Big Government

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During a tele-town hall with Wisconsin voters Monday night, Elon Musk revealed that an arrest is expected in connection to a major Social Security fraud operation involving the stolen identities of over 400,000 Americans.

The fraud, Musk alleged, is part of a broader effort that includes the exploitation of U.S. welfare systems and voter rolls by illegal immigrants.

Musk made the remarks while addressing voters in Wisconsin, responding to a question from a caller in Pulaski who asked whether the fraud uncovered in the Social Security system would be prosecuted.

“Yes. In fact, I believe someone is going to be arrested tomorrow,” Musk said.

“This is someone who actually stole 400,000 Social Security numbers and personal information from the Social Security database, and was selling Social Security numbers and all the identification information in order for people to basically steal money from Social Security.”

Musk said the method of fraud has far-reaching implications, including misuse of government benefits and unauthorized participation in the U.S. election system.

“This is a particular avenue of fraud for illegal immigrants and for voter fraud, because the main way that identification is established in the United States is via Social Security,” Musk explained.

“So if you compromise the Social Security system, you can basically get people de facto registered to vote, even if they’re not citizens, and to get a bunch of benefits and milk the system. It’s pretty insane.”

He criticized what he described as a deliberate effort to reshape the federal government’s infrastructure to support illegal immigration.

“The Democrats have basically taken every part of the government that could possibly be bent toward providing financial incentives for illegal immigrants to come to and remain in the United States—whether it’s Social Security, disability, Medicare, unemployment, even IRS refunds without any income,” Musk said.

“It’s wild.”

Musk also pointed to the misuse of emergency relief funds. “They diverted FEMA funds—which are supposed to be for helping Americans in distress from natural disasters—to pay for luxury hotels in New York for illegals to stay in. In fact, they’re still there.”

Antonio Gracias, a senior figure within the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also presented data during a previous town hall Sunday in Wisconsin that Musk referenced Monday night.

According to Gracias, the number of Social Security numbers issued to non-citizens surged from 270,000 in 2021 to over 2.1 million in 2024.

“We found 1.3 million of them already on Medicaid as an example,” Gracias said.

“On every benefit program we went through, we found groups from this particular group of people, 5.5 million people in those benefit programs. And then what was really, really disturbing us was why. We’re asking ourselves why. And so we actually just took a sample and looked at voter registration records, and we found people here registered to vote in this population.”

Gracias confirmed that the findings have been referred to federal investigators.

“We’ve referred them to prosecution at Homeland Security Investigations,” he said.

“That’s happening right now.”

Musk also addressed the larger issue of outdated federal infrastructure, calling it the “thorniest computer problem I’ve ever seen.”

He noted that many of the government’s systems are still running decades-old software, including long-delayed projects like the IRS modernization effort launched in 1995, which Musk criticized as being perpetually “five years away” from completion.

Officials have not publicly named the suspect allegedly behind the theft of 400,000 Social Security numbers.

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A federal appeals court ruled Friday in favor of the Trump administration, extending a stay that allows the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to continue its operations at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The decision was made following a ruling from a federal judge in Maryland last week, which found that efforts to halt USAID functions were likely unconstitutional and ordered the reinstatement of the agency’s operations.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, issued a temporary stay, blocking the judge’s order that had prohibited DOGE from working with USAID.

The court’s action also prevented biopharmaceutical executive Jeremy Levin from leading the agency. Friday’s decision extended that stay until the appeal is fully resolved.

The legal battle stems from a lawsuit filed by a group of 26 current and former USAID employees or contractors, who allege that the Trump administration unlawfully canceled government contracts, placed USAID personnel on administrative leave, and took actions that dismantled the agency.

The plaintiffs argue that these actions violated the U.S. Constitution’s appointments clause, claiming that Elon Musk served as DOGE administrator without proper appointment.

Additionally, they contend that the dismantling of USAID infringed upon Congress’ responsibilities, as detailed in court documents.

In response to the claims, the Trump administration denied any wrongdoing, asserting that Musk served as a senior advisor to the president and that the actions taken at USAID were carried out under the direction of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who served as the agency’s acting administrator.

Rubio designated Peter Marocco as the deputy administrator, and in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order, USAID created an internal DOGE team led by Levin, according to court documents.

The administration argued that the actions taken by USAID were within the discretion of the agency and the president’s authority to direct foreign policy.

Furthermore, it maintained that the actions were legal and did not violate the Constitution.

Despite the administration’s defense, the district court granted the employees and contractors’ request for a preliminary injunction.

The injunction blocked DOGE from operating at USAID, as the court found that the Trump administration was “likely” in violation of the Constitution, with the pause deemed to be in the public interest.

The court later clarified that Levin, who had led the USAID DOGE team prior to the injunction, could no longer serve as the chief operating officer at USAID, and denied the administration’s request for modifications to the ruling.

The Trump administration appealed the district court’s preliminary injunction and the denial of its motion for clarification or modification.

It also filed an emergency motion seeking to stay the injunction pending the appeal.

The appeals court’s ruling on Friday was a significant victory for the Trump administration.

Judges Arthur Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. and Paul V. Niemeyer stated that Musk and DOGE had made a “strong showing” that they were likely to succeed on the merits of the appeal.

The judges also determined that the administration would face “irreparable injury” if the stay was not granted, and that the public interest was served by extending the stay.

Friday’s decision marked the third win for the Trump administration at the federal appeals court level.

As the case continues to develop, the legal battle over the future of DOGE at USAID and its potential impact on the agency’s operations remains ongoing.

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Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced a bill to fully defund NPR and PBS during a viral congressional hearing this week, calling the taxpayer-funded outlets “propaganda machines for the radical left.”

The move came after a House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency hearing Wednesday, where NPR CEO Katherine Maher was brutally grilled by GOP lawmakers for the outlet’s deep-seated liberal bias while taking taxpayers’ money.

Jackson’s bill—titled the “No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services Act” or the “NPR and PBS Act”—seeks to eliminate federal funding for both NPR and PBS.

“Hardworking Americans are sick of footing the bill,” Jackson told Fox News Digital.

“It’s time to cut them off and stop forcing taxpayers to pay for their liberal lies!”

“Though NPR and PBS were originally founded to produce non-biased, informational, and educational content, the outlets have since turned into taxpayer-funded propaganda machines for the radical left,” he added.

During the hearing, Maher struggled to answer questions from Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), who grilled her on NPR’s decision to ignore the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election.

Maher admitted, “NPR acknowledges we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively or sooner.”

Watch:

The hearing also highlighted NPR’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic after Cloud noted the network’s early dismissal of the lab leak theory.

Maher responded:

“We recognize our reporting at the time, but we recognize that the new CIA evidence is worthy of coverage and have covered it.”

The grilling came in the wake of revelations from former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner, who was suspended in 2024 after publishing an essay accusing the network of censoring dissenting viewpoints.

Berliner’s piece soon became a rallying cry for critics who say NPR and PBS are no longer fit for taxpayer support.

Meanwhile, President Trump responded to the hearing, saying he would be “honored” to see both NPR and PBS shut down and blasting them as “very unfair” and “very biased.”

“They spend more money than any other network of its type ever conceived, so the kind of money that’s being wasted, and it’s a very biased view, you know that better than anybody,” Trump previously said.

“And I’d be honored to see it end.”

Jackson’s office echoed Trump, describing NPR and PBS as a “messaging arm for woke, radical Democrats.“

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Fair Elections Wisconsin (FEW), a grassroots election integrity organization, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Susan Crawford, the Democrat-backed candidate for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, demanding she stop making false claims about her Republican-backed opponent, Brad Schimel.

The letter, dated March 7, 2025, accuses Crawford of violating Wisconsin’s judicial code of conduct by spreading misleading statements during her campaign.

Crawford, a Dane County Circuit Court Judge, is running against Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge, in what has become a heated race for a seat on the state’s highest court.

The election has drawn significant attention due to its potential to shift the court’s balance, with the current majority consisting of four liberal justices to three conservatives.

The cease-and-desist letter, sent by FEW President Justin Gavery, claims that Crawford has made multiple false statements about Schimel’s record as Wisconsin’s Attorney General, particularly regarding the handling of rape kits and abortion laws.

Gavery states that Crawford’s actions are a violation of Wisconsin’s Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits judicial candidates from making false or misleading statements about their opponents.

“Judicial candidates, including incumbents and challengers, must refrain from making false, misleading, or deceptive statements,” Gavery’s letter reads.

“The Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct explicitly prohibits judicial candidates from knowingly misrepresenting any fact concerning themselves, their opponents, or matters relevant to the campaign.”

According to the letter, Crawford falsely claimed that Schimel ignored rape cases during his tenure as Attorney General and failed to address a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits.

Gavery refuted these claims, stating that when Schimel took office in 2015, there were approximately 6,000 untested kits.

By the end of his term, Schimel’s office had tested all the kits in need of testing, and a process was put in place to prevent future backlogs.

In addition to the claims about rape kits, Gavery also disputes Crawford’s assertion that Schimel supports the 1849 abortion law, which criminalizes most abortions in Wisconsin.

Gavery stated that Schimel has repeatedly stated he holds no position on abortion and believes such laws should be decided by public referendum or legislative action, rather than by judicial fiat.

Crawford’s campaign also allegedly misrepresented Schimel’s stance on voter suppression, accusing him of supporting such practices, which Gavery claims is untrue.

Furthermore, Crawford and her supporters have accused Schimel of being “soft on crime,” but Gavery refuted these claims, pointing to a specific case where Schimel’s office had sought a harsher sentence for a convicted child pornographer, but the judge did not impose the recommended sentence.

In the letter, Gavery demanded that Crawford cease and desist from making any further false statements and warned that failure to comply would result in further legal action.

“Please stop and desist from any further contact with others, public or private, until you have reviewed the above matters and you can verify that they are truthful statements. The people of Wisconsin deserve nothing less,” Gavery’s letter concluded.

As of Monday, March 10, 2025, Gavery stated that he had not received any response from Crawford’s campaign, and she continues to make the same false claims about Schimel.

The race between Schimel and Crawford has become one of the most expensive and closely watched elections in Wisconsin, with early voting already underway.

A recent poll by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce showed the race to be deadlocked, with both candidates tied at 47% among likely voters.

The election is significant not only because of the potential to shift the ideological balance of the court, but also because of the large sums of money flowing into the race.

Election spending has already surpassed $81 million, with projections suggesting it could reach $100 million by Election Day.

Schimel has raised over $12 million, including $6 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party, while Crawford has raised over $25 million, including contributions from progressive figures such as billionaire George Soros and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

As the race enters its final stretch, both candidates are working hard to secure votes, and the false claims made during the campaign will likely remain a point of contention.

With more than 345,000 voters already casting their ballots, nearly 48% more than at this point in the 2023 election, the stakes are high for both sides as they approach the April 1 election day.

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Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that the Department of Defense (DOD) would cut more than $580 million in contracts.

The contracts “do not match the priorities of this president and this department,” Hegseth said in the announcement on X. The cuts come from DOGE as it works its way through the Pentagon. “I commend Department leadership for identifying these opportunities to cut wasteful spending, and I encourage other leaders across the enterprise to follow this example and identify more opportunities for savings which we can re-invest in critical mission needs,” Hegseth said in a memo shared by the Daily Caller.

The cuts include programs like the Defense Civilian Human Resources Management System, which was only supposed to cost $36 million and last a single year. Instead, it went $280 million over budget and lasted eight years. Other cuts went on things like diversity, equity and inclusion programs, “equitable” AI, and similar-sound initiatives costing millions of dollars each.

“I need lethal machine learning models, not equitable machine learning models,” Hegseth explained.

Bye-Bye Consultants

Hegseth also waved goodbye to consulting services specifically for IT from Gartner and McKinsey, which came with a $30 million bill. Civilian workforces will also be cut by 5-8%, but some 21,000 employees have already taken the option of a voluntary Deferred Resignation Program, Daily Caller reported.

The Pentagon is required to pass a financial audit by 2028, having failed seven consecutive audits, including one in 2024. Some $170 million is now said to be reallocated to mission-critical priorities.

Not All Cuts Are Permanent

Roughly 1,000 employees of the National Parks Service who were previously “fired” as a result of DOGE cuts had their positions reinstated in March, according to the LA Times. The workers were all in probationary periods at the time of the cuts.

A further 25,000 federal workers have also had their positions reinstated after reviews conducted by DOGE, the BBC reported. As legal decisions over the cuts move their way through our nation’s courts, we’re asking for prayer for all those impacted by this upheaval. We are experiencing many changes in America right now, so much so that some may call this moment in history a revolution. That is why your voice is so important today.

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Secretary of Education Linda McMahon shared the department’s “final vision” in March, promising a “restoration” of the American education system.

McMahon has promised to eradicate corruption within the education system, as well as emphasizing oversight and an end to overreach from Washington. The process will start with an in-depth review of the department’s programs in order to ensure a true return on investment for the American people.

Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Full Statement from Sec. McMahon

When I took the oath of office as Secretary of Education, I accepted responsibility for overseeing the U.S. Department of Education and those who work here. But more importantly, I took responsibility for supporting over 100 million American children and college students who are counting on their education to create opportunity and prepare them for a rewarding career.

I want to do right by both.

As you are all aware, President Trump nominated me to take the lead on one of his most momentous campaign promises to families. My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children. As a mother and grandmother, I know there is nobody more qualified than a parent to make educational decisions for their children. I also started my career studying to be a teacher, and as a Connecticut Board of Education member and college trustee, I have long held that teaching is the most noble of professions. As a businesswoman, I know the power of education to prepare workers for fulfilling careers.

American education can be the greatest in the world. It ought not to be corrupted by political ideologies, special interests, and unjust discrimination. Parents, teachers, and students alike deserve better.

After President Trump’s inauguration last month, he steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep his promises: combatting critical race theory, DEI, gender ideology, discrimination in admissions, promoting school choice for every child, and restoring patriotic education and civics. He has also been focused on eliminating waste, red tape, and harmful programs in the federal government. The Department of Education’s role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach from Washington.

This restoration will profoundly impact staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department. In coming months, we will partner with Congress and other federal agencies to determine the best path forward to fulfill the expectations of the President and the American people. We will eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy so that our colleges, K-12 schools, students, and teachers can innovate and thrive.

This review of our programs is long overdue. The Department of Education is not working as intended. Since its establishment in 1980, taxpayers have entrusted the department with over $1 trillion, yet student outcomes have consistently languished. Millions of young Americans are trapped in failing schools, subjected to radical anti-American ideology, or saddled with college debt for a degree that has not provided a meaningful return on their investment. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves after just a few years—and citing red tape as one of their primary reasons.

The reality of our education system is stark, and the American people have elected President Trump to make significant changes in Washington. Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education—a momentous final mission—quickly and responsibly.

As I’ve learned many times throughout my career, disruption leads to innovation and gets results. We must start thinking about our final mission at the department as an overhaul—a last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great. Changing the status quo can be daunting. But every staff member of this Department should be enthusiastic about any change that will benefit students.

True change does not happen overnight—especially the historic overhaul of a federal agency. Over the coming months, as we work hard to carry out the President’s directives, we will focus on a positive vision for what American education can be.

These are our convictions:

1. Parents are the primary decision makers in their children’s education.
2. Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning in math, reading, science, and history—not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology.
3. Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs.

Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make the best educational choices for their children. An effective transfer of educational oversight to the states will mean more autonomy for local communities. Teachers, too, will benefit from less micromanagement in the classroom—enabling them to get back to basics.

I hope each of you will embrace this vision going forward and use these convictions as a guide for conscientious and pragmatic action. The elimination of bureaucracy should free us, not limit us, in our pursuit of these goals. I want to invite all employees to join us in this historic final mission on behalf of all students, with the same dedication and excellence that you have brought to your careers as public servants.

This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students. I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete, we will all be able to say that we left American education freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future.

Sincerely,

Linda McMahon
Secretary of Education

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EPA Chief Lee Zeldin has notified eight recipients of the $20 billion climate fund that their grants had been terminated. In a recently surfaced video, a source told Project Veritas that the Biden administration had rushed to disperse the funds before Trump took over.

“Now it’s how to get the money out as fast as possible before they come in … It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic or throwing gold bar off the top edge,” EPA’s special advisor Brent Efron told a Project Veritas undercover investigator. The conservative activist group termed the quick disbursements as “an insurance policy against Trump winning.”

However, Zeldin has reclaimed $20 billion awarded under Biden’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and worked with Citibank to freeze. He also notified the impacted organizations that they would no longer receive the awarded grants.

“It is my commitment to President Trump, Congress, and you, that EPA will be an exceptional steward of your tax dollars. I’ll have it no other way!” Lee Zeldin said.

Recipients of the Biden climate slush fund included “Coalition for Green Capital, Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, and Inclusiv and the Justice Climate Fund,” the Associated Press reported.

Zeldin bragged about making a significant discovery and keeping a very important pledge he made to the American people shortly after he was confirmed. 

“Fortunately, my awesome team at the EPA has found the gold bars. Shockingly, roughly $20 billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA. This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history and it was purposely designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight,”

He lamented that only eight organizations were responsible for the amount and operated without transparency. Apparently, one organization known as Climate United Fund had received a whopping $7 billion. Approximately $14 billion and $6 billion were awarded to non-profit organizations implementing climate projects in disadvantaged communities.

Comparing awarding the contracts to tossing the “gold bars” off Titanic, Zeldin asserted the importance of reviewing every transaction. He promised that his agency would show responsibility by accounting for every awarded penny. In a separate post, he also warned that his organization would have “zero tolerance of any waste and abuse” of federal government funds.

“The financial agent agreement with the bank needs to be instantly terminated and the bank must immediately return all the gold bars that the Biden Administration tossed off the Titanic. EPA needs to assume responsibility of all these funds. We will review every penny that has gone out the door. I will [be] referring this matter to the inspector general’s office and will work with the Justice Department as well.”

Meanwhile, Zeldin’s latest recovery adds to the growing list of wasteful government expenditures that the Trump administration hopes to stop. The president recently directed the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk to step up his efforts to stop government waste.