I think you should be allowed to do that. And I think the president has always had the authority to do that under the Constitution.” Trump has already exercised significant control over existing federal spending commitments. He paused most foreign aid funding soon after taking office last month, as well as other funding streams his administration said necessitated review. Parts of Trump’s federal funding freezes have been challenged in court, with a federal judge ordering the White House just this week to comply with an earlier legal order directing them to reinstate funding.
$1,300 coffee cups, 8,000% overpay for soap dispensers show waste as DOGE locks in on Pentagon
President Donald Trump‘s team of zealous cost-cutters under Elon Musk will soon set their sights on the U.S.’s largest discretionary budget. With an annual budget of $850 billion, the Pentagon has long been plagued by accusations of waste and inefficiency in its defense programs and recently failed its seventh straight audit. “We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse,” Trump predicted in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Sunday. Congress appropriates the Department of Defense (DOD) budget each year in great detail, and urging lawmakers to trim costs may be where Republicans publicly break with Musk and his burn-it-all-down style. Here is a look at where the Department of Government Efficiency team could set their sights. MUSK’S NEXT TARGET? TRUMP SAYS DOGE WILL LOOK AT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PENTAGON FUNDING The inclination of Musk and his team seems to be to cull federal employees, but cost-cutting advocates argue that outsourcing work to contractors could have the opposite effect. Typically, around half the Pentagon’s budget goes to contractors, corporations that have a profit motive unlike the government itself. The government relies on contractors for software support, training, weapons and to act as paramilitary forces in foreign missions. “A major driver of Pentagon waste is actually service contracting for what are really core government functions and administrative capacities, like simple things [such] as IT support,” said Julia Gledhill, a researcher at the Stimson Center’s National Security Reform program. “It might run contrary to their larger project based on efforts to cut the civilian workforce, but there are a lot of areas to cut Pentagon waste by actually building up government capacity to do basic administrative functions rather than outsourcing them at a very high cost.” HEGSETH WELCOMES IN ELON MUSK’S DOGE FOR ‘LONG OVERDUE’ DOD SPENDING OVERHAUL In 2015, the Defense Business Board, at the request of DOD leaders, found that the Pentagon could save $125 billion over five years by renegotiating service contracts, streamlining the bureaucracy through attrition and early retirements, and consolidating IT processes. The report found the Pentagon was paying an eye-watering 1,014,000 contractors to fill back-office jobs far away from the front lines. The DOD currently only lists around 1.3 million active duty troops. However, the plan was never widely implemented, and Pentagon leaders took steps to “bury” it for fear of budget cuts, according to a Washington Post report. In October 2024, a two-year audit by the Defense Department Inspector General found Boeing overcharged the Air Force by 8,000% for soap dispensers that the service branch paid $149,072 over market price for. Of a selected 46 spare parts that were scrutinized by the audit, the report found the Air Force overpaid about $1 million for 12 of them for its C-17 transport planes. That followed a 2018 congressional inquiry that revealed the Air Force was spending $1,300 for each reheatable coffee cup on its KC-10 aircraft – and then replacing them instead of repairing them when their handles broke. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, found the Air Force spent $32,000 replacing 25 cups. Musk has suggested that he will look to eliminate the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, long dogged by cost overruns, glitches and delays. In posts on X, he called it the “the worst military value for money in history,” and the jet itself “an expensive & complex jack of all trades, master of none” and added that “manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway.” However, doing away with the F-35 has run into opposition in Congress every time it has been suggested. A recent report put out by Taxpayers for Common Sense, Quincy Institute and Stimson called for retiring the F-35 jets and eliminating a ballistic missile program. Halting the F-35 fighter jet program, dogged by cost overruns, glitches and delays, as some have advocated for, would trim $12 billion per year, according to the joint report. But Congress would need to get on board with defunding the F-35 in its yearly defense bill, and Lockheed Martin produces the plane’s parts in many states across the country, where lawmakers have constituents with jobs at risk. “Defunding weapons that are overpriced, underperforming, and out of step with current missions, like the F-35 combat aircraft and the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, would allow us to invest more in real priorities while also tackling the nation’s tremendous debt,” said Gabe Murphy of Taxpayers for Common Sense. TRUMP DOD CREATES TASK FORCE TO ABOLISH DEI OFFICES THAT ‘PROMOTE SYSTEMIC RACISM’ “The ICBM no longer necessarily the most accurate, you know, weapon we have in our nuclear arsenal,” added Gledhill. “We have our sea and air legs of the nuclear triad that are just as accurate and, you know, not as vulnerable as our ICBMs are because, you know, ICBMs are in the ground, we know where they are. It’s public knowledge.” The report found that eliminating the Sentinel ICBM program would save $3.7 billion per year. The Stimson report found that “targeted closures and realignments” of U.S. military bases could save another $3-5 billion per year. “Even if say I accept all the missions we have now in the world, you could probably cut some overseas bases without even really rethinking strategy,” said Ben Friedman, policy director at Defense Priorities. “If you accept that we’re trying to manage the Middle East through US military troop presence or at least the ability to deploy troops and say, okay, we could do with fewer bases.” The Trump team is reportedly considering shutting down its presence in Syria, where 2,000 troops are currently stationed. In the 1980s, under President Ronald Reagan, the government took up an effort known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), a post-Cold War process to coordinate the end of force postures that are no longer needed. Five rounds of BRAC shut down 350 installations at a savings of $12 billion, but the last BRAC process ended in 2011. Some of the Pentagon’s $143.2 billion budget for research may also come under scrutiny. Lawmakers last