18 Feb, 2025 15:29

Musk’s DOGE claims multi-trillion gap in US government spending

Some $4.7 trillion in federal payments remained untraceable, as the Treasury did not enforce a tracking code

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims has uncovered a massive gap of nearly $5 trillion in US federal spending that it cannot account for.

DOGE has claimed that Treasury records made some payments untraceable.

Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20, DOGE has been pressing ahead with budget and spending audits along with job cuts across federal agencies in an effort to reduce government spending by $2 trillion by 2026.

The department, headed by the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, explained that the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), used to describe the account the money is linked to, was missing on a number of payments the department had been making.

“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” DOGE said on Tuesday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going,” the agency added, having thanked the US Treasury for their work in identifying the optional field.

Musk took to X, which he owns, to hail the revelation, saying that “major improvement in Treasury payment integrity going live.” He paid tribute to the “nice work” that came as a result of a combined effort of DOGE, the Treasury, and the US Federal Reserve.

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a division of the Treasury, TAS codes classify every financial transaction reported to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget.

Last week, DOGE set up an official website tracking the size of the federal workforce and documenting the number of federal regulations.The portal reports $55 billion in estimated savings since the launch of the department.

https://www.rt.com/news/612960-musk-doge-trillions-gap-treasury/

(Can’t the trace source it arrived at by bank records. If it went from the Treasury bank account wouldn’t the have records to what/who’s bank account it went too. Just need the routing number and account number to what org or person. Am I missing something here? I bet the CIA would know how to do it.

Chemtrails sprayed over semi North GA, first time I’ve seen them in a while

I’d love to see PDJT sign a fake EO that He is Ruler of America for His Life and then naming his sons to take turns for life.

It wouldn’t matter if it was a joke to the media they will write negative articles for the next 1,000 years! Kek

That would be Hilarious

>>22606847, >>22607149 More bad news for Zelensky - US Russia peace deal demands Ukraine hold New ElectionPN

This is not true, sounds like radicals spreading lies, Putin nor Russia is demanding elections in Ukraine.

1. Putin said they can negotiate the peace deal, even with Zelensky l, but

2. Putin and Russia have brought this up since last March, when his term ran out, he is not an elected President. Zelensky conveniently wouldn’t allow an elections.

3. Due to not being President, Zelensky cannot sign the agreement because he is not the elected leader, it wouldn’t be a legal and binding document because he is not President. his .

4. Russia has to have a legally negotiated and signed and binding document, otherwise the document is null and void. And it’s a useless point, and Kiev will break any promise in the doc.

5. So in effect: They either have an election and the Houses approve it, or a President elections occurs and he signs it, or one of the PMs are voted in as the legal leader of the country, and he signs it.

6. It has to be binding because the EU lied about the Minsk Accords twice and broke their word to destroy Russia. But not only that all documents must be legall.

7. Basically it has to be an agreement that is signed legally and binding for eternity.

Putin nor Russia Never Demanded an Election, they said without a legally elected leader the agreement will never be signed. I’ve read 100s and of articles on this matter.

Lefties are spreading fear porn or conspiracy theories like 2020 election fraud never happened.

Background: Zelensky presidential term ran out early last year, so he imposed Marshall law to retain leadership, because they “supposedly can’t have elections during Marshall law. It’s bullshit of course even Kellogg said to Zelensky, they can hold an election and many countries have run elections in war time.Zelensky is illegal and really a Self Professed Dictator and there are many in government pissed off and wants him out.

Bongini says people will only actIf it’s bad enough, so the questionIs it bad enough yet, it should have been more than a year ago. The legislation knows he’s not legal, but they go along with the lie.

(Russia has been shafted since the 90s by believing the West would be loyal to their word. PS that’s why Ukraine war exists, Putin was promised by Bush sn that they would have not recruit countries into NATO, even near Russia. During the Berlin Wall collapse and Russia agreed to leave. Bush and Putin agreed no more NATO countries and especially near Russia, Germany was the last.

But year after year the US installing NATO had taken over all countries surrounding Russia except a few and Ukraine. So Joe does his thing.

Ukraine was the worst, sharing 1700 miles (?) or more of direct border.

An aside: when it is proven that Bidan was never elected, every single thing he signed and approved, or passed by Congress, every single damn thing needs to be reversed. If you think DOGE project is a big deal, the Bidan lie will take years to reverse.

republicans bitching because they want to be re-elected, this was prophesied 3 weeks ago

Capitol agenda: GOP starts to balk at Musk cuts

Republicans are growing uncomfortable with several aspects of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's government cuts.

Lisa Kashinsky

Republicans are increasingly uncomfortable with President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk’s strategy to slash the federal government.

Sen. Jerry Moran warned the White House that dismantling USAID could hurt Kansans who sell their crops to a government program that fights hunger abroad, our Ben Leonard and Hailey Fuchs report. Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson’s staff wants answers about how an OMB-directed hiring freeze could affect the National Park Service.

Some GOP lawmakers are privately expressing alarm as they pass around a letter the administration sent to fire USDA microbiologists working to stop the bird flu and other animal diseases. Several Republican senators have also voiced concerns about how NIH cuts could hurt universities back home.

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who earlier this month praised Musk for “draining the swamp,” on Saturday criticized the potential firing of probationary FBI agents as counterproductive to law enforcement efforts in his state. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski warned that the administration’s civil-servant culling could hurt energy projects and wildfire management in Alaska.

They're all early signs of the difficult task Republican lawmakers will face over the next four years: figuring out how to stand up for their constituents without appearing disloyal to the president.

And it’s highlighting a significant GOP divide. While some more centrist members are nervous about the pace and scale of the spending cuts, House conservatives want Trump and Musk to slash even more — especially if they don’t get their desired level of spending cuts in the party-line bill to enact the president’s sweeping domestic agenda.

Centrist Republicans could withhold key support if the budget reconciliation measure guts safety-net programs for lower-income Americans. House Republican leaders already think they’ll need to scale back some of those proposed cuts to pass any bill through the Senate.

The Trump administration is offering Musk's Department of Government Efficiency as an alternative vehicle for slashing funding without relying on Congress, according to three GOP lawmakers — and some hard-liners are signaling they're open to that approach.

Fresh test: Expect Republican senators to face questions this week about DOGE seeking access to an IRS system that holds detailed financial information about millions of taxpayers.

(Suck it up buttercups, you allowed this years)

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/02/18/congress/what-were-watching-00204635

Bill Ackman raises bid for Howard Hughes, says he will turn it into ‘modern-day Berkshire’

PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 18 20254:12 PM

KEY POINTS

• Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman hiked his takeover offer for Howard Hughes Holdings.

• The billionaire investor said Tuesday that his firm has submitted a proposal to acquire 10 million newly issued Howard Hughes shares at $90 per share.

Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman hiked his takeover offer for Howard Hughes Holdings to create a “modern-day” Berkshire Hathaway.

The billionaire investor said Tuesday that his firm has submitted a proposal to acquire 10 million newly issued Howard Hughes shares at $90 per share. Back in January, Ackman proposed forming a new subsidiary of Pershing to merge with Howard Hughes, offering current holders $85 a share.

If the newly proposed transaction goes through, Pershing Square will own 48% of the real estate developer based in The Woodlands, Texas. The revised transaction does not require regulatory approvals, a shareholder vote or financing, so can be completed in a few weeks.

Shares of Howard Hughes fell nearly 5% in extended trading following the news. The stock had closed up 6.8% at $80.60 in anticipation of the announcement.

Ackman will become chairman and CEO of Howard Hughes if the deal comes to fruition. Pershing Square would receive an annual fee, paid quarterly, of 1.5% of Howard Hughes’ equity market capitalization.

“We will make available the full resources of Pershing Square to HHH to build a diversified holding company, or one could say, a modern-day Berkshire Hathaway,” Ackman said in a post on social media site X. “The new HHH will acquire controlling interests in private and public companies that meet Pershing Square’s criteria for business quality.”

Ackman said he took inspiration from the unusual career path of the legendary “Oracle of Omaha.” The 94-year-old Warren Buffett started out, essentially, as an activist investor and hedge fund manager running a series of private partnerships, until the 1960s when he closed his partnerships and took control of Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling textile business.

Today, Berkshire is worth $1 trillion with businesses in industries including insurance, energy, railroad and retail as well as a massive equity portfolio and more than $300 billion in cash.

Ackman said Howard Hughes will continue to develop and own “master planned communities” such as The Woodlands in Houston and Summerlin in Las Vegas.

“Owning small and growing MPCs that will eventually become large cities in the best pro-business markets in the country is a great long-term business,” he said in the post. “It’s a lot better than a dying textile company.”

(Akman is a Trump supporter and will help the country, I hope.)

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/18/bill-ackman-raises-bid-for-howard-hughes-says-he-will-turn-it-into-modern-day-berkshire.html

(Excellentthey have been poisoning us for generations. Now we can find the evidence==)

Head of FDA food division resigns over 'indiscriminate firing' of personnel

ByRachel Scott and Katherine Faulders

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 3:32PM

The head of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration food division, which helps ensure the country's food supply is safe, resigned Monday following what he called the "indiscriminate firing" ofroughly 89 people, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods, explained his resignation in a letter to the agency's acting commissioner. A source confirmed the following excerpts to ABC News.

"I was looking forward to working to pursue the Department's agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food," Jones said. "It has been increasingly clear that with the Trump Administration's disdain for the very people necessary to implement your agenda, however, it would have been fruitless for me to continue in this role."

Among those fired at the FDA:staff working on nutrition and infant formula safetyand staff hired to review potentially unsafe food ingredients, according to two sources with knowledge of the firings.

It comes as a federal judge on Monday questioned the authority of billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency but was skeptical of a request to block DOGE from accessing sensitive data and firing employees at half a dozen federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan held a hearing on a request from 14 states for a temporary restraining order seeking to curtail Musk's power in President Donald Trump's quest to downsize the federal government. Chutkan said she would rule within 24 hours.

The requests came from Democratic attorneys general, who had filed a lawsuit challenging what they called Musk's "unchecked power." The states are seeking to block DOGE from firing employees and accessing data at the federal Office of Personnel Management along with six federal agencies that oversee health and human services, education, energy, transportation, labor, and commerce.

https://abc7ny.com/post/head-fda-food-division-jim-jones-resigns-indiscriminate-firing-personnel/15927603/

Chris Murphy

@ChrisMurphyCT

This is true. And until the left builds an infrastructure to confront this reality - and stops acting like political communication is still just buying millions of TV and digital ads every two years - we are cooked.

Quote

Acyn

@Acyn

·Feb 17

Watters: We are waging a 21st century information warfare campaign against the left…What you're seeing on the right is asymmetrical… Someone says something on social media, Musk retweets it, Rogan podcasts it, Fox broadcasts it.. and by the time it reaches everybody, millions have have seen it and retweeted it.

https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1891833231739068870

I love JD’s insults they are spot on and AOC is freaked about Homan referring her to DOJ

https://x.com/AOC/status/1891891927265480712

‘They Suck!’ Stephen A. Smith Roasts Dems — Says His Presence as a 2028 Contender Is an Indictment of Their Weak Bench

Ahmad Austin Jr.Feb 18th, 2025, 11:18 am

Stephen A. Smith on Monday theorized that his surprising appearance in 2028 presidential pollsshould be taken as a sign that the Democratic Party has few appealing alternatives.

Smith has made it clear on numerous occasions that he has no serious political aspirations; but he has also admitted that he would genuinely considering running for president if he knew he had a real shot.

According to at least one prominent pollster, Smith is already gaining support in the 2028 Democratic primary. The poll, published in late January by John McLaughlin, revealed that at least 2% said they’d support Smith if he ran for the Oval Office.

Smith blamed the Democratic Party for his appearance in the polls, citing numerous examples of grassroots organizations cutting their funding due to a lack of support from the party.

“If you’re the Democrats, that’s why Stephen A Smith is in the news,” Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show, “because y’all don’t have anybody. You don’t have anybody. Who you got? Who you got?Kamala Harris better not run. She better not run. She’s not going to win a presidency in 2028! Keep in mind, respect for her. I’m not going to disrespect the former Vice President of the United States. I will never do that, but we gotta be real about something here. When she ran for election on her own, she couldn’t make it to Iowa in 2020. She ultimately positions herself [and] gets the vice presidency. They win the election in 2020. Joe Biden is feeling himself after the liberals won the midterms; and instead of being a transitional president like he promised, the man backstabbed the Liberal Party and turned around and said, ‘I’m staying.’ They wanted him out!”

Smith then listed off a number of potential candidates, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — his personal pick.

“I’m not in the news because I’m here!” Smith said while gesturing upward.“I’m in the news because the Democratic Party is [down] here! Dammit, lower than that! Down to the bottom! They suck right now!Horrible! Because they don’t have a voice! Where the hell is the voice?”

(He’s educating and amusing but never President please)

https://www.mediaite.com/podcasts/they-suck-stephen-a-smith-roasts-dems-says-his-presence-as-a-2028-contender-is-an-indictment-of-their-weak-bench/?cfp

https://youtu.be/Pk6meWRm3aY