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There's a secure room in the State Capitol filled with the lost treasures of generations of Coloradans: baseball cards, war medals, even a large yellow diamond ring. Unclaimed property that has come into the custody of the state over the decades. All told, Colorado holds around $2 billion in unclaimed assets, some physical, but even more in the form of abandoned accounts, uncashed checks and overlooked tax refunds. Colorado's Treasury Department is tasked with returning assets to their rightful owners. But the fund is also an attractive target for lawmakers looking to pay programs in the face of a cash-strapped state budget.CPR's Bente Birkeland and CPR's Stephanie Wolf look at how the fund is intended to work, what it takes to reclaim property and why lawmakers dipping into it can be a messy situation. Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.This episode was edited by Megan Verlee and sound designed and engineered by Shane Rumsey. Our theme music is by Brad Turner.
Not in chronological order as you (I hope) listen along, but the LEAD story for this chapter is and should be this:New Georgia US Senate hopeful Mike Collins' chief-of-staff - the dog-kicking Brandon Phillips - also seems to have a nepotism problemL namely that he hired & paid his girlfriend for work she allagedly never did. If that's not bad enough, he fired the whistleblower. On Collins' watch. So uh, all those Georgia Republicans bucking Brian Kemp's endorsement-in-waiting for Derek Dooley siding with Mike Collins ... what will become of them?------David Eichenthal has worked in - and with - state and local governments for more than thirty years, including in New York City and Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he now lives. Eichenthal recently worked with the Domestic Policy Council and the Treasury Department in the Joe Biden administration, and penned an op/ed in Friday's AJC bemoaning Democrats' looking to build a "Project 2029" and not addressing "left behind" Americans in "left behind" communities - you know, "drive through" counties and "flyover country" locales I've long said Demcorats have to at least try to campaign in to win.Something about it reminded me of the 'scanda' Jane Fonda found herself in, here in Georgia, in the late 1990s when she likened parts of the state to a 'third world' country. I've traveled all over this state and she wasn't wrong then and wouldn't be wrong now, but she backtracked. Anyhow, while miffing the very people who feel "left behind" in making such a statement, at least she paid attention to them. Something Eichenthal (and I) note, Democrats haven't done enough of.MAGA is literally HANDING Democrats opportunities dotting the map - in rural, ruby-red MAGA hotspots. One such example (one I've mentioned before because I'm very familiar with it) is Cedartown, Georgia in Marjorie Taylor Greene's district. A recent New York Times piece did some in-depth coverage of a story I'd made mention over before: that the Trump-coveted "big beautiful bill" that MTG voted for herself has likely cost that town of 800-1200 good-paying jobs. An influx of jobs and in a vital and longterm industry that commuinity leaders and developers were banking on to transform that struggling small city.
Today's podcast begins with our amazing host, Mike Slater, going over the latest economic news from the Trump 2.0 era. Big, Bad Donnie T. has even floated the idea of giving Americans a rebate check from all of the tariff revenue that this country is raking in now! Is this a good idea? Could the cash be spent in a better way? Slater has some thoughts and you'll want to hear them!Following the opener, Mike gets a chance to speak with Breitbart's Washington Bureau Chief, Matthew Boyle, about his recent sit-down interview with President Donald Trump in Scotland and the great work that his team is doing with the U.S. Treasury Department. Lots of great insider stuff that we'd like to share! Don't miss it!
Millions of taxpayers used to getting paper checks from the Treasury Department will soon have to find another way to get their money as the agency phases out paper refunds. The Treasury will send its final tax refund on a paper check by October, if it stays the course set by President Donald Trump's March 25 order to transition fully to electronic payments. Tax observers fear that the change could leave low-income or unbanked taxpayers confused or without refunds. The abrupt switch to direct deposit for all tax refunds also could catch less-obvious taxpayers by surprise. Real estate trusts can't submit banking information on current tax forms unless they are expecting a refund of over $1 million, meaning smaller trusts can't tell the IRS where to send a direct deposit. Banks also hesitate to service high-risk small businesses—like those in the marijuana industry—leaving them without a means to receive a direct deposit. In this episode of Talking Tax, Cheri Freeh, chair of the committee responsible for policy advocacy for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, breaks down these changes and tells taxpayers how to get ahead of them. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
In Hour 2, Ryan Wiggins and Brad Range react to new Hunter Biden interview clips discussing his infamous laptop and past drug use. Scott Besant's criticism of the Federal Reserve sparks conversation about potentially moving the Fed under the Treasury Department. The guys also dive into changes in the soda world Coca-Cola bringing back cane sugar and Pepsi dropping certain flavors and debate whether soda tastes better in glass bottles. Plus, a nostalgic look back at a wild Saturday Night Live sketch with Tracy Morgan and Britney Spears, and a quick discussion on digital currency and Bitcoin legislation.
In Hour 1, Ryan Wiggins and Brad Range dive into Donald Trump's surprise visit to the Federal Reserve, where he confronted Jerome Powell about FED renovations and pushed for lower interest rates. Then, Fox News Radio's Eben Brown joins to break down Ghislaine Maxwell's unexpected meeting with a top DOJ official and the political implications surrounding her subpoena and potential cooperation. The hour wraps with “Bee or Not the Bee,” In Hour 2, Ryan Wiggins and Brad Range react to new Hunter Biden interview clips discussing his infamous laptop and past drug use. Scott Besant's criticism of the Federal Reserve sparks conversation about potentially moving the Fed under the Treasury Department. The guys also dive into changes in the soda world Coca-Cola bringing back cane sugar and Pepsi dropping certain flavors and debate whether soda tastes better in glass bottles. Plus, a nostalgic look back at a wild Saturday Night Live sketch with Tracy Morgan and Britney Spears, and a quick discussion on digital currency and Bitcoin legislation. In Hour 3, Ryan, Ethan, and Brad unpack President Trump's executive order targeting NIL rules in college sports, including new restrictions on third-party payments and the impact on recruiting. They also touch on Missouri's back-to-school sales tax holiday, tornado recovery efforts in St. Louis, and the best burrito spot in the state. Health trends come into play with St. Louis ranking 72nd in the nation's fitness index. They wrap the hour with entertainment, theme park experiences, Disney vs. Universal innovations, and Flo Rida's place in the playlist.
Online discourse has exploded into a debate about whether it's actually best for men and women to have only one spouse. Charlie and Inez Stepman talk about why monogamy isn't just Biblical and moral, but also a superior social technology over more primitive setups. Plus, the Treasury Department's Joe Lavorgna talks about the president's big trade deal with Japan and the importance of an exploding level of capital expenditures here in the United States. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Online discourse has exploded into a debate about whether it's actually best for men and women to have only one spouse. Charlie and Inez Stepman talk about why monogamy isn't just Biblical and moral, but also a superior social technology over more primitive setups. Plus, the Treasury Department's Joe Lavorgna talks about the president's big trade deal with Japan and the importance of an exploding level of capital expenditures here in the United States. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The likely successor to the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., hopes to continue his former boss's commitment to federal IT reform if elected to Congress, while also gearing up to build his own legacy in the era of DOGE. Democrat James Walkinshaw told FedScoop in an interview last week that carrying on Connolly's federal IT advocacy is especially important to him as widespread workforce and program cuts present new challenges for the government's IT staff and related initiatives. While issues like IT modernization and procurement might “become less and less sexy by the day” amid other controversies in Washington, Walkinshaw said he is a “believer” that Congress should keep its foot on the pedal in this space. Walkinshaw, who served as Connolly's chief of staff for 11 years, is vying for Virginia's 11th congressional seat this fall to succeed the late congressman following his death from cancer in May. He currently serves on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. During the interview with FedScoop, Walkinshaw shared his thoughts on the lasting impacts of DOGE, his concerns with agency adoption of AI and his policy goals, if elected. The IRS has lost a quarter of its workforce since the beginning of the Trump administration, including thousands from the tax agency's IT business unit, according to newly released watchdog data. A snapshot report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that more than 25,000 IRS employees either took the deferred resignation offer, retired or were separated from the agency in another way, while nearly 300 staffers were terminated via reduction-in-force actions. Combined, those departures represent 25% of the agency's workforce, which has downsized from roughly 103,000 staffers to 77,428 as of May. According to TIGTA, the IRS's IT business unit has lost 25% of its staffers over the same period, leaving the division with just over 2,100 employees. The IT management job series across agency units is down 23%, per the report. TIGTA also confirmed previous FedScoop reporting on the IRS's move in late March to place nearly 50 IT executives on administrative leave. Among those employees, 26 eventually departed via Treasury Department incentive offerings, while another 22 are still on admin leave, per the watchdog. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.
IRAN, ISRAEL, AND THE UNITED STATESHEADLINE 1: The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network that generates cash for the Houthis.HEADLINE 2: A round of nuclear talks is scheduled to take place on Friday between Iran, Britain, France, and Germany – the E3.HEADLINE 3: The U.S. pulled out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
Marc sits down with Ryan Wiggins to unpack the Fed's opaque role amid rising criticism from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett, who calls for a major overhaul of the Federal Reserve or even a possible takeover by the Treasury Department. They dissect the political maneuvers behind interest rate decisions and recent revelations of the Fed's extravagant $2.5 billion office renovation, which has sparked calls for criminal investigation and greater accountability. The conversation shifts to the explosive Tulsi Gabbard revelations on the Obama administration's alleged conspiracies against Trump and Flynn, highlighting ongoing investigations into election fraud and machine tampering in swing states led by Democratic governors. With whistleblowers emerging, this could be the start of unraveling a much bigger political scandal.
What happens when companies ignore red flags, bypass legal advice, and underestimate the reach of U.S. export laws? In this episode, Michael Volkov unpacks two major enforcement actions from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These cases serve as cautionary tales for companies navigating complex trade and sanctions landscapes, highlighting the steep costs of compliance failures, even when violations aren't willful.You'll hear him discuss:BIS's $4.25 million penalty against Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) for 15 violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), including unauthorized shipments to HuaweiHow AOS disregarded legal advice and internal compliance warnings while continuing to export EAR99 items from the U.S. to an Entity List companyThe significance of BIS's finding that even non-willful violations will trigger serious enforcement consequencesOFAC's $608,825 settlement with Key Holding LLC over Cuban sanctions violations linked to its Colombian subsidiary, Key ColombiaHow a failure to implement sanctions compliance after acquiring a foreign affiliate exposed Key Holding to U.S. jurisdiction - and liabilityThe importance of post-acquisition compliance integration and automated screening in mitigating enforcement riskWhy these cases mark a return to traditional administrative enforcement priorities and serve as stark reminders of jurisdictional reachResourcesMichael Volkov on LinkedIn | TwitterThe Volkov Law Group
Steve Gruber hosts a discussion with JT Young, author of Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America's Socialist Left, drawing on his 30-plus years of experience in Congress, the Treasury Department, and the private sector. Young warns about the Democrats' growing embrace of socialism, exploring its risks for America's economy, freedoms, and future
Steve Forbes calls out Fed Chair Jerome Powell for "playing politics" on refusing to cut interest rates, which not only damages the economy but hurts the U.S. dollar.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Blunt Business welcomes back with Sara Gullickson, founder and CEO of CB Advisors, regarding the current landscape of the cannabis industry. Key topics included the inconsistent regulations across different states, particularly in the Southeast, and the significant challenges faced during Minnesota's cannabis program rollout. Gullickson emphasized the detrimental effects of unregulated hemp-derived cannabinoid products on legitimate cannabis businesses and the critical need for better industry oversight and sufficient capital for businesses to thrive.The conversation highlighted the complexities of federal intervention versus industry self-regulation, drawing parallels to existing regulatory frameworks. A major point of concern was Minnesota's flawed social equity lottery system, which has created an uneven playing field for applicants and led to market saturation due to unlimited licensing. The discussion also covered the substantial capital requirements for success in the evolving cannabis market, which has shifted from a grassroots movement to one dominated by larger corporations.The meeting concluded with a look at the future of the cannabis industry, including the Treasury Department's proposal for financial data collection to combat money laundering. Gullickson underscored the importance of the industry establishing a clear path forward, advocating for either complete federal legalization or a merit-based, limited licensing system. There was also an optimistic outlook on the potential passage of some form of the Safer Banking Act under the current presidential administration.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
With the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, also known as the Big Beautiful Bill, significant changes are coming to both solar panel and electric vehicle tax credits. I break down what these changes mean, how they can affect your savings, and what steps you might want to take before these credits disappear. From figuring out if solar panels make sense for your home to understanding how electric vehicle credits work (and when they're expiring), this episode is packed with actionable insights and tips, especially for those planning for retirement or looking to cut down on monthly expenses. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... [01:31] Residential solar panels are popular for reducing electric bills, offering significant savings, especially for retirees. [05:23] Solar tax credits are expiring soon. [09:07] Solar investments offset electric costs and protect against future rate hikes, beneficial long term. [11:28] Costs and break-even of electric cars. [13:08] Act now if you want to take advantage of solar tax credits. The Solar Panel Tax Credit is a Fading Opportunity One of the biggest draws for homeowners considering solar panels has been the significant federal tax credit, currently set at 30% of the total installation cost. This credit has made solar an appealing investment for many, offering a direct dollar-for-dollar reduction in the taxes owed. In high-cost electricity states like Connecticut, this can mean hundreds of dollars in monthly savings on your utility bill. However, the Big Beautiful Bill brings an unfortunate change: the solar tax credit is set to disappear at the end of this year. That means if you've been thinking about going solar, now is the time to act. If you don't install solar panels before the deadline could add years to your payback period, undermining the investment's attractiveness and putting it out of reach for many. Energy Savings of Battery Storage and EVs While solar panels are great for energy savings, adding a battery storage system further enhances their benefits. A battery can store excess solar power for use during peak times or outages, which is particularly helpful for retirees planning to stay in their homes for decades and looking to insulate themselves from rising electricity rates. Electric vehicles (EVs) also offer savings for households with high transportation costs. The federal EV tax credit, worth up to $7,500 on new cars and up to $4,000 for used EVs, has also been a strong motivator for those considering a switch from gas-powered vehicles. The Big Beautiful Bill also changes the EV tax credit, which will disappear even sooner than the solar incentive. Although there are several important limitations: only vehicles assembled in North America qualify, and there's a cap on purchase price ($55,000 for sedans, $80,000 for SUVs). Income limitations apply as well; single filers must earn less than $150,000 ($300,000 for married couples) to claim the new vehicle credit. The used EV credit comes with lower income caps ($75,000 for singles, $150,000 for couples) and is worth up to $4,000. Should You Act Now? Before making any big investment, think about the following: Timing: Both solar and EV credits will soon vanish. If you want the tax break, don't wait. Financial Health: The best return comes from paying cash, not financing or tapping retirement accounts. Long-term Plans: Solar and EV investments make the most sense if you plan to stay in your home and keep your vehicle for years to come. Manufacturers may eventually lower prices as credits disappear, but there are no guarantees. With energy incentives set to change dramatically, the window to maximize savings is closing fast. For homeowners and future retirees, the time to act is now, whether that means installing solar, purchasing an EV, or both. Consult with a financial advisor to consider how these decisions fit into your overall retirement and financial readiness strategy. The Treasury Department's official list of eligible vehicles shows that the cars, trucks, minivans, and SUVs listed below qualify for a full $7,500 tax credit if placed in service between January 1 and September 30 of 2025. In some cases, only certain trim levels or model years qualify. More vehicles may be added to or removed from this list as manufacturers continue to submit information on whether their vehicles are eligible. Acura ZDX EV (2024-2025 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Cadillac Lyriq (2024-2025 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Cadillac Optiq (2025 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Cadillac Vistiq (2026 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Chevrolet Blazer EV (2024-2026 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Chevrolet Equinox EV (2024-2026 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Chevrolet Silverado EV (2025-2026 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid PHEV (2024-2025 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Ford F-150 Lightning (2024-2025 model years for Flash trim, 2023-2025 model years for Lariat and XLT trims; MSRP $80,000 or below) Genesis Electrified GV70 (2026 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Honda Prologue (2024-2025 model years; MSRP $80,000 or below) Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2025 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Hyundai Ioniq 9 (2026 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Jeep Wagoneer S (2025 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Kia EV6 (2026 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Kia EV9 (2026 model year; MSRP $80,000 or below) Tesla Cybertruck (2025 model year for Dual Motor, Long Range, and Single Motor trims; MSRP $80,000 or below) Tesla Model 3 (2025 model year for Long Range AWD, Long Range RWD, and Performance trims; MSRP $55,000 or below) Tesla Model X (2025 model year for AWD trim; MSRP $80,000 or below) Tesla Model Y (2025-2026 model years for Long Range AWD and Long Range RWD trims; 2025 model year for Performance trims; MSRP $80,000 or below) Resources Mentioned Retirement Readiness Review Subscribe to the Retire with Ryan YouTube Channel Download my entire book for FREE Connect With Morrissey Wealth Management www.MorrisseyWealthManagement.com/contact Subscribe to Retire With Ryan
President Donald Trump visited Central Texas on July 11 for a first-hand look at damage from a devastating flood that claimed the lives of more than 120 people statewide, including more than 35 children. Trump received a briefing from local officials in Kerr County, Texas, and met with the relatives of victims.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there is a "high probability" of a meeting between Trump and Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping. Rubio made the comments after his meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Malaysia at the ASEAN summit.New data from the Treasury Department show that surging tariff revenues in June helped the U.S. government post an unexpected budget surplus of $27 billion, offering a rare fiscal bright spot amid persistently high federal deficits and suggesting that Trump's tariff policies are becoming a significant source of government revenue.
Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links-Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.0:00 China, Get the Hell Out!3:58 Tuesday Selloff7:52 Brazil Export Problems9:09 Tariff Update10:38 Wheat Purchase Agreements11:47 Flash Sales
Emergency response experts and climate scientists are warning that the devastating Texas floods last week are a warning sign: As climate disasters grow more intense and federal disaster infrastructure shrinks, communities across the country could be left dangerously exposed. POLITICO's Zack Colman breaks down what the Texas floods signal about the country's readiness for the next natural disaster. Plus, President Donald Trump just signed an executive order telling the Treasury Department to strictly enforce the phase-out of clean electricity tax credits under his new tax law. Zack Colman covers climate change for POLITICO. Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy. Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO. Gloria Gonzalez is the deputy energy editor for POLITICO. Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switchAnd for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The D's are backing off the climate agenda for now, the [DS][WEF] are not to happy about this. Trump release EO to shutdown green subsidies. Trump sends out more tariff letters. Tariffs have already brought in 100 billion, soon the gov will be funded externally. Trump wants congress to investigate Powell, is the audit next? Trump has always been using the Art of the Deal tactics against the [DS]. The people see it as chaos, he is not making progress, but in the silent war he is defeating the [DS]. Epstein psyop will give Trump leverage in the end, the more he doesn't want to talk about the more the news will want to know if he is involved. The [DS] began their insurrection the shadow presidency then the shadow government, information warfare, irregular warfare, they are now planning a color revolution which will lead into an insurgency. Trump has built the counterinsurgency to counter the [DS]. Economy Politico Deeply Disappointed That Democrats Are ‘Retreating' on Climate Change – Especially in California The liberal outlet Politico is deeply disappointed that Democrats seem to be ‘retreating' on the issue of climate change, especially in deep blue California. From Politico: Democrats retreat on climate: ‘It's one of the more disappointing turnabouts'SACRAMENTO, California — Here are some Twitter/X reactions: Source: thegatewaypundit.com Trump Issues Order To End Green Energy Gravy Train, Cites National Security President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of green energy subsidies by strengthening provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Monday night, citing national security concerns and unnecessary costs to taxpayers. The order argues that a heavy reliance on green energy subsidies compromise the reliability of the power grid and undermines energy independence. Trump called for the U.S. to “rapidly eliminate” federal green energy subsidies and to “build upon and strengthen” the repeal of wind and solar tax credits remaining in the reconciliation law in the order, directing the Treasury Department to enforce the phase-out of tax credits. .” Source: dailycaller.com (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1942324782848258200 set to go live on August 1st. President Trump says any retaliation will be met with increased tariffs. Pattern Repeats – Imported Durable Goods Creating Deflation on U.S Consumer Prices there is little to no end result in price increases in the final price of consumer goods (Consumer Price Index). In fact, there is a slight deflationary aspect on CPI data from imported durable goods. The lower price of arriving imported durable goods is effectively putting downward pressure on US consumer prices. [Source – WH Council of Economic Advisors] tariffs do not impact the final price of goods to USA consumers; there are just too many factors, too many elements within the Total Cost of Goods (TCG) within supply chain. Global energy prices, domestic energy prices, currency evaluations and fluctuations, state/govt subsidies to manufacturers,
El Taims x Latinus: Vector califica como el escándalo de la 4T más grande que hemos visto hasta ahora. Aunque mi Clau diga misa, todo indica que las investigaciones del Treasury Department son bastante sólidas. Nuestro Rambo del Bienestar tuvo que trabajar en domingo para informar que el gobierno mexicano había desarticulado otra red más de robo y venta de huachicol. Ya empezó el periodo extraordinario de sesiones y al parecer Morena se propuso hacer en un par de meses lo que en Venezuela tomó 14 años.#LatinusPodcast
The Feds shut down a covert North Korean IT operation. Google releases an emergency update to fix a new Chrome zero-day. A major U.S. trade show and event marketing firm suffers a data breach. NetScaler patches a pair of critical vulnerabilities. A sophisticated cyber attack targets The Hague. An Iran-linked hacking group threatens to release emails allegedly stolen from aides to President Trump. A ransomware attack exposes sensitive data linked to multiple Swiss federal government offices. The U.S. Treasury Department faces scrutiny after a string of cyberattacks. The FBI's phone security tips draw fire from Senator Wyden. Tim Starks from CyberScoop describes how ubiquitous surveillance turned deadly. AI proves its pentesting prowess. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest We are joined today by Tim Starks, Senior Reporter from CyberScoop, discussing his story "Hacker helped kill FBI sources, witnesses in El Chapo case, according to watchdog report." Selected Reading US government takes down major North Korean 'remote IT workers' operation (TechCrunch) Google fixes fourth actively exploited Chrome zero-day of 2025 (Bleeping Computer) NetScaler Critical Security Updates for CVE-2025-6543 and CVE-2025-5777 (NetScaler) International Criminal Court hit with cyber security attack (AP News) Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails (Reuters) Swiss government data compromised in ransomware attack on health foundation Radix (Beyond Machines) Trade show management firm Nth Degree hit by data breach, exposing sensitive data (Beyond Machines) A Trio of US Treasury Hacks Exposes a Pattern Making Banks Nervous (Bloomberg) Senator Chides FBI for Weak Advice on Mobile Security (Krebs on Security) The top red teamer in the US is an AI bot (CSO Online) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1) China said it has further confirmed details of a trade framework with Washington, echoing US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s earlier comments about a US-China agreement that stabilized ties.2) Stocks gained as the US moved closer to trade deals with China and other major trading partners, while expectations are rising for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year.3) The Treasury Department announced a deal with G-7 allies that will exclude US companies from some taxes imposed by other countries in exchange for removing the Section 899 “revenge tax” proposal from President Donald Trump’s tax bill.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Congressman Andy Biggs from Arizona shares his insights on the current political climate, the unrest in America, and the support for President Trump's policies. He discusses the disconnect between the Democrats and Middle America, the implications of recent protests, and the importance of law and order. Congressman Marlin Stutzman discusses the implications of the one big beautiful bill, the importance of food security, and the vulnerabilities posed by foreign actors in the wake of COVID-19. Stutzman shares insights on how the proposed Spending Accountability Act aims to curb irresponsible spending and protect rural America. Finally, Anne Fundner, a California woman whose 15-year-old son died in 2022 after taking pills laced with fentanyl, discusses the recent sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department on Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel. She also sheds light on the ongoing battle against drug trafficking and the critical role of various government agencies in combating this crisis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
As Republicans work at break-neck speed to push another round of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit our 2019 conversation with Bruce Bartlett, a Reagan policy adviser and key architect of the 1981 tax cuts. Bartlett explains how the trickle-down logic he once championed turned out to be economic snake oil, because tax breaks for the wealthy don't grow the economy—they just grow inequality. Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and former economic adviser who helped draft the 1981 Reagan tax cuts. He served in senior roles under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, including at the Treasury Department and the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Once a champion of supply-side economics, Bartlett is now a leading critic of trickle-down tax policy. This episode originally aired January 29, 2019. Social Media: @bartlettb.bsky.social @BruceBartlett Further reading: Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says The secret saga of Trump's tax cuts Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch
This Day in Legal History: Colegrove v. GreenOn June 10, 1946, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Colegrove v. Green, upholding an Illinois congressional districting scheme that created dramatically uneven district populations. The plaintiffs argued the map diluted votes by packing more people into some districts than others, violating principles of equal representation. However, the Court, in a plurality opinion by Justice Felix Frankfurter, declined to intervene. Frankfurter emphasized that districting was a “political question” and not within the judiciary's purview to resolve.This ruling effectively insulated redistricting practices from federal judicial review and left voters in malapportioned districts without a constitutional remedy. Frankfurter's view was rooted in judicial restraint, warning against courts becoming embroiled in “political thickets.” But critics argued that this deference allowed entrenched political interests to ignore population shifts and disenfranchise urban voters.The decision stood until 1962, when the Court reversed course in Baker v. Carr. There, the justices held that federal courts could indeed hear redistricting cases under the Equal Protection Clause, ushering in the “one person, one vote” era. Colegrove thus marked the high-water mark of the political question doctrine's use in avoiding electoral oversight—a stance the Court ultimately abandoned.Mexico's antitrust regulator is poised to issue a ruling by June 17 on whether Google engaged in monopolistic practices in the country's digital advertising market. If found guilty, the tech giant could face a fine amounting to 8% of its annual Mexican revenue—potentially one of the largest ever imposed by the agency. The case began in 2020 and moved into a trial phase last year, with a key hearing held on May 20. Mexican regulators claim Google built an illegal monopoly, and has obtained financial data from the Mexican tax authority as part of its investigation.Google, which hasn't disclosed Mexico-specific revenue but reported $20.4 billion for the broader “other Americas” region in 2024, could seek an injunction to delay the ruling pending judicial review. This would parallel similar antitrust issues the company faces in the U.S., where courts have ruled against its dominance in search and advertising technologies.Adding to tensions, President Claudia Sheinbaum has sued Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for U.S. users—a move she claims Google had no authority to make. The long-standing antitrust case has drawn political attention, with lawmakers urging Mexican officials to act.Google in Mexico faces major potential fine as antitrust ruling nears | ReutersTexas has taken a meaningful first step toward curbing abuse in its affordable housing tax system with HB 21, but the new law leaves major gaps that developers could still exploit. Signed by Governor Greg Abbott, HB 21 aims to end long-term tax breaks for projects that offer little true affordability. However, the bill's reliance on “area median income” (AMI) to define affordability creates a loophole: in wealthy areas, rent set at 80% of AMI can be as high as typical market rates, making the term “affordable” misleading.The law requires that half of all units be reserved for “low-income” tenants, but without adjusting for local wage realities, this standard fails to address the needs of those most burdened by housing costs. Worse still, enforcement is delayed—audits may take years, and there is no mechanism to reclaim tax benefits already received by developers who fall out of compliance. This makes upfront compliance optional in practice, not mandatory.While HB 21 mandates parity in amenities between market-rate and affordable units, this provision seems symbolic without robust inspection. The lack of a tax credit clawback—something present in federal programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit—further weakens accountability.The bill's structure could dissuade honest developers, who face unclear or burdensome requirements, while allowing bad actors to benefit before facing any scrutiny. Texas risks ending exploitative deals without fostering enough viable new ones, exacerbating its housing shortage.Texas Housing Law Addresses Problem but Creates Major LoopholesAs the push for government efficiency grows, the IRS is considering using artificial intelligence to identify noncompliant taxpayers based on past audit outcomes. While this might sound like a smart upgrade, history offers a sobering warning. The Netherlands tried something similar, using AI to spot fraud in childcare benefits, and it ended in a national scandal—the algorithm disproportionately targeted minority families, human reviewers failed to intervene, and the fallout brought down the government.A recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report suggests the IRS could “leverage examination results” to improve case selection algorithms. But this raises red flags. IRS audit history isn't neutral. A 2023 joint study by Stanford and the Treasury Department found that Black taxpayers were audited up to 4.7 times more than others, especially when claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. That disparity likely came from algorithmic choices aimed at efficiency, not fairness.If the IRS trains AI on this unfiltered historical data, it risks cementing and expanding past biases into future audits. AI could be a powerful tool—but only if accompanied by key safeguards. First, training data must be rigorously reviewed to eliminate bias. Second, model decisions must be transparent so we understand how and why certain cases are flagged. And third, human reviewers must be actively trained and authorized to question and override algorithmic decisions.Week in Insights: TIGTA's AI Ambitions Risk Rerun of Dutch Fiasco This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe
From March 14, 2023: For years, the international community has wrestled with how to reconcile sanctions policies targeting terrorist groups and other malevolent actors with the need to provide humanitarian assistance in areas under those groups' control. Late last year, both the Biden administration and the UN Security Council took major steps toward a new approach on this issue, installing broad carveouts for humanitarian assistance into existing sanctions regimes. To talk through these changes, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sat down with two leading sanctions experts: Rachel Alpert, a Partner at the law firm Jenner & Block and former State Department attorney, and Alex Zerden, the Founder and Principal of Capitol Peak Strategies and a former Treasury Department official, including at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. They talked about the long-standing issues surrounding humanitarian assistance, what these changes may mean in jurisdictions like Afghanistan, and where more changes may yet be forthcoming. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A rift between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalated on Thursday with the two trading barbs on their respective social media platforms. Reports from the Treasury Department show Trump's tariffs have raised nearly 70-billion dollars so far this year. And, migrant detainees staged a protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement run facility in Miami.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Pallavi Gogoi, Eric Westervelt, Lisa Thomson and Arezou Rezvani. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, our technical director is Carleigh Strange and our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
President Donald Trump's permanent pick to run the IRS is one step closer to taking office. The Senate Finance Committee advanced the nomination of former Missouri Congressman Billy Long. Democrats on the committee raised concerns that Long promoted tribal tax credits that don't exist, according to the Treasury Department and IRS. Long told lawmakers that if confirmed he'd help the IRS modernize its legacy IT systems. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture It's happening, the blue states are feeling the pain, the pushed their policies and destroyed their states and the companies are moving out. California biggest hit. As the [CB] shifting the economy they moved manufacturing jobs to government jobs, Trump is reversing this. Trump OBBB is not about keeping the current economy the way it is, it's about finally ending the endless. The [DS] is in the process of pushing war between Ukraine & Russia. Trump was anticipating this to happen. He knew the [DS] would go all out and push a [FF] to get the war started. Trump is working with other world leader to shutdown the global terrorist system. Trump and Scavino are continually sending messages about some type of scare event. Will this be needed to get the people on his side and expose the [DS] plans and counter their agenda? It's starting to look that way. Economy These Are The US Cities Gaining And Losing The Most Corporate HQs Corporate Headquarters Are Moving to the Lone Star State Below, we show the top five markets nationally gaining the most headquarters since 2018: Additionally, companies are expanding their presence in the state. Goldman Sachs, for instance, plans to grow its headcount in Dallas to 5,000—up from 970 in 2016. By contrast, California is experiencing a corporate exodus. With homes at least 50% more expensive than in Texas, along with the fifth-highest tax burden in the country, the state has lost at least 275 headquarters since 2018. Source: zerohedge.com https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1929749905683222712 (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/1929500745251909911 https://twitter.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/1929661256858062983 Dominance President Trump's tariff offensive is right out of the Founding Fathers' playbook When the Constitution took effect in 1789, the first order of business was to straighten out the nation's disastrous financial situation. That is why the new State Department started out with only five employees while the Treasury Department had 40. When Alexander Hamilton became the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury, he immediately began to prepare a schedule of tariffs, along with excise taxes on such commodities as alcohol and tobacco. The Constitution forbids taxing the exports of any state, and so American tariffs have always been laid only on imports. Collectors were named for each port, and these were considered plum jobs because the collector got to keep the money, earning interest on it, until it was forwarded to the federal government a few times a year. Hamilton's tariffs, along with the refunding of the national debt and the establishment of a central bank, transformed the American financial situation. By the end of the 1790s, the U.S. had the best credit rating in Europe, its bonds selling over par. By 1800, federal revenues, a mere $3.7 million in 1792, had nearly tripled to $10.8 million. About 90 percent of that revenue came from tariffs—a ratio that wouldn't change much, except during the Civil War, for more than a century. *** Hamilton's tariffs had been solely for the purpose of raising re...
Minting one penny costs the United States nearly four cents. After 233 years, the Treasury Department has decided to phase out the coin. This will mean that businesses will have to round cash transactions up or down, and some fear it could lead to inflation. We reminisce about the cultural significance of the one-cent coin with WSJ's Oyin Adedoyin and discuss the pro-penny stance with an advocate. WSJ's Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - The Fight Over Your Credit Card Swipe - The Coronavirus Cash Crisis Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Santi: Hi, this is a special episode of Statecraft. I've got a wonderful guest host with me today. Kyla Scanlon: Hey, I'm Kyla Scanlon! I'm the author of a book called In This Economy and an economic commentator. Santi: Kyla has joined me today for a couple reasons. One, I'm a big fan of her newsletter: it's about economics, among many other things. She had a great piece recently on what we can learn from C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, which is a favorite book of mine.Kyla's also on today because we're interviewing Wally Adeyemo, who was the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Biden administration. We figured we each had questions we wanted answered.Kyla: Yeah, I've had the opportunity to interview Wally a couple times during the Biden administration, and I wanted to see where he thinks things are at now. He played a key role in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, financial sanctions on Russia, and a whole bunch of other things.Santi: For my part, I'm stuck on Wally's role in setting up the IRS's Direct File program, where you can file your taxes for free directly through the IRS instead of paying TurboTax a hundred bucks to do it. “Good governance types” tend to love Direct File, but the current admin is thinking of killing it. I wanted to understand how the program got rolled out, how Wally would respond to criticisms of the program, and what he learned from building something in government, which now may disappear.Kyla, you've talked to Wally before. How did that conversation go? Kyla: I actually was able to go to his office in D.C., and I talked to a couple of key people in the Biden administration: Jared Bernstein, the former chair of the CEA, and Daniel Hornung, who was at the National Economic Council.We're talking to Wally on the day that the House passed the one big beautiful bill. There's also so much happening financially, like the bond market is totally rebelling against the US government right now. I'm really curious how he thinks things are, as a key player in the last administration.Santi: Wally, you've spent most of your career in Democratic Party institutions. You worked on the Kerry presidential campaign in 2004. You served in the Obama admin. You were the first chief of staff to the CFPB, the president of the Obama Foundation, and, most recently, Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Biden admin.30,000ft question: How do you see the Democratic Party today?My view is that we continue to be the party that cares deeply about working-class people, but we haven't done a good job of communicating that to people, especially when it comes to the things that matter most to them. From my standpoint, it's costs: things in America cost too much for a working-class family.I want to make sure I define working class: I think about people who make under $100,000 a year, many of whom don't own homes on the coast or don't own a significant amount of stocks (which means they haven't seen the asset appreciation that's led to a great deal of wealth creation over the last several decades). When you define it that way, 81% of Americans sit in that category of people. Despite the fact that they've seen their median incomes rise 5-10% over the last five years, they've seen the cost of the things they care about rise even faster.We haven't had a clear-cut agenda focused on the standard of living, which I think is the thing that matters most to Americans today.Santi: There are folks who would say the problem for Democrats wasn't that they couldn't communicate clearly, or that they didn't have a governing agenda, but that they couldn't execute their agenda the way they hoped to in the time available to them. Would you say there's truth to that claim?Most people talk about a communications issue, but I don't think it's a communications issue. There are two issues. One is an implementation issue, and the second is an issue of the actual substance and policy at the Treasury Department. I was the deputy secretary, but I was also the Chief Operating Officer, which meant that I was in charge of execution. The two most significant domestic things I had to execute were the American Rescue Plan, where $1.9 trillion flowed through the Treasury Department, and the Inflation Reduction Act. The challenge with execution in the government is that we don't spend a lot on our systems, on making execution as easy as possible.For example, the Advanced Child Tax Credit was intended to give people money to help with each of their children during the pandemic. What Congress called on us to do was to pay people on a monthly basis. In the IRS system, you pay your taxes mostly on an annual basis, which meant that most of our systems weren't set up to pay a monthly check to Americans. It took us a great deal of work to figure out a way to recreate a system just to do that.We've underinvested in the systems that the IRS works on. The last time we made a significant investment in the IRS's digital infrastructure was the 1960s; before we had an ATM machine, before we sent a man to the moon, before we had a personal computer. So that meant that everything was coded in a language called COBOL.So execution was quite hard in the American Rescue Plan. People were left out and felt that the government wasn't working for them. If you called the IRS, only 13% of your calls were being answered. We got that back up to 85% before we left. Ultimately, I think part of this is an execution challenge. In government we want to spend money coming up with new policies, but we don't want to pay for execution, which then means that when you get the policy passed, implementation isn't great.When Jen Pahlka was on your show, she talked about the need to focus on identifying the enablers to implementation. Direct File was one of the best examples of us taking implementation very seriously.But also, on some policy issues that mattered most to Americans, we weren't advancing the types of strategies that would've helped lower the cost of housing and lowering the cost of medicine. We did some things there, but there's clearly more that we could have done, and more we need to do going forward to demonstrate that we're fighting to bring down those costs. It's everything from permitting reform — not just at the federal level, but what can we do to incentivize it at the state and local level — to thinking about what we can do on drug costs. Why does it cost so much more to get a medicine in America than in Canada? That is something that we can solve. We've just chosen not to at the federal level.At the end of the year, we were going to take action to go after some of the middlemen in the pharmacy industry who were taking out rents and large amounts of money. It dropped out of the bill because of the negotiations between the Republican Congress and then President-elect Trump. But there are a lot of things that we can do both on implementation, which will mean that Americans feel the programs that we're passing in a more effective way, and policy solutions that we need to advance as a party that will help us as well.Kyla: Some people think Americans tend to vote against their own self-interest. How can your party message to people that these sorts of policies are really important for them?Ultimately, what I found is that most people just understand their self-interest differently, and for them, a big part of this was, “Who's fighting for me on the issues that I care most about?”From my standpoint, part of the problem we had with Direct File, which I think was an innovative solution, was that we got to implementing it so late in the administration that we didn't have the ability for it to show the impact. I'm hoping future administrations will think through how to start their implementation journey on things like Direct File sooner in the administration, when you have a great deal of political capital, so people can actually feel the impact over time.To your question, it's not just about the messaging, it's about the messenger. People tend to trust people who look like them, who come from the places they come from. When it came to the Child Tax Credit and also to Direct File, the biggest innovation wasn't the technology: the technology for Direct File has been used by the Australians, the British, and other countries for decades.The biggest innovation was us joining that technology with trusted people in communities who were going out to talk to people about those programs and building those relationships. That was something that the IRS hadn't done a great deal of. We invested a great deal in those community navigators who were helping us get people to trust the things the government was doing again, like the Child Tax Credit, like Direct File, so that they could use it.We often think that Washington is going to be able to give messages to the country that people are going to hear. But we're both in a more complicated media environment, where people are far more skeptical of things that come from people in Washington. So the best people to advocate for and celebrate the things that we're doing are people who are closer to the communities we're trying to reach. In product advertising today, more companies are looking to influencers to advertise things, rather than putting an ad on television, because people trust the people that they follow. The same is true for the things that we do in government.Santi: I've talked to colleagues of yours in the last administration who say things like, “In the White House, we did not have a good enough sense of the shot clock.” They point to various reasons, including COVID, as a reason the admin didn't do a good enough job of prioritization.Do you think that's true, that across the administration, there was a missing sense of the shot clock or a missing sense of prioritization? No, because I'm a Lakers fan. These are professionals. We're professionals. This is not our first rodeo. We know how much time is on the shot clock; we played this game. The challenge wasn't just COVID. For me at Treasury — and I think this is the coolest part of being Deputy Secretary of the Treasury — I had responsibilities domestic and international. As I'm trying to modernize the IRS, to invest all my time in making the system work better for customers and to collect more taxes from the people who owe money, Russia invades Ukraine. I had to turn a bunch of my attention to thinking about what we were going to do there. Then you have Hamas attacking Israel.There was more we should have done on the domestic end, but we have to remember that part of the presidency is: you get to do the things you want to do, but you also have to do the things you have to do. We had a lot of things we had to do that we weren't planning for which required all-of-the-administration responses.I think the most important lesson I've learned about that is that it comes down to both being focused on the things that matter, and being willing to communicate to the American people why your priorities have to change in light of things that happen in the world.But the people I'm sure you've talked to, most of them work on domestic policy alone, and they probably never have been in a National Security Council meeting, where you're thinking about the risks to the country. The president has to do both of those things. So I get how difficult it is to do that, just given where I sat at the Treasury Department.Santi: Looking back from an implementation perspective, are there things you would've done differently during your time at Treasury?The most important thing that I would've done differently was to immediately set up a permanent implementation and delivery unit in the Treasury Department. We always like to pretend like the Treasury Department is just a policy department where we make policy, we collect taxes. But in any crisis the country ever has, a great deal of responsibility — for execution or implementation of whatever the response is — falls to the Treasury Department. Think about the financial crisis, which is clearly something that's in the Treasury's domain. The vast majority of money for COVID flowed through the Treasury Department. You think about the IRA, a climate bill: the vast majority of that money flows through the Treasury Department.And Treasury doesn't have a dedicated staff that's just focused on implementation: How do we do this well? How do we make sure the right people are served? How do we make sure that we communicate this well? We did this to a degree by a team that was focused on the American Rescue Plan. But it was only focused on the American Rescue Plan. If I could start again, I would have said, “I want a permanent implementation structure within the Treasury Department of people who are cross-cutting, who only think about how we execute the policies that we pass through Congress and that we put together through an executive order. How do we do that extremely well?”Kyla: What you're talking about is very people-centric: How do we get an implementation team, and how do we make sure that the right people are doing the right jobs? Now we have DOGE, which is less people-centric. How do you reconcile what Doge is doing relative to what you would've done differently in this role that you had?As you would suspect, I wasn't excited about the fact we had lost the election, but initially I thought DOGE could be helpful with technology. I think marrying technology with people — that's the key to success for the government. We've never really been great at doing technology in the government.Part of the reason for that is a procurement process that is very slow because of how the federal acquisition rules work. What we are trying to do is prevent corruption and also waste, fraud, and abuse. But what that does is, it leads to slowness in our ability to get the technology on board that we need, and in getting the right people.I was hoping DOGE would bring in people who knew a great deal about technology and put us in a position where we could use that to build better products for the American people. I thought they would love Direct File, and that they would find ways to improve Direct File and expand it to more Americans.My view is that any American in the working class or middle class should not have to pay a company to file their taxes. We have the ability in this country, and I think Direct File was proving that. My goal, if we'd had more time, was to expand this to almost any American being able to use it. I thought they'd be able to accelerate that by bringing in the right people, but also the right technology. We were on that path before they took those two things apart.My sense is that you have to reform the way that we hire people because it's too hard to hire the right people. In some cases, you don't need some of the people you have today because technology is going to require different skills to do different things. It's easier to break something, I found, than it is to build something. I think that's what they're finding today as well.Santi: When I talk to left-of-center folks about the DOGE push, they tend to be skeptical about the idea that AI or modern technology can replace existing federal workers. I think some of that is a natural backlash to the extreme partisan coding of DOGE, and the fact that they're firing a lot of people very quickly. But what's your view? After DOGE, what kinds of roles would you like to see automated?Let me say: I disagree with the view that DOGE and technology can't replace some of the things that federal workers do today. My view is that “productivity enhancing” tech — it's not that it is going to make employees who are currently doing the job more productive. It is going to mean you need fewer employees. We have to be honest about that.Go to the IRS, for example. When I got there, we had a huge paper backlog at the IRS because, despite what most people think, millions of people still file their taxes by paper, and they send them to the IRS. And during the pandemic, the commissioner, who was then working for President Trump, decided to shut down the IRS for public health reasons — to make sure employees did not have to risk getting COVID.There were piles of paper backing up, so much so that they had filled cafeterias at the IRS facilities with huge piles of paper. The problem, of course, is that, unlike modern systems, you could not just machine-read those papers and put them into our systems. Much of that required humans to code those papers into the system by hand. There is no need in the 21st century for that to happen, so one of the things that we started to do was introduce this simple thing called scanning, where you would scan the papers — I know it sounds like a novel idea. That would help you get people's tax returns faster into the system, but also get checks out quickly, and allow us to see if people are underpaying their taxes, because we can use that data with a modern system. But over time, what would that mean? We'd need fewer people to enter the data from those forms.When we get money for the IRS from Congress, it is actually seen as revenue-raising because they expect it to bring down the debt and deficit, which is completely true. But the model Congress uses to do that is reliant on the number of full-time employees we hire. One challenge we have with the IRS — and in government systems in general — is that you don't get credit for technology investments that should improve your return on investment.So whenever we did the ROI calculations for the IRS, the Congressional Budget Office would calculate how much revenue we'd bring in, and it was always based on the number of people you had doing enforcement work that would lead to certain dollars coming in. So we got no credit for the technology investments. Which was absolutely the opposite of what we knew would be true: the more you invested in technology, the more likely you were to bring in more revenue, and you would be able to cut the cost of employees.Santi: If the CBO changed the way it scored technology improvements, would more Congresspeople be interested in funding technology?It is just a CBO issue. It's one we've tried to talk to them about over the last several years, but one where they've been unwilling to move. My view is that unlocking this will unlock greater investment in technology in a place like the IRS, because every dollar you invest in technology — I think — would earn back $10 in additional tax revenue we'd be able to collect from people who are skipping out on their taxes today. It's far more valuable to invest in that technology than to grow the number of employees working in enforcement at the IRS. You need both, but you can't say that a person is worth 5x their salary in revenue and that technology is worth 0. That makes no sense.Kyla: When we spoke about Direct File many months ago, people in my comment section were super excited and saying things like, “I just want the government to tell me how much money I owe.” When you think about the implementation of Direct File, what went right, and how do you think it has evolved?The thing that went right was that we proved that we could build something quite easily, and we built it ourselves, unlike many technology projects in government. We didn't go out and hire a bunch of consultants and contractors to do it. We did it with people at the IRS, but also with people from 18F and from GSA who worked in the government. We did it in partnership with a number of stakeholders outside the government who gave us advice, but the build was done by us.The reason that was important — and the reason it's important to build more things internally rather than hiring consulting firms or other people to build it — is that you then have the intellectual capital from building that, and that can be used to build other things. This was one product, but my view is that I want the IRS home page to one day look a lot more like the screen on your iPhone, so that you can click on the app on the IRS homepage that can help you, depending on what you need — if it's a Direct File, or if it's a tax transcript.By building Direct File internally, we were getting closer to that, and the user scores on the effectiveness of the tool and the ability to use it were through the roof. Even for a private sector company, it would've been seen as a great success. In the first year, we launched late in the filing season, mostly just to test the product, but also to build stakeholder support for it. In the limited release, 140,000 people used it. The average user said that before Direct File, it took them about 13 hours to file their taxes, and with Direct File, it took them just over an hour to file their taxes.But you also have to think about how much money the average American spends filing their taxes: about $200. That's $200 that a family making under $100,000 could invest in their kids, in paying some bills, rather than in filing their taxes.Even this year, with no advertising by the Trump administration of Direct File, we had more than 300,000 people use it. The user scores for the product were above 85%. The challenge, of course, is that instead of DOGE investing in improving the product — which was a place where you could have seen real intellectual capital go to work and make something that works for all Americans — they've decided to discontinue Direct File. [NB: There has been widespread reporting that the administration plans to discontinue Direct File. The GOP tax bill passed by the House would end Direct File if it becomes law. At the time of publication, the Direct File has not been discontinued.]The sad part is that when you think about where we are as a country, this is a tool that could both save people money, save people time, improve our ability to collect taxes, and is something that exists in almost every other developed economy. It makes no sense to me why you would end something like this rather than continue to develop it.Santi: People remember the failure of healthcare.gov, which crashed when it was rolled out all at once to everyone in the country. It was an embarrassing episode for the Obama administration, and political actors in that administration learned they had to pilot things and roll them out in phases.Is there a tension between that instinct — to test things slowly, to roll them out to a select group of users, and then to add users in following cycles — Is there a tension between that and trying to implement quickly, so that people see the benefit of the work you're doing?One of my bosses in the Obama administration was Jeff Zients, the person who was brought in to fix healthcare.gov. He relentlessly focused on execution. He always made the point that it's easy to come up with a strategy to some degree: you can figure out what the policy solution is. But the difference between good and great is how you execute against it. I think there is some tension there, but not as much as you would think.Once we were able to show that the pilot was a success, I got invited to states all over the country, like Maryland, to announce that they were joining Direct File the next year. These members of Congress wanted to do Direct File events telling people in their state, “This product that's worked so well elsewhere is coming to us next.” It gave us the ability to celebrate the success.I learned the lesson not just from Zients, but also from then-professor Elizabeth Warren, whom I worked for as chief of staff at the CFPB. One challenge we had at the CFPB was to build a complaint hotline, at that point mostly phone-operated, for people who were suffering. They said it would take us at least a year to build out all the product functions we need. We decided to take a modular approach and say, “How long would it take for us to build the system for one product? Let's try that and see how that works. We'll do a test.”It was successful, and we were able to use that to tell the story about the CFPB and what it would do, not just for mortgages, but for all these other products. We built user interest in the complaint hotline, in a way that we couldn't have if we'd waited to build the whole thing at once. While I think you're right that there is some tension between getting everyone to feel it right away and piloting; if the pilot is successful, it also gives you the opportunity to go out and sell this thing to people and say, “Here's what people who did the pilot are saying about this product.”I remember someone in Texas who was willing to do a direct-to-camera and talk about the ways that Direct File was so easy for them to use. It gets back to my point on message and messenger. Deputy Secretary Adeyemo telling you about this great thing the government did is one thing. But an American who looks like you, who's a nurse, who's a mom of two kids, telling you that this product actually worked for her: That's something that more people identify with.Healthcare.gov taught us the lesson of piloting and doing things in a modular way. This is what companies have been doing for decades. If it's worked for them, I think it can work for the government too.Santi: I'm a fan of Direct File, personally. I don't want this administration to kill it. But I was looking through some of the criticism that Direct File got: for instance, there's criticism about it rivaling the IRS Free File program, which is another IRS program that partners with nonprofits to help some folks file their taxes for free.Then there's this broader philosophical criticism: “I don't want the feds telling me how much I owe them.” The idea is that the government is incentivized to squeeze every last dollar out of you.I'm curious what you make of that, in part because I spoke recently to an American who worked on building e-government systems for Estonia. One of the things that has allowed Estonia to build cutting-edge digital systems in the government is that Estonia is a small and very high-trust society. Everybody's one degree of separation from everybody else.We're a much bigger and more diverse country. How do you think that affects the federal government's ability to build tools like Direct File?I think it affects it a lot, and it gets back to my point: not just the message but the messenger. I saw this not just with Direct File, but with the Advanced Child Tax Credit, which was intended to help kids who were living in poverty, but also families overall. What we found initially in the data was that, among families that didn't have to file taxes because they made too little, many of them were unwilling to take advantage of Direct File and the Advanced Child Tax Credit because they couldn't believe the government was doing something to just help them. I spent a lot of time with priests, pastors, and other community leaders in many of the communities where people were under-filing to try and get them to talk about this program and why it was something that they should apply for.One of the challenges we suffer from right now in America, overall, is a lack of trust in institutions. You have to really go local and try to rebuild that trust.That also speaks to taking a pilot approach that goes slower in some cases. Some of the criticism we got was, “Why don't you just fill out this form for us and then just send it to us, so that Direct File is just me pressing a button so I can pay my taxes?”Part of the challenge for us in doing that is a technology challenge: we are not there technologically. But the other problem is a trust problem. If I were to just fill out your taxes for you and send them to you, I think people, at this stage, would distrust the government and distrust the technology.Direct File had to be on a journey with people, showing people, “If I put in this information, it accurately sends me back my check.” As people develop more trust, we can also add more features to it that I think people will trust. But the key has to be: how do you earn that trust over time?We can't expect that if we put out a product that looks like something the Estonian government or Australia would put out, that people would trust it at this point. We have to realize that we are on a journey to regain the trust of the American people.The government can and will work for them, and Direct File was a part of that. We started to demonstrate that with that product because the people who used it in these communities became the spokespeople for it in a better way than I ever could be, than the Secretary or the President could be.Everyone knows that they need to pay their taxes because it's part of their responsibility living in this country. The things that make people the most upset is the fact that there are people who don't pay their taxes. We committed that we were going to go after them.The second frustration was: “Why do you make it so hard for me to pay my taxes? Why can't I get through to you on the phone line? Why do I have to pay somebody else to do my taxes?” Our goal was to solve those two problems by investing money and going after the people who just decided they weren't going to pay, but also by making it as easy as possible for you to pay your taxes and for most people, to get that tax refund as quickly as possible.But doing that was about going on a journey with people, about regaining their trust in an institution that mattered to them a great deal because 90 something-percent of the money that funds our government comes in through the IRS.Kyla: You have a piece out in Foreign Affairs called “Make Moscow Pay,” and what I found most interesting about that essay is that you said Europe needs to step it up because the United States won't. Talk through the role of Treasury in financial sanctions, and your reasons for writing this piece.People often think about the Treasury Department as doing a few things. One is working with Wall Street; another one is collecting your taxes. Most people don't think about the fact that the Treasury Department is a major part of the National Security Committee, because we have these tools called financial sections.They use the power of the dollar to try and change the behavior of foreign actors who are taking steps that aren't consistent with our national security interests. A great example of this is what we did with regard to Russia — saying that we're going to cut off Russian banks from the US financial system, which means that you can't transact in US dollars.The problem for any bank that can transact in dollars is that the backbone of most of the financial world is built on the US dollar. It increases their cost, it makes it more difficult for them to transact, and makes it harder for them to be part of the global economy, nearly impossible.And that's what we've done in lots of cases when it comes to Russia. We have financial sanction programs that touch all over the world, from Venezuela to Afghanistan. The US government, since 9/11, has used sanctions as one of its primary tools of impacting foreign policy. Some of them have gone well, some of them I think haven't gone as well, and there's a need for us to think through how we use those policies.Santi: What makes sanctions an effective tool? Positions on sanctions don't line up neatly on partisan lines. Sanctions have a mixed track record, and you'll have Republicans who say sanctions have failed, and you'll have Democrats say sanctions have been an effective tool, and vice versa.The way I think about sanctions is that they are intended to bring change, and the only way that they work is that they're part of an overarching foreign policy strategy. That type of behavior change was what we saw when Iran came to the table and wanted to negotiate a way to reduce sanctions in exchange for limits on their nuclear program. That's the type of behavior change we're trying to accomplish with sanctions, but you can't do it with sanctions alone. You need a foreign policy strategy. We didn't do it by the United States confronting Iran; we got our allies and partners to work together with us. When I came into office in 2021, Secretary Yellen asked me to do a review of our sanctions policies — what's worked, what hasn't — because it had been 20 years since the 9/11 attacks.And the most important lesson I learned was that the sanctions programs that were the most effective were the ones we did on a multilateral basis — so we did it with our friends and allies. Part of the reason for this is that while the dollar is the most dominant currency around the world, oftentimes if you can't do something in dollars, you do it in a euro, or you do it in a Japanese yen, or pound sterling.The benefit of having allies all over the world is that the dominant, convertible currencies in the world are controlled by allies and partners. When we acted together with them, we were more effective in curtailing the economic activity of our adversary, and our pressure is more likely to lead to them changing their behavior.We had to be very cautious about collateral damage. You might be targeting an individual, but by targeting that individual, you might make it harder for a company they're affiliated with to continue doing business, or for a country that they're in to get access to banking services. Let's say that you're a huge bank in America, and you're worried about sanctions risk in a small country where you do little business. Why not pull out, rather than having to put in place a huge compliance program? One of the challenges that we have is that the people who make the decisions about whether to extend sanctions don't necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about some of these economic consequences of the sanctions approach.Whenever I was around the table and we were making a decision about using weapons, there was a process that was very elaborate that ended up with something going to the president. You'd often think about kinetic force very seriously, because you were going to have to get the president to make a decision. We didn't always take that kind of rigor when it came to thinking about using our sanctions policy, but the impact on the lives of people in these countries was just as significant for their access to not only money, but to food and to the resources they needed to live.Santi: What do you make of the effectiveness of the initial sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine? I've heard mixed reviews from folks inside and outside the Biden administration.Sanctions, again, to my point, are only a tool. They've had to be part of a larger strategy, and I think those sanctions were quite effective. I think the saving grace for the Russians has been the fact that China has largely been able and willing to give them access to the things they need to continue to perpetuate.There was a choice for Ukraine, but when you think about Russia's economy today vs. Russia's economy before the sanctions were put in place, it's vastly different. Inflation in Russia still runs far higher than inflation anywhere else in the world. If you were a Russian citizen, you would feel the impacts of sanctions.The challenge, of course, is that it hasn't changed Vladimir Putin's behavior or the behavior of the Kremlin, largely because they've had access to the goods and supplies they need from China, Iran, and North Korea. But over time, it means Russia's economy is becoming less competitive. They have less access to resources; they're going to struggle.I think everyone hoped that sanctions would immediately change the calculus of the Kremlin, but we've never seen that to be the case. When sanctions are effective, they take time, because the economic consequences continue to compound over time, and they have to be part of a larger strategy for the behavior of the individual. That's why I wrote the article, because while the Kremlin and Russia are under pressure, their view is that ultimately the West is going to get tired of supporting Ukraine, financially and politically, because the economic consequences for us — while not as significant as for Moscow or for Kiev — have been quite significant, when you think about the cost of living issues in Europe.I think it's important to write this now, when it appears that Russia is stalling on negotiations, because ultimately, US financial support is waning. We just know that the Trump administration is not willing to put more money into Ukraine, so Europe is going to have to do more, at a time when their economic situation is quite complicated as well.They've got a lot to do to build up their economy and their military-industrial base. Asking them to also increase their support for Ukraine at the same time is going to be quite difficult. So using this money that Russia owes to Ukraine — because they owe them compensation at this moment — can be quite influential in helping support the Ukrainians, but also changing Russia's calculus with regard to the ability of Ukraine to sustain itself.Kyla: On CNBC about a month ago, you said if we ever have a recession over the next couple of months or so, it would be a self-inflicted one. Do you still resonate with that idea? To build on the point I was making, the economy has done quite well over the course of the first few months of the year, largely because of the strength of the consumer, where our balance sheets are still quite strong. Companies in America have done well. The biggest headwind the US economy faces has been self-inflicted by the tariffs the president has put on. Part of what I still do is talk to CEOs of companies, big and small. Small businesses feel the impact of this even more than the big businesses. What they tell me is that it's not just the tariffs and the fact that they are making it more expensive for them to get the goods that they need, but it's the uncertainty created by the off-again, on-again, nature of those tariffs that makes it impossible for them to plan for what supplies they're going to get the next quarter. How are they going to fulfill their orders? What employees are they going to need? It's having a real impact on the performance of these companies, but also their ability to hire people and plan for the future.If you go to the grocery store, you're going to start seeing — and you're starting to see already — price increases. The thing that Americans care most about is, the cost of living is just too high. You're at the grocery store, as you're shopping for your kids for the summer, you're going to see costs go up because of a self-imposed tax we've put in place. So I still do think that if we do find ourselves in a recession, it's going to be because of the tariffs we've put in place.Even if we don't enter a technical recession, what we're seeing now is that those tariffs are going to raise the cost for people when they go out to buy things. It's going to raise the cost of building homes, which is going to make it harder for people to get houses, which is ultimately going to have an impact on the economy that isn't what I think the president or anyone wants at this point.Kyla: Is there anything else we haven't asked about? I think the place where we continue, as a country, to struggle is that, given the federal system we have, many of these problems aren't just in Washington — they're in state and local governments as well. When you think about the challenges to building more housing in this country, you can't just solve it by doing things at the federal level. You have to get state and local governments unified in taking a proactive approach. Part of this has to be not just financial or regulatory from the federal government, but we have to do more things that force state and local governments to get out of the way of people being able to build more housing. I think that the conversations that you've had on your show, and the conversations we're having in government, need to move past our regular policy conversations of: “Should we do more on LIHTC? Should we try to fix NEPA?” Those, to me, are table stakes, and we're in the middle of what I'd say is a generational crisis when it comes to housing. We have to be willing to treat it like a crisis, rather than what I think we've done so far, which is take incremental steps at different levels to try and solve this. That's one thing that I wanted to make sure that I said, because I think it's the most important thing that we can do at the moment.Kyla: Absolutely. During your time there, the Treasury was doing so much with zoning reform, with financial incentives. What I really liked about our last conversation was how much you talked about how important it is that workers can live close to work. Are you optimistic that we will be able to address the problem, or do you think we are sinking into quicksand?I'd say a little bit of both, and the thing that I'm doing now is getting hyperlocal. One of the projects I'm working on in my post-administration life is I'm working with 15 churches in D.C., where they have vacant land and want to use it to build affordable housing as quickly as possible.I'm learning that even when you have the land donated for free and you're willing to work as quickly as possible, it's still quite hard because you have regulations and financial issues that often get in the way of building things. Part of what we have to do now is just launch as many natural experiments as possible to see what works.What I've learned already from this lived experience is that even cities that are trying to get out of the way and make it easier to build housing struggle because of what you all know to be true, which is that the local politics of this is quite complicated. Oftentimes, the way that you get them over the line is by creating incentives or disincentives.In the past, I talked a lot about incentives in terms of “giving people money to do things.” I'm now in favor of “not giving money to people who don't do things” — if you don't take steps to fix your zoning, some of the federal money that you regularly get is not coming to your jurisdiction. I'm going to reallocate that money to places that are doing this activity. I think we have to take those types of radical steps.It's similar to what we did with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, where if you didn't spend your money, we could take your money back and reallocate it to people who were giving away emergency rental assistance money.That motivates people a lot — when they feel like something's going to be taken away from them. I'm of the view that we have to find more radical things that we can do to get housing built. If we don't, costs will continue to rise faster than people's incomes.Santi: Wally, I have to ask after that point you just made: did you read the paper by my colleague Chris Elmendorf on using LIHTC funds? The idea is to re-allocate those federal funds away from big, expensive cities and into other places in a state, if the cities don't commit to basic zoning reforms.I completely agree with him, and I think I would go even further than just LIHTC money. I would reallocate non-housing money as well, because from my standpoint, if you think about the most important issue for a family, it's being able to find housing that is affordable near their place of work and where their kids go to school. I said that on purpose. I didn't say “affordable housing.” I said “housing that is affordable,” because affordable housing is, in lots of ways, targeted towards a population of people who need it the most. But for even people who are middle income in this country, it crowds out their ability to pay for other things when housing costs continue to creep higher.The only way we solve that problem is if you get rid of restrictive zoning covenants and fix permitting. The natural thing that every city and state is thinking about right now is throwing more money at the problem. There's going to need to be money here, just in light of some of the headwinds, but it's going to be more costly and less effective if we don't fix the underlying issues that are making it hard to build housing where we want it.Right now in California, we're having a huge debate over what we do with infill housing in urban areas. A simple solution — you don't have to do another environmental review if one was already done in this area— is taking months to work through the California legislature, which demonstrates that we're going too slow. California's seeing an exodus of people. I just talked to a CEO who said, “I'm moving my business because the people who work for me can't afford to live in California anymore.” This is the kind of problem that you can solve. State legislatures, Congress, and executives have to get together and take some radical steps to make it easier to build housing.I appreciate what you said about what we were doing at Treasury, but from my standpoint, I wish we had done more earlier to focus on this issue. We had a lot going on, but fundamentally, the most important thing on housing is taking a step to try and build housing today, which is going to have an impact on the economy 10, 20, 30 years from now. We just have to start doing that as soon as possible.Thanks to Emma Hilbert for her transcript and audio edits. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub
Listen to Daily Global #News from Grecian Echoes and WNTN 1550 AM - Chaos broke out at a distribution site in southern Gaza - DOGE can access sensitive Treasury Department systems - Putin puts his demands for peace - Trump administration halts scheduling of new student visa appointments
President Trump fires back at Vladimir Putin following Russia's aerial attacks on Ukraine, the Treasury Department reveals a new approach to combating cartels, and Hollywood enjoys a record-breaking box office over Memorial Day weekend. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.Beam: Visit https://shopbeam.com/WIRE and use code WIRE to get our exclusive discount of up to 40% off.Kikoff: Start building credit with Kikoff today, and you can get your first month for as little as $1 when you go to https://getkikoff.com/wireShopify: Go to https://Shopify.com/morningwire to sign up for your $1 per month trial period and upgrade your selling today.
The “wet and dirty” line from Kevin Harlan is just another reason he's one of the best play-by-play voices in all of sports. The U.S. Treasury Department is finally getting rid of the penny. Standing seats on an airplane could be a thing in Europe by 2026. A Swiss woman got a Red Bull barcode tattoo on her forearm. A Norwegian man wakes to find a cargo ship in his yard. Also, I'm not a fan of the Norwegian accent. But Australian, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and some others - I approve of. A Florida woman couldn't pay her tab at a steakhouse - fast-forward to her punching a police officer in the balls. I recap the Wiener 500. And the Colorado Rockies may have scared the New York Yankees into success.
The National Labor Relations Board's inspector general is conducting an investigation into the Department of Government Efficiency's work at the agency. In April, an IT staffer named Daniel Berulis filed an official whistleblower disclosure with Congress highlighting concerns over DOGE's practices at the NLRB and data that may have been removed from the agency. In response to the disclosure, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, requested an investigation in a letter to Luiz A. Santos, acting inspector general of the Labor Department, and Ruth Blevins, inspector general at the NLRB. Timothy Bearese, an attorney at the NLRB currently serving as its acting director of congressional and public affairs, told FedScoop that the agency has no comment but “can confirm that the OIG is conducting an investigation, as requested by Ranking Member Connolly.” Back In April, Bearese told NPR that the NLRB had not granted DOGE access to agency systems. At that time, he also said that there had been a past investigation based on Berulis' concerns that “determined that no breach of agency systems occurred.” A spokesperson for House Oversight Committee Democrats told FedScoop on Thursday that “there are multiple investigations into Elon Musk's violations of sensitive investigatory information at the NLRB.” House Oversight Democrats are asking a Treasury Department watchdog to open an investigation into DOGE's data and IT modernization dealings at the IRS following reports of an internal “hackathon” at the tax agency that may have involved Palantir. In a letter sent Thursday to Heather Hill, acting head of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, House Oversight ranking member Gerry Connolly, D-Va., cited “deep concern” over reporting in Wired last month that revealed plans for a 30-day sprint where DOGE engineers and a third-party vendor — potentially the data analytics giant Palantir — would create a new application programming interface connected to taxpayer data. That API, Wired reported, would essentially serve as a storage center for all IRS data and enable agency systems to interact with unknown cloud services. Building a “mega API” is likely connected to plans for a “master database” that also pulls in data from the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, according to Wired, part of a Trump administration effort to track and surveil immigrants. “The reported data centralization and integration effort could undermine intentional compartmentalization of IRS systems,” which raises “serious privacy questions,” Connolly wrote. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is set to withdraw a Biden-era rule aimed at cracking down on data brokers and their selling of Americans' personal and financial information. In a notice in the Federal Register, the CFPB said legislative rulemaking on the data broker industry “is not necessary or appropriate at this time,” and the agency does not plan to “take any further action” on the proposal. The notice was issued by Russell Vought, acting director of the agency, head of the Office of Management and Budget and a Project 2025 architect. The withdrawal of the rule, which was first reported by Wired, comes after President Donald Trump's initial nominee to lead the CFPB signaled to Congress in February an openness to continuing Biden administration data-broker rules. Jonathan McKernan, a former Treasury Department and Federal Housing Finance Agency staffer, told the Senate Banking Committee that Rohit Chopra — President Joe Biden's CFPB director — “was onto something” with his policies targeting data brokers and data aggregators. The CFPB's withdrawal notice took particular issue with the rule's focus on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, saying that the proposal was “not aligned with the Bureau's current interpretation of the FCRA, which it is in the process of revising.” The Senate on Wednesday voted 54-43 to confirm businessman Emil Michael as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and the Pentagon's chief technology officer. In that position, Michael will serve as the primary advisor to the secretary of defense and other Defense Department leaders on tech development and transition, prototyping, experimentation, and management of testing ranges and activities. He'll also be in charge of synchronizing science and technology efforts across the DOD. Michael comes to the job from the private sector, where he's been a business executive, advisor and investor. He told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he's been involved with more than 50 different tech companies during his career. Perhaps most notable, from 2013 to 2017, he was chief business officer at Uber. In government, he previously served as special assistant to the secretary of defense when Robert Gates was Pentagon chief. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We'll start with some cloak and dagger diplomacy that flew under the radar last month—a secret visit by a Chinese delegation to the U.S. Treasury Department reveals just how far the Chinese Communist Party will go to control the narrative. President Trump kicks off his Middle East swing with two major announcements: a $600 billion Saudi investment pledge and a $142 billion arms deal. Plus, the latest from Israel, where Prime Minister Netanyahu says the fight against Hamas is entering its final phase. And in today's Back of the Brief—a new era of U.S.-Syrian relations may be on the horizon, as President Trump moves to lift decades-old sanctions on Syria. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 DeleteMe: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you text PDB to 64000. Message and data rates apply Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There's something to cold hard cash. You can hold it; you can smell it; it feels a certain way in your pocket. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump directed the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies. What happens as the world of currency goes increasingly digital? Will traditional currencies soon become a thing of the past? And who stands to benefit, and who might this rapid shift be hurting? Neha Narula, Director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, joins The Excerpt to take a closer look at this transition period for money and how it might evolve.Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports released a new poll showing that 71% of Democrats support Elon Musk being IMPRISONED for his DOGE work. This insane position is held by 80% of self-reported "liberals" from the polling. The poll results were released the same day as this episode.This is sadly not very shocking, as we take a look at what leftist-dominated Reddit says about Elon in our Unhinged segment. We also discuss DOGE's work so far, including issues at the U.S. Treasury Department, and whether or not the pork uncovered by DOGE is actually being cut. It seems many representatives want the spending to keep on rolling along. The Heartland Institute's Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, and S.T. Karnick will discuss all of this and more on Episode 494 of the In the Tank Podcast. In The Tank broadcasts LIVE every Thursday at 12pm CT on on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Tune in to have your comments addressed live by the In The Tank Crew. Be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode. See you there!Climate Change Roundtable is LIVE every Friday at 12pm CT on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Have a topic you want addressed? Join the live show and leave a comment for our panelists and we'll cover it during the live show!
The fight over the Inflation Reduction Act has arrived. After months of discussion, the Republican majority in the House is now beginning to write, review, and argue about its plans to transform the climate law's energy tax provisions. We wanted to record a show about how to follow that battle. But then — halfway through recording that episode — the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee dropped the first draft of their proposal to gut the IRA, and we had to review it on-air. We were joined by Luke Bassett, a former senior advisor for domestic climate policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, and a former senior staff member at the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. We chatted about the major steps in the reconciliation process, what to watch next, and what to look for in the new GOP draft. Shift Key is hosted by Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University, and Robinson Meyer, Heatmap's executive editor.Mentioned:The House GOP Tax Proposal Would Effectively Kill The IRAPermitting Reform Is Back — and Buried in Trump's Tax BillThe House Ways and Means Committee's first attempt at rewriting the IRA and its energy tax provisions(Note: At one point, Luke refers to a permitting reform proposal as coming from the Energy and Commerce Committee. It's a product of the House Natural Resources Committee.) --Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A fiery breakdown of the latest political power struggle in Washington, highlighting Ed Martin's ousting, alleged massive fraud in federal payments, and Trump's strategic counter with rotating prosecutors to combat the deep state and swamp corruption.
The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: 5:05pm- While appearing on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States has become “far too dependent on China” and previous administrations have allowed “unfair trade practices” which have resulted in American deindustrialization. 5:10pm- Trump Tariff Updates: On Thursday, German automaker Mercedes-Benz announced it will increase production at its facility in Alabama—resulting in a greater number of American made vehicles. And, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, China is now calling for “sincerity” in negotiating an end to the tariff fight with the Trump Administration. The news comes after Apple announced it would be manufacturing more devices in India and Vietnam. 5:15pm- On Thursday night, Fox News host Jesse Waters sat down with Elon Musk and several DOGE workers to discuss instances of government waste and fraud. At one point, the group revealed that the Treasury Department was spending $5 trillion annually without a “budget code.” 5:20pm- On Thursday night, President Donald Trump delivered the commencement address to the 2025 graduating class of University of Alabama. He also took a shot at Harvard University—where Rich insists Matt was the school mascot. 5:40pm- NPR wants proper pronouns for animals + DOGE reveals the identity of “Big Balls!”
The U.S. Department of Education will begin taking action against federal student loan borrowers who are in default starting on Monday. The Treasury Department could soon start withholding money from government payments like tax refunds and Social Security payments or even garnish wages. Plus, we'll digest this morning's jobs report. And later: Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" is a masterpiece in filmmaking — and in dealmaking. We'll unpack Coogler's deal with studios.
The U.S. Department of Education will begin taking action against federal student loan borrowers who are in default starting on Monday. The Treasury Department could soon start withholding money from government payments like tax refunds and Social Security payments or even garnish wages. Plus, we'll digest this morning's jobs report. And later: Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" is a masterpiece in filmmaking — and in dealmaking. We'll unpack Coogler's deal with studios.
Mabel Walker Willebrandt and the Dries have their backs against the wall. The Treasury Department has made their poisoning program public, but will any of it matter when the tainted booze reaches the masses? Meanwhile, a mind-melting twist in the case of Two Gun Hart comes to light.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
“I want real kids fighting each other!” - Chris, on the flashbacks On this week's episode, we're chatting about the nowhere-near-as-good-as-its-sequel assassin film, The Accountant. Couldn't we have done this whole thing without all the flashbacks to them as kids? Did we need the Treasury Department cold on the Accountant's trail the whole movie? Didn't everyone want to yell, ‘No Touching,' whenever we see Jeffrey Tambor's character in prison? And how creepy is it that Ben draws faces on all those melons he's going to shoot? PLUS: Luke Skywalker's lightsaber? Really? The Accountant stars Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, John Lithgow, Jean Smart, and Jon Bernthal as Brax; directed by Gavin O'Connor. Tickets are on sale now for our three-night residency during the Oxford Comedy Festival! We'll be doing six shows over three nights from July 18 through 20, doing shows like WHM, W❤️M, The Nexus, The Gleep Glossary, and Animation Damnation! Tickets are going fast, so friends over there, snag your tix! Throughout 2025, we'll be donating 100% of our earnings from our merch shop to the Center for Reproductive Rights. So head over and check out all these masterful designs and see what tickles your fancy! Shirts? Phone cases? Canvas prints? We got all that and more! Check it out and kick in for a good cause! Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
On April 7, the Treasury Department and Department of Homeland Security reached an agreement to allow ICE to use confidential tax information to locate undocumented immigrants. Though this group generally pays taxes at a higher rate than comparable U.S. citizens, advocates warn that the IRS-ICE team-up could have a chilling effect. They say it's likely to endanger the $66 billion in federal tax revenue undocumented immigrants are estimated to contribute, and add to a climate of fear in communities nationwide. Guest: Francine Lipman, law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On April 7, the Treasury Department and Department of Homeland Security reached an agreement to allow ICE to use confidential tax information to locate undocumented immigrants. Though this group generally pays taxes at a higher rate than comparable U.S. citizens, advocates warn that the IRS-ICE team-up could have a chilling effect. They say it's likely to endanger the $66 billion in federal tax revenue undocumented immigrants are estimated to contribute, and add to a climate of fear in communities nationwide. Guest: Francine Lipman, law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
President Trump announced a new tariff strategy called "Liberation Day" aimed at imposing reciprocal tariffs to level the playing field with other countries. Newt’s guest is David Beckworth, a former international economist for the U.S. Treasury Department and senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. They discuss the implications of this new tariff policy. Beckworth explains the historical context and mechanics of tariffs, and the potential economic impacts, including the risk of stagflation and the effects on U.S. manufacturing. He also highlights concerns about the politicization of the Federal Reserve and the potential for increased lobbying. Their conversation also touches on the broader implications for international trade relations and the challenges businesses may face in adapting to the new tariff landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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