North Carolina auditor excited for ‘real effect’ of state-level DOGE: ‘Keeping government accountable’
EXCLUSIVE: North Carolina’s state auditor said he is looking forward to making a positive impact on taxpayers by implementing a state version of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, North Carolina state auditor Dave Boliek said his office would look into how the state government can be more efficient and utilize the resources it has in the “best possible way” for taxpayers. He plans on doing that through House Bill 125, a state-level DOGE initiative named after him that recently passed the legislature. “It helps to give our office and the state auditor’s office more resources to take a look at efficiencies and ways to really drill down on determining a good return on investment of taxpayer dollars across North Carolina,” Boliek said. “I really support the effort,” he said, in part. “We’ve got the team in place, and we’ve got the ability to really get effective results.” DOGE PREPARES TO LITERALLY DRAIN THE SWAMP BY BANISHING BIDEN’S ‘OVERREACHING’ WATER RULE The bill includes a provision for the state auditor to establish a Division of Accountability, Value and Efficiency, otherwise known as the DAVE Act. The bill passed the legislature last week with bipartisan support – a 91-23 vote in the House and a 47-2 vote in the Senate. The measure now sits at Gov. Josh Stein’s desk, and while it is unclear if he will sign the measure into law, the ability to override a potential veto is there with a Republican majority in both chambers and enough Democrat support. “It will become law. I’m very confident that it will,” Boliek said. Boliek explained that his office will be taking a “data-driven approach” to determining the best “return on investment in taxpayer dollars.” He also said his office will look across the entire state government to identify where it can be more efficient rather than focusing on specific key areas. “I think it’d be unfair to sort of pick out one specific area where we see cuts are necessary because we haven’t taken that deep dive yet, but we are going to use modern computer programs, we’re going to use AI and we’re going to use a lot of data analysis to come up with solid common-sense recommendations,” he said. TEXAS CREATES ITS OWN VERSION OF DOGE AS GOV. GREG ABBOTT SAYS REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT IS ‘TOO BURDENSOME’ Unlike DOGE, the goals of the DAVE Act include allocating funds to areas where there are not enough resources, in addition to eliminating wasteful spending. Boliek said the legislature has asked for open positions in the state to be examined to determine why the roles are unfilled and, if necessary, what needs to happen in order to fill them. “I don’t think we’re limited to just looking at cutting only. There may be areas where the state is responsible for serving citizens, and we’re not putting in enough resources. The legislature has been very clear about giving us that freedom to take a look at those areas as well, like where we are underfunding certain things,” Boliek added. When asked about areas the Trump administration focused on with DOGE that Boliek could continue with at the state level, he said he wants to pursue initiatives in a data-driven way to ensure his office is backing up its recommendations for cuts or enhancements with “solid data” and “not just a feeling.” “The approach should be to take a look at how taxpayer dollars are being spent and ask ‘what is the return on investment?’ If we’re spending tax dollars on a specific program, the real question is what kind of return are taxpayers getting for that amount of money? And that, I think, will drive decisions on recommendations,” he said. DOGE REVEALS WHAT YOU GET FOR THE HALF MILLION YOU’LL PAY IN TAXES OVER YOUR LIFETIME Boliek said “taking a look at how dollars are appropriated is really important” and he pointed out the need for “relief-type bills,” including for hurricane relief following the devastation left in the state last year by Hurricane Helene. “It’s one thing to expend money and appropriate money, it’s another thing to appropriate money with some measurables,” he said. “That’s really going to be key to us being able to be the most efficient. The auditor’s office here in North Carolina is well situated to assist with the monitoring of measurables on the expense of appropriated dollars.” As he awaits official enactment of the DAVE Act, Boliek said it is an “exciting time” for his office to be able to have a “real effect” on everyday Americans in the Tar Heel State. “We want to be able to be relevant to them, and we want to be there so that these citizens of North Carolina know that there’s somebody paying attention and keeping government accountable on their behalf,” Boliek said.
Hamas denies it expressed willingness to disarm, slams Witkoff’s Gaza trip
Palestinian group says right to resist Israeli occupation ‘cannot be relinquished until full national rights restored’. Hamas has rejected reports that it expressed a willingness to disarm during Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Israel, stressing that it has a “national and legal” right to confront the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian group responded on Saturday to recent remarks purportedly made by United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, during a meeting with relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza. Citing a recording of the talks, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the US envoy told the families that Hamas said it was “prepared to be demilitarised”. But in a statement, Hamas said “the resistance and its weapons are a national and legal right as long as the [Israeli] occupation persists”. That right “cannot be relinquished until our full national rights are restored, foremost among them the establishment of a fully sovereign, independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital”, it said. Witkoff met the Israeli captives’ families in Tel Aviv on Saturday, one day after he visited a US and Israeli-backed aid distribution site run by the controversial GHF in Gaza. Hamas had earlier slammed the US envoy’s trip as a “staged show” aimed at misleading the public about the situation in the enclave, where an Israeli blockade has spurred a starvation crisis and fuelled global condemnation. More than 1,300 Palestinians also have been killed trying to get food at GHF-run sites since the group began operating in the bombarded Palestinian territory in May, the United Nations said earlier this week. But the Trump administration has stood firmly behind GHF despite the killings and growing criticism of the group’s operations in Gaza. In June, Washington announced that it approved $30m to support GHF. Advertisement Witkoff’s comments on disarmament also come amid a widening international push to recognise a Palestinian state amid the scenes of starvation in Gaza. The United Kingdom announced at a two-day United Nations conference in New York this week that it may follow France in recognising a Palestinian state in September. Echoing an earlier statement by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said London would proceed with recognition if Israel did not meet certain conditions, including implementing a ceasefire in Gaza. The UN meeting also saw 17 countries, plus the European Union and the Arab League, back a seven-page text on reviving a two-state solution to the conflict. The text called on Hamas to “end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State”. Adblock test (Why?)
What’s the fallout from Trump’s new batch of tariffs?
The US has hit many countries with new levies, causing shock and confusion. Around the world, countries are scrambling to cope with the latest wave of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. More than 60 countries are on the list, some with levies as high as 50 percent. The move has unleashed shock, confusion and financial volatility. The US also stock market took a hit and a jobs report revealed slower than expected economic growth. Trump didn’t take the news well: He promptly fired the head of the US Labour Statistics agency – accusing her of “manipulating” the data. But beyond that, how will these tariffs affect the global economy? And will this controversial foreign policy tool backfire on Trump? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Harry Broadman – Economist at RAND Corporation and a former US assistant trade representative and chief of staff of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers Seijiro Takeshita – Professor of management at the University of Shizuoka in Japan Steve Hanke – Professor at Johns Hopkins University, distinguished senior scholar at the Mises Institute, and a former senior economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine says defence sector corruption scheme uncovered
Anticorruption agencies arrest four suspects after government forced to backtrack on push to strip them of autonomy. Ukrainian authorities have detained several officials over a “large-scale corruption scheme” in the defence sector, just days after lawmakers restored the independence of the country’s two main investigative bodies. The National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) said in a joint statement on Saturday that they made four arrests in connection with the scheme, which involved the procurement of military drones and signal jamming systems. “The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,” they said, adding that the suspects had received kickbacks of up to 30 percent of the contract amounts. NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of National Guard personnel taking bribes. The suspects were not identified in Saturday’s statement. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also said it had suspended the suspected National Guard members. The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came under criticism last month for trying to take away the anticorruption agencies’ independence and place them under the control of his prosecutor-general. The agencies regained their autonomy after Zelenskyy’s move sparked the first antigovernment demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022. Zelenskyy, who enjoys far-reaching wartime powers, initially said he needed to bring the agencies under his control because they were inefficient and under “Russian influence”. Advertisement But he then said he had heard people’s anger and submitted a bill restoring the agencies’ independence, which was passed by lawmakers on Thursday. “It is important that anticorruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s European allies praised the about-face, having voiced concerns about the original defanging of the agencies. Top officials had told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its antigraft authorities. In a statement about Saturday’s arrests, Zelenskyy said he was “grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work”. Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi weather Update: Rain lashes parts of Delhi-NCR, causes waterlogging in several areas
Areas including Vijay Chowk, Connaught Place, Minto Bridge, Sarojini Nagar, AIIMS, and Panchkuian Marg witnessed intense showers.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway BIG UPDATE: Bandikui-Jaipur corridor opens for public, to reduce Delhi-Jaipur travel time to 3 hours
The 66.9 km greenfield expressway, inaugurated on 15 July, connects Jaipur’s Ring Road to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
Ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith under investigation by government watchdog Office of Special Counsel
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is investigating former special counsel Jack Smith, the OSC has confirmed to Fox News. Smith was tapped in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to serve as special counsel regarding two probes pertaining to then-former President Donald Trump. The OSC is investigating Smith for allegedly violating the Hatch Act, which bars government employees from partaking in political activities. It is not a criminal investigation. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Saturday, but did not receive a response. TRUMP’S NOMINEE TO LEAD US OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL REFUTES ANTISEMITIC CLAIMS AND TIES TO HOLOCAUST DENIER The OSC is not the same as a special counsel appointed by an attorney general, as Smith was, but “is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency,” according to its website. “OSC’s statutory authority comes from four federal laws: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA),” the website explains. TRUMP CALLS JACK SMITH ‘DESPERATE’ AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT IS RELEASED AFTER MIDNIGHT Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas recently asked the OSC to look into whether Smith illegally engaged in political activity to influence the 2024 election against Trump. “I write requesting the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith, Special Counsel for Attorney General Merrick Garland, unlawfully took political actions to influence the 2024 election to harm then-candidate President Donald Trump,” Cotton wrote in a July 30 letter to Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer. TOP GOP SENATOR DEMANDS PROBE INTO WHETHER JACK SMITH ‘UNLAWFULLY’ TRIED TO INFLUENCE 2024 ELECTION “President Trump of course vanquished Joe Biden, Jack Smith, every Democrat who weaponized the law against him, but President Trump’s astounding victory doesn’t excuse Smith of responsibility for his unlawful election interference. I therefore ask the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith or any members of his team unlawfully acted for political purposes,” Cotton wrote. Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.
Secret Service will not renew former director Kim Cheatle’s security clearance
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will not have her top-level security clearance renewed, the agency said. This comes after Cheatle resigned last year amid mounting scrutiny over security lapses that led to the assassination attempt against then-candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump survived an assassination attempt during the July 13, 2024, rally, suffering an injury to his ear after a bullet grazed him, while audience member Corey Comperatore was killed and two others in the crowd were wounded. A Secret Service sniper fatally shot the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had climbed to the top of a nearby building. The Secret Service, as well as several top U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, regularly update the security clearances for former directors. But the Secret Service now says not all former directors will have their clearances renewed under current Director Sean Curran. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE RESIGNS AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE IN WAKE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT “The U.S. Secret Service sponsors security clearances for all the former directors for their knowledge of operational and national security matters,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. “The purpose for this was so the agency could maintain formal and protected communication including potentially sensitive and classified matters with former officials.” “Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency,” the spokesperson continued. “Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency. During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed.” The move not to renew Cheatle’s security clearance comes as some Republican lawmakers were voicing opposition to a potential renewal, including Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., who argued that her leadership decisions contributed to the agency’s numerous failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Trump. “Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign,” Johnson said in a statement to RealClearPolitics. “I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.” BUTLER ONE YEAR LATER: REVISITING THE HISTORIC ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP Johnson, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, had probed the Secret Service’s failures leading up to the assassination attempt in Butler. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee that conducted a joint investigation with a Homeland Security panel into the lapses in Butler, said the agency’s failures should prevent her from holding a security clearance. “Kim Cheatle disgraced the Secret Service by failing to prevent a horrifying attempt on President Trump’s life,” Blackburn said in a statement to RealClearPolitics. “Not only did she oversee one of the greatest security failures in our nation’s history, but she also stonewalled congressional oversight and ran away from my colleagues and me when we confronted her. Under no circumstances should she be allowed to regain her security clearance, and it is shameful she would even try.” Cheatle resigned as director 10 days after the shooting in Butler, as she was facing intense pressure from Republicans over the security failures. “To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure,” Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency at the time. “On July 13th, we fell short on that mission.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she added. On the first anniversary of the assassination attempt, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, accused her of lying in her testimony to Congress in the aftermath of the shooting when she denied accusations she turned down requests for more resources for Trump’s security. The former director pushed back on Paul’s allegations. “Any assertion or implication that I provided misleading testimony is patently false and does a disservice to those men and women on the front lines who have been unfairly disciplined for a team, rather than individual, failure,” she responded in a statement provided by her attorney.
Patel fires back at media critics after uncovering secret FBI ‘burn bags’ with classified documents
FBI Director Kash Patel called out the left-wing media Saturday for labeling him a liar over his discovery of a trove of sensitive documents related to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe buried in multiple “burn bags” in a secret room inside the bureau. Sources previously told Fox News Digital the “burn bag” system is used to destroy documents designated as classified or higher. Sources also said multiple burn bags were found and filled with thousands of documents. One document FBI officials found in a burn bag, sources said, was the classified annex to former special counsel John Durham’s final report, which includes the underlying intelligence he reviewed. Patel addressed the burn bags on X, reminding people of what he proved in 2017 and 2018. SOROS’ ALLEGED TIES TO RUSSIAGATE EXPOSED IN DECLASSIFIED ANNEX OF DURHAM REPORT “In 2017/18, I proved the Steele Dossier was fictitious intelligence, weaponized by corrupt FBI officials to deceive a federal judge and unlawfully spy on then presidential candidate Trump’s campaign – all paid for by his opponent,” the FBI director said. “The media called me a liar. “Now I’m the FBI Director: We just uncovered burn bags/room filled with Russia Gate files, including the Durham annex, and declassified them,” Patel continued. “Once again, I released the prior FBI’s own documents and exposed the truth. The same media is calling me a liar again. Maybe this FBI will release more docs directly, from FBI HQ…so we can see who is lying – wouldn’t want to deprive the fake news of more bogus Pulitzers.” The declassification of the classified annex is being done in close coordination between CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General Pam Bondi and acting National Security Agency Director William Hartman. PATEL FOUND THOUSANDS OF SENSITIVE TRUMP–RUSSIA PROBE DOCS INSIDE ‘BURN BAGS’ IN SECRET ROOM AT FBI The declassified annex will be transmitted to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who ultimately will release the document to the public. Patel, in a June interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, revealed that he found a room full of documents and computer hard drives “that no one had ever seen or heard of.” “Just think about this,” Patel told Rogan. “Me, as director of the FBI, the former ‘Russiagate guy,’ when I first got to the bureau, found a room that Comey and others hid from the world in the Hoover Building, full of documents and computer hard drives that no one had ever seen or heard of. Locked the key and hid access and just said, ‘No one’s ever gonna find this place.’” Patel and his staff have been working through the documents, some of which are related to sensitive investigations, including the FBI’s original Trump–Russia probe, known inside the bureau as Crossfire Hurricane. FBI’S CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP-RUSSIA ACTIONS PREDICTED WITH ‘ALARMING SPECIFICITY’ BY FOREIGN ACTORS: SOURCES It is unclear what the latest documents cover specifically, but sources told Fox News Digital that the most recent discovery was pursuant to an investigative request from Grassley. Patel has turned the documents over to Grassley. Grassley has been requesting information related to Durham’s probe. Durham was appointed after then-special counsel Robert Mueller completed his yearslong investigation into the origins of the Trump–Russia probe — including intelligence community malfeasance during and in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Sources told Fox News Digital that Grassley’s team is now reviewing the underlying information as part of its investigative work. As for the other records, Patel’s staff is working to turn them over to Congress pursuant to investigative requests by committees of jurisdiction. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Trump tells Schumer to ‘GO TO HELL’ over Senate nominee deal funding demands after negotiations collapse
Hours of tense negotiations to strike a deal on President Donald Trump’s nominees blew up Saturday night, and now lawmakers are headed home. Senate Republicans and Democrats were quick to point the finger at one another for the deal’s demise, but it was ultimately Trump who nuked the talks. PIRRO CONFIRMED AS D.C. U.S. ATTORNEY AMID PARTISAN CLASH AS DEM NOMINEE BLOCKADE CONTINUES In a lengthy post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of “demanding over One Billion Dollars in order to approve a small number of our highly qualified nominees.” “This demand is egregious and unprecedented, and would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if it were accepted. It is political extortion, by any other name,” Trump said. “Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” “Do not accept the offer,” he continued. “Go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country. Have a great RECESS and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” DEMS DIG IN, TRUMP DEMANDS ALL: NOMINEE FIGHT BOILS OVER IN SENATE AS GOP LOOKS FOR A DEAL Instead of finding a pathway to vote on as many as 60 of the president’s nominees, all of which moved through committee with bipartisan support, lawmakers rapid-fire voted on seven before leaving Washington until September. But Schumer treated Trump’s move as a victory for Senate Democrats. He countered that it was the president who gave up on negotiations while he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., worked to find a bipartisan solution, “provided the White House and Senate Republicans met our demands.” “He took his ball, he went home, leaving Democrats and Republicans alike wondering what the hell happened,” Schumer said, standing next to a poster-sized version of the president’s post. “Trump’s all-caps Tweet said it all,” he continued. “In a fit of rage, Trump threw in the towel, sent Republicans home, and was unable to do the basic work of negotiating.” But prior to the president’s edict, both sides of the aisle believed they were on the verge of a breakthrough to both meet Trump’s desire to see his nominees confirmed and leave Washington. Thune said that there were “lots of offers” made between him and Schumer over the course of negotiations. “There were several different times where I think either or both sides maybe thought there was a deal in the end,” he said. Senate Democrats wanted the White House to unfreeze billions in National Institute of Health and foreign aid funding, in addition to a future agreement that no more clawback packages would come from the White House. In exchange, they would greenlight several of Trump’s non-controversial nominees. RECESS ON ICE AS REPUBLICANS HUNKER DOWN FOR HIGH-STAKES NOMINEE BLITZ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., accused Schumer of going “too far” by upping the price tag on his demands. “We’ve had three different deals since last night,” he said. “And every time it’s been, every time it’s ‘I want more,’” Mullin said of Schumer’s demands. He said that Republicans weren’t caught off guard by Trump’s call to halt talks, and noted that the White House had been heavily involved in negotiations. “You get to a realization that there was, it was never about making a deal,” he continued. “They want to go out and say the President’s being unrealistic, and because he can’t answer to his base to make a deal like we have in every other president in history.” Now, Republicans won’t pursue recess appointments, but Mullin noted that moving ahead with a rule change to the confirmation process when lawmakers return in September was going to happen in response. “The asks evolved on both sides quite a bit over time,” Thune said. “But in the end, we never got to a place where we had both sides agree to lock it in.” Senate Democrats, on the other hand, countered that their offer never changed, and that Republicans kept increasing the number of nominees they wanted across the line, and attempted to include more controversial, partisan picks. Schumer wouldn’t reveal the details of his demands, but charged that any changes to Senate rules would be a “huge mistake,” and urged Trump to work with Senate Democrats moving forward, particularly as Congress hurtles toward yet another deadline to fund the government in September. “They should stop listening to him,” Schumer said. “If they want to do what’s good for the American people, they shouldn’t be in blind obeisance to Donald Trump.”