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Trump admin cancels another $350M in contracts as it targets DEI initiatives

The Department of Education last week said it canceled nearly $350 million in “woke” spending, purportedly addressing the most pressing problems of education policy and practice.

The agency canceled 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), totaling $336 million, after a review of the contracts uncovered “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” a news release states.

It’s not clear if the cuts were related to the Department of Government Efficiency slashing the Education Department’s activities related to DEI.

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

The Department of Education has canceled various grants and contracts since President Donald Trump took office last month. (Getty Images)

RELs have been around for nearly 60 years, according to the Institute of Education Sciences, which administers the 10 RELs across the country, which are divided by region.

The programs “contribute to the growing body of research on how experiences within the nation’s education system differ by context and student group, thereby impacting outcomes and identifying potential solutions,” the IES website states.

However, a review found instances where DEI initiatives were being funded, the Department of Education said.

“For example, the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest has been advising schools in Ohio to undertake ‘equity audits’ and ‘equity conversations,’” the agency said. “The Department plans to enter into new contracts that will satisfy the statutory requirements, improve student learning, and better serve school districts, State Departments of Education, and other education stakeholders.”

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Also terminated were $33 million in grant funds to four Equity Assistance Centers, which supported training in DEI, critical race theory and gender identity for state and local education agencies as well as school boards, the Education Department said.

On Monday, the department announced the termination of more than $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on allegedly divisive ideologies.

“Training materials included inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as Critical Race Theory; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); social justice activism; ‘anti-racism,’ and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy,” a news release states. “Additionally, many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race.”

President Donald Trump has said he wants to abolish the Department of Education, calling it a “con job” that has failed to properly educate American students.

Elon Musk and the Department of Education (Getty Images)

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“Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look at the Department of Education. It’s a big con job,” he said last week. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil.”

“So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40,” he added.

February 18, 2025
Trump targets McConnell’s mental acuity as former leader joins Dems against key nominees

President Donald Trump derided former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as “not equipped mentally” after he went from being the face of the GOP in the upper chamber to opposing his entire conference and voting with the Democrats on Trump’s key Cabinet nominations in just a matter of months.

“He wasn’t equipped ten years ago, mentally, in my opinion,” Trump told reporters at the White House after McConnell refused to vote in favor of confirming his controversial Health and Human Services (HHS) pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“He’s a, you know, very bitter guy,” Trump added of McConnell, with whom he has had a strained relationship with over the years, including during his previous presidency.

TRUMP AGRICULTURE PICK CONFIRMED AS PRESIDENT RACKS UP CABINET WINS

The GOP’s recent and longest-serving Senate party leader has stood in opposition to his conference multiple times, demonstrating the party’s significant transformation in the age of Trump. (Reuters)

While such a shift from GOP leader to defiant Republican might be optically jarring, the move was unsurprising to Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesman for former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus.

“He was living on borrowed time the last couple of years,” he told Fox News Digital of McConnell. Manley speculated that if he hadn’t decided to step down from leadership voluntarily before the 119th Congress, he would have had significant trouble being re-elected. “[I]t’s evident just how exactly out of step he is with the caucus,” he said, noting that it has become “much more conservative.”

In three pivotal Senate votes on Trump’s most vulnerable Cabinet nominees in the last few weeks, McConnell bucked his party. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination was confirmed by a razor-thin margin, 51-50, after Vice President JD Vance was called in to break the tie.

TULSI GABBARD SWORN IN AT WHITE HOUSE HOURS AFTER SENATE CONFIRMATION

McConnell and Trump have had a thorny relationship. (Reuters)

Moderate GOP Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined him in voting against the controversial defense pick.

However, McConnell was the only Republican to vote against the similarly controversial Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Tulsi Gabbard and HHS pick Kennedy. Even Collins, Murkowski, and several other senators with reputations for being somewhat hesitant got behind them.

“If Senator McConnell was looking to accelerate the deterioration of his legacy as the former Republican Senate leader, he’s succeeded,” a Senate GOP source remarked. They described the Kentucky Republican’s actions as “an attempt to embarrass the president and the Republican Party” and evidence “of why he was no longer fit to lead our conference.”

McConnell released lengthy statements following each vote, explaining his reasoning. He also wished each of them well and committed to working with them.

DOGE ‘PLAYBOOK’ UNVEILED BY GOP SENATOR AS MUSK-LED AGENCY SHAKES UP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Hegseth was confirmed after JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)

A defense hawk and chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, McConnell was unconvinced that Hegseth or Gabbard were the best national security selections.

As for Kennedy, McConnell recalled his childhood experience with polio and touted the effectiveness of vaccines, of which the now-HHS secretary has been consistently critical.

McConnell did vote in favor of Trump’s other, less-controversial and lesser-known Cabinet nominees.

Republican strategist Matt Dole called the former leader “an enigma.”

“[H]e sought to rule the Republican Caucus with an iron fist when he was leader,” he pointed out.

“That makes his own, lonely, votes stand out as all the more egregious.”

McConnell’s successor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reacted to the “no” votes in an interview with Fox News Digital. “I think he knows better than anybody how hard it is to lead a place like the United States Senate, where it takes 60 votes to get most things done, and that you got to have everybody, sort of functioning as a team,” he said.

According to Thune, McConnell “is still active up here and still a strong voice on issues he’s passionate about, including national security, and so when it comes to those issues, he has outsized influence and a voice that we all pay attention to.”

DEM LOOKS TO CODIFY NEW AG BONDI’S DESIRED CRACKDOWN ON ‘ZOMBIE DRUG’ XYLAZINE

Thune succeeded McConnell as Senate GOP leader. (Reuters)

He explained that while the conference doesn’t necessarily agree with him, “we respect his positions on these, some of these [nominations], and I know that a lot of big stuff ahead of us, he’s going to be with us. He’s a team player.”

One former top Senate Republican strategist explained the former leader has “nothing to lose” at this point. In fact, they said, the feelings he is expressing about Trump’s most controversial selections actually reflects those of a number of other senators. But they can’t oppose the picks themselves “for fear of retribution by Trump or primary voters that will make a difference on whether or not they remain in power.”

“Not being in leadership can be quite liberating,” GOP strategist John Feehery added.

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According to Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, “I think he wants to make a symbolic statement in favor of an older Reagan-era type of conservatism and a more traditional Republican Party—this is the way he wants to be remembered.”

McConnell’s office declined to comment to Fox News Digital.

Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner.

Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to [email protected].

February 16, 2025
Investor tells CNBC the time of ‘white flag’ GOP is over as DOGE targets wasteful spending

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended the Department of Government Efficiency, arguing it brings much-needed tech sector sensibility to the American government.

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) hasty process to overhaul government spending, arguing that a few mistakes are all part of the process.

Lonsdale was interviewed on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, where he touted the success of DOGE targeting wasteful or frivolous government spending, arguing that, “in 20 days, we’ve done what we couldn’t do in multiple generations.”

The entrepreneur suggested that previous efforts by lawmakers in the Reagan era to curb spending failed because they were not tech experts like those at DOGE, “and so when they went to the bureaucracy, and they asked questions, there’s so many ways of obscuring and blocking and deterring, and so what Elon did is he got root access, and he went to the tech systems themselves.”

CNBC co-host Rebecca Quick warned that as much as she agrees with cutting waste in theory, cancer payments and legitimate aid to those starving in Africa may be affected amid DOGE’s efforts.

Investor and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended DOGE’s approach during a lengthy interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” (CNBC)

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

“I think the legitimate stuff needs to be turned back on,” Lonsdale agreed, but argued, “I do think Africa can now pay for more of this themselves. South Africa is spending money suing Israel. They’re spending money supporting political parties calling for the death for White people. Maybe they should redirect that money to pay for their own clinics.”

“I just think there’s a question about how careful either Elon or others need to be,” co-host Andrew Sorkin said.

Another co-host of the show, Joe Kernen, replied, “Slash and burn a lot of this stuff.”

Lonsdale argued, however, that changing times call for new tactics.

“Andrew, we’ve been careful for 50 years, right? You have a bunch of white flag Republicans, you have a bunch of people on the left making money off of it, people on the right making money off it too. Everyone wants to be careful and keep it going. You’re not going to get perfect answers in life. I think this is by far the best thing for our civilization is to very boldly confront this,” he said. “And this is more, I guess, of a tech world way than a D.C. way.”

Elon Musk arrives on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK’S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

“You’re probably right that there are going to be some things that need to be turned back on. There’s going to be some things that were mislabeled that no one knew what they were. But it’s a mess. And so, it’s a mess. And it’s such a mess that I think being bold is the right answer. I get it’s going to have a few mistakes, but I’d rather have those few mistakes and fix it.

He later appeared to reference Musk’s SpaceX ambitions and quipped, “Being careful and slow isn’t how we get to Mars.”

DOGE Caucus founder Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., on Elon Musk’s efforts to curtail government spending and a discovery regarding social security.

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February 13, 2025
GOP bill targets NPR, PBS funding amid Elon Musk’s DOGE audits

FIRST ON FOX: Republicans lawmakers are renewing efforts to gut federal funding to NPR and PBS amid the Trump administration’s upheaval of the federal bureaucracy.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., is leading a bill in the House of Representatives that would halt taxpayer dollars from going to either media broadcaster and reroute existing federal funds to reducing the national debt, according to legislative text previewed by Fox News Digital.

“As a former newspaper owner and publisher, I understand the vital role of balanced, non-partisan media. Unfortunately, these taxpayer-funded outlets have chosen advocacy over accuracy, using public dollars to promote a political agenda rather than report the facts,” Tenney told Fox News Digital.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

House Republicans are targeting PBS and NPR with new legislation. (Getty)

The legislation’s Senate counterpart is being led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who told Fox News Digital, “Americans have hundreds of sources of news and commentary, and they don’t need politically biased, taxpayer-funded media choosing what they should see and hear. PBS and NPR are free to compete in the marketplace of ideas using donations, but their public subsidy should end.”

Republicans have long targeted NPR and PBS, accusing both outlets of sharing a liberal bias while receiving government funding.

Less than 1% of NPR’s funding comes directly from the federal government, though other funding comes indirectly from grants and dollars allocated to local member stations who then pay fees back to NPR. More than a third of its funding comes from corporate sponsorships.

Rep. Claudia Tenney introduced the bill on the House side. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

PBS also gets a mix of federal funds through other avenues.

However, the GOP’s demands to end federal allocations to both outlets now come at a time when the executive branch is fervently searching for places to block government spending that does not align with the Trump administration’s agenda.

Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, has been critical of NPR in the past.

“Defund NPR. It should survive on its own,” Musk wrote on his X platform earlier this month.

‘WE’RE THE GOLD STANDARD’: GOP LAWMAKER CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OVER DC PLANE CRASH

Sen. Mike Lee is leading the bill in the upper chamber. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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Soon after he acquired X, Musk briefly hit NPR with a “State-Affiliated” media label, which is normally reserved for the media arm of authoritarian governments.

Tenney’s bill is one of multiple efforts targeting NPR and PBS during this Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who chairs the DOGE subcommittee under the House Oversight Committee, said she wants the heads of each organization to come testify before her new panel.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 11, 2025
DOGE focuses on millions in migrant hotels billed to US taxpayers as DHS Sec. Noem targets key agency

The government’s leading disaster relief agency reportedly spent millions on hotels for illegal immigrants just last week, according to Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s efforts to cut government spending.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by the tech billionaire, has been conducting a sweep of federal funding and identifying areas in which “waste” within the government can be slashed. Musk found his most recent target in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government’s disaster relief branch that recently sparked concern over a reported lack of funds during Hurricane Helene.

“The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk claimed in a post on X on Monday morning.

Musk charged that “sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” which FEMA was under review to improve the agency’s “efficacy, priorities and competence.”

KRISTI NOEM HEADS TO ASHEVILLE AMID HEAVY CRITICISM OF FEMA RESPONSE UNDER BIDEN

Musk claimed that FEMA sent millions to house migrants in NYC. (Getty Images)

“That money is meant for American disaster relief,” Musk wrote.

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants.

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant.

PRESIDENT TRUMP PREDICTS ELON MUSK WILL FIND ‘HUNDRED OF BILLIONS’ IN WASTE IN NEXT DOGE DIRECTIVES

The report comes just one day after Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, suggested getting rid of FEMA “the way it exists today.”

Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service)

During former President Biden’s term, FEMA faced backlash after it was reported that while they lacked the necessary funds needed to help Hurricane Helene victims, they were dishing out money that ended up being used to aid illegal immigrants.

Speaker Mike Johnson clarified that emergency relief funding is separate from FEMA funds allocated to immigration, but said that the agency should not have any part in funding the border crisis.

FEMA partners with Customs and Border Control (CBP) and administers money to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a government-funded program that provides assistance and housing for illegal immigrants released into the U.S.

After Hurricane Helene made its deadly sweep across the south in the fall, Republican lawmakers warned that “FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’ efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission.”

President Donald Trump said that ‘FEMA has turned out to be a disaster.’ (Roberty Schmidt)

President Donald Trump has also called for FEMA to be reformed, suggesting during his first week in office that states be in control of their own disaster funding.

“FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,” Trump said while delivering remarks on the Hurricane Helene damage in January. “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly — we pay a percentage to the state.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to FEMA for comment.

Fox News’ Grace Taggart, Adam Shaw and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 10, 2025
First on Fox: Pro-Democrat outside group targets Republican lawmakers with ‘Hands off Medicaid’ blitz

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EXCLUSIVE: A leading nonprofit public advocacy group that focuses on healthcare and aligns with Democrats is launching an ad blitz targeting Republican House lawmakers as part of what it touts as its $10 million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign.

The group, called Protect Our Care, says their push aims to expose what they say is the choice for members of Congress between protecting Medicaid “or giving away new tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.”

The media launch was shared first with Fox News on Thursday.

Protect Our Care says its ads will run on cable news in Washington, D.C., so they can target Republican congressional offices as the House GOP aims to assemble a sweeping budget resolution to pass parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

GOP REBELS PUSH FOR $2.5 TRILLION IN CUTS IN TRUMP BUDGET BILL

A leading nonprofit public advocacy group that focuses on healthcare and aligns with Democrats is launching an ad blitz targeting Republican House lawmakers as part of what it touts as its $10 million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign. (iStock)

And the spots will also run digitally in the districts of Republican Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona (AZ-01), David Valadao of California (CA-22), Young Kim of California (CA-40), Ken Calvert of California (CA-41), Nick LaLota of New York (NY-01), Andrew Garbarino of New York (NY-02), Mike Lawler of New York (NY-17), Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania (PA-08) and Dan Newhouse of Washington state (WA-04).

The GOP lawmakers – in competitive districts – may face difficult re-elections in the 2026 midterms as Republicans defend their current fragile majority in the chamber.

FIRST ON FOX: GOP SENATORS LEAPFROG HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN TRUMP BUDGET BILL BATTLE

The group says the ads will run through next week as House Republicans work to finish their budget resolution, which the group argues could lead to tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and cuts to Medicaid and other critical programs for working class and low-income people.

“It’s unfathomable why anyone would want to gut Medicaid, but Republicans are openly floating cuts to care for seniors, working people and kids., Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach charged in a statement to Fox News.

Dach claimed that “the American people overwhelmingly support Medicaid and will not stand for these extreme attempts to rip away coverage from those who need it most just to give billionaires another tax cut.”

And the narrator in one of the two commercials the group is launching asks, “Which do you think should happen? A billionaire gets a bigger yacht or this child has Medicaid to get the healthcare they need?”

“Some in Congress want to cut their care to pay for this,” the narrator argues. “Call your member of Congress. Tell them to protect Medicaid.”

As congressional Republicans aim to reduce the nation’s massive budget deficit and enact Trump’s domestic agenda, some conservative members are mulling changes to Medicaid, the nearly 60-year-old federal government program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited incomes.

HOUSE DELAYS KEY VOTE ON TRUMP BUDGET BILL AFTER CONSERVATIVE FURY OVER SPENDING CUTS

That could potentially put some congressional Republicans at odds with the new president.

Trump, on the presidential campaign trail the past two years and the past couple of weeks since returning to power in the White House, has repeatedly pledged not to cut Medicaid, except for cases of fraud and abuse.

President Donald Trump (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)

And House Speaker Johnson has made clear he doesn’t seek to reduce any benefits.

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“We’re not talking about in any way reducing benefits,” Johnson said recently as he discussed potential changes to Medicaid, along with Medicare and Social Security. “What we’re talking about is efficiencies in the programs to make them work better for the people who receive those benefits and to make them longer lasting to sustain the programs.”

Fox News’ Kelley Phares and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

February 6, 2025
Freshman GOP lawmaker targets ‘propaganda’ from top adversary in first bill of congressional career

FIRST ON FOX: Freshman GOP Congressman Abe Hamadeh has introduced his first piece of legislation as a lawmaker aimed at combatting the Chinese communist government’s influence in the halls of Congress.

Hamadeh, who was sworn in to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in Congress last month, introduced a bill that would prohibit China Daily and other CCP-backed publications from House facilities and spoke to Fox News Digital about his reasoning for the move.

“The first day I came into my office, I looked and I had a bunch of newspapers on my desk from the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and included in it was The China Daily,” Hamadeh told Fox News Digital. “And, you know, I’m looking at it like, ‘Why do we get the China Daily?’ And after researching it, we discovered that this was a Chinese communist owned newspaper that’s a registered foreign agent.”

“And I just find it unacceptable that it’s being passed around the halls of Congress for free, using our internal mail system, using third parties to pass out the propaganda. So, honestly, it was my first welcome to Congress and that’s kind of why I think I honed in on it to be my first piece of legislation because I don’t think we should have foreign propaganda in the halls of Congress.”

BILL MAHER DECLARES CHINA ‘THE NEW ISLAM,’ SAYS LEFT CAN’T BE HONEST ABOUT THE COUNTRY’S THREAT

Abe Hamadeh introduced his first bill in Congress this week (Getty)

The legislation would call on the Chief Administrative Officer of the House to immediately cease the distribution of CCP state-run media material and restrict the spread of the materials on House email while still allowing members to maintain private access if they wish.

Hamadeh told Fox News Digital that the “reason why the Chinese are doing it is because they know that they can influence members of Congress, they can influence their staff.”

USPS SUSPENDS INBOUND PACKAGES FROM CHINA, HONG KONG POSTS

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 19, 2022. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“You see on Capitol Hill, it’s filled with a lot of young staffers who are energetic, but they may not know that this publication is owned by a foreign adversary of ours,” Hamadeh said. “

So, you know, the communist Chinese, it’s information warfare that they’re conducting on us,psychological operations and there’s a reason why they’re passing it out for free. They’re trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government and it’s unacceptable.”

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Arizona Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh with Kayla Mueller’s parents on Jan. 3, 2025. (Kayla Mueller Family)

China Daily has drawn the ire of conservatives over the last few years including criticism from then GO Sen. Marco Rubio, who is now Trump’s Secretary of State, who last year called on mainstream media CEOs to sever ties with the English-language newspaper owned by the CCP.

Rubio said China Daily’s goal is to “subvert U.S. news media by amplifying the goals and ambitions of the party.” The outlet has published several articles claiming the U.S.’s “anti-China” reporting on the persecution of Xinjiang Uyghurs is an “outright lie.”

“I want to get a vote on the record to see what other members of Congress, how they feel about a foreign publication like the China Daily being passed to their offices,” Hamadeh told Fox News Digital. “Nobody is saying that they don’t have to read the China Daily if they want to read it on their own privately, if they want to pay for a subscription, that’s fine. But to have it passed around through taxpayer dollars is unacceptable and to have them pass it around using our resources is unacceptable.”

Hamadeh told Fox News Digital he hopes to have bipartisan support for his bill to rid Congress of “foreign propaganda.”

“Remember what Joe Biden was so focused on, he got rid of the New York Post at the White House, one of the oldest newspapers in existence in the United States,” Hamadeh said. “He got rid of The New York Post. And yet here we are allowing the China Daily to freely operate in the halls of Congress. It’s unacceptable.”

“We understand that communist China is a threat. I understand it very well in Arizona. My district has all the Taiwanese companies moving into the district away from the sphere of China’s influence for a reason. So, you know, this is a start. There is obviously legislation out there that people are doing at a state level and even at the federal level. Some of them are trying to ban the ability for the communist Chinese to buy our farmlands and to buy land near our key assets like military bases. This is common sense, and that’s why I’m introducing it, because it should be an easy it should be an easy resolution to pass.”

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

February 6, 2025
Google drops diversity hiring targets: report

‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists Jack Hough, Al Root and Megan Leonhardt discuss the top three headlines of the week.

Google is dropping its diversity target of hiring more employees from “underrepresented groups” and is reviewing their DEI policies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the Wall Street Journal reported.

An employee email stated that Google would no longer pursue goals related to increasing minority representation in its workforce, and is “evaluating changes to our programs required to comply” with Trump’s executive orders combating DEI initiatives with federal contractors.

“We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there. We’ve updated our 10-k language to reflect this, and as a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

GOOGLE, META, OTHER TECH GIANTS SLASH DEI-RELATED JOBS, RESOURCE GROUPS IN 2023: REPORT

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA – 2024/07/29: Logo of Google in skyscraper in the downtown district. (Google is rolling back their DEI policies. / Getty Images)

The tech giant’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced in 2020 that the company would seek to increase the “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” 30% by 2025 as the U.S. was gripped in national turmoil following the police murder of George Floyd.

“Listening to the personal accounts of members of our Black Advisory Leadership Group and our Black+ Googlers has only reinforced for me the reality our Black communities face: one where systemic racism permeates every aspect of life, from interactions with law enforcement, to access to housing and capital, to health care, education, and the workplace,” Pichai wrote in a memo at the time.

META ENDS CORPORATE DEI PROGRAMS

Google CEO Sundar Pichai had announced the diversity targets in 2020. (Photo by Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Google is the latest domino to fall in Silicon Valley as company after company has announced that they are ending or rolling back their DEI initiatives. Meta announced that they are dropping their DEI initiatives in January following Trump’s historic election win. The social media conglomerate has also added UFC boss Dana White to their board and removed tampons from the men’s bathroom.

Amazon announced that they would be assessing their DEI policies in December, with HR executive Candi Castleberry telling employees that the company would be “evaluat[ing] their effectiveness.”

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Meta announced they are dropping their DEI policies in January. (FOX)

“We worked to unify employee groups together under one umbrella, and build programs that are open to all, rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Castleberry wrote.

Paypal has also removed its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from its latest 10-K SEC filing. Its 2023 filing stated that the company believes that “fostering diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging (“DIE&B”) is critical to our global talent strategy and pivotal to building a culture that embraces individual characteristics, values diversity, minimizes barriers, and enhances feelings of security and support across the workplace,” but the entire section was removed from their 2024 filing.

February 6, 2025
DOGE targets Medicare agency, looking for fraud

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and has gained access to payment and contracting systems in search for potential fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Trump’s DOGE has already gutted USAID, but Musk argued on X that Medicare and Medicaid are where the “big money fraud” is happening.

CMS oversees Medicare, the health coverage program for older and disabled Americans, and Medicaid, for lower-income enrollees, which provides insurance for over 140 million U.S. citizens.

The CMS regularly deals with improper payments that represent fraud or abuse but might also be due to a state, contractor, or provider missing an administrative step.

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

WSJ reported, citing one of the people familiar with DOGE’s work at CMS, that Musk’s allies have not been given access to databases that include identifiable personal health information of Medicare or Medicaid enrollees.

The new campaign comes just days after DOGE targeted USAID, leading to the firing of 50 top officials and the organization being folded into the State Department.

AFTER RAUCOUS FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, DONALD TRUMP TO KEEP HIS FOOT ON THE GAS

Signs were also removed from USAID’s headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., and the DOGE team took over the computer systems, sources said. USAID is responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid and development assistance to countries around the globe.

Elon Musk, the chair of DOGE, has been leading an investigation into USAID’s spending practices as the agency comes to a standstill. (Getty Images)

Musk referred to the organization as a “viper’s nest.” The agency managed approximately $40 billion in appropriations last year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.

Employees and supporters gather to protest outside of USAID headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can’t make payroll.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Chris Pandolfo, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 5, 2025
Trump FCC chair targets NPR, PBS for investigation ahead of Congressional threats to defund

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into media outlets PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) over member stations potentially airing “prohibited commercial advertisements,” according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr wrote, according to the Times. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”

The FCC allows businesses to support noncommercial radio and television stations — such as NPR, PBS or college radio stations — via on-air announcements known as underwriting sponsorships. The sponsorships, though similar to advertisements, face different FCC rules than typical TV or radio ads.

Carr sent the letters Wednesday to NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, according to the Times. He has been a member of the FCC since 2017, and was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the commission’s chair under his second administration.

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Brendan Carr was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the Federal Communications Commission chair Trump’s second administration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Carr continued in his letter that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds.

“In particular, Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming,” he wrote, according to the Times.

“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for profit endeavor or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements, then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars,” he continued.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC regarding the letter and the Times’ report, but did not immediately receive a response.

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NPR chief Maher said in response to the letter that NPR’s sponsorship practices “complies with federal regulations.”

“NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well,” Maher said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr recently wrote, according to The New York Times. (Getty Images)

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“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” Maher said. “We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”

PBS told Times it is proud of its “noncommercial educational programming,” and worked “diligently to comply with the F.C.C.’s underwriting regulations.”

NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration.

“NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in April 2024, potentially previewing their fate under his second administration. “THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!”

Republican members of Congress also have introduced bills that would defund the public broadcasting organizations, such as Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry introducing the No Propaganda Act in December 2024.

“The American Taxpayer is footing the bill for a woke media corporation that pretends to be impartial while pushing Chinese propaganda,” Perry said when introducing the legislation. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting “cannot be allowed to keep using your hard-earned tax dollars to push a biased and political agenda that goes against what’s best for Americans.”

NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Carr’s name recognition grew large right ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, election, when he lambasted NBC’s decision to host former Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live” in the final episode ahead of Election Day, but did not offer equal time to Trump or other candidates in the presidential cycle.

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The FCC’s equal-time rule was established in 1934, and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule, such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.

Brendan Carr wrote that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“NBC has structured this in a way that’s plainly designed to evade the FCC’s rules. We’re talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell,” Carr told Fox News Digital at the time. “And after previously coming out and saying they weren’t going to do this precisely because they did not believe that they could do this consistent with election laws and the FCC’s equal time rule.”

NBC ultimately filed an equal time notice amid outrage over Harris’ appearance.

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President Donald Trump, pictured here, appointed Brendan Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Trump appointed Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. Carr was first nominated to the commission by Trump during his first administration, and served as the senior Republican member of the FCC until his appointment as chair.

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“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Trump said in a statement about the appointment. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”

January 30, 2025