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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the outgoing Biden administration weaponized the IRS and targeted his family with a “rushed” tax audit. Hegseth posted a set of documents on the social media platform X alleging that he owed the IRS over $33,000 in taxes that needed to be paid immediately or else incur further penalties. “Of course the outgoing Biden IRS rushed an ‘audit’ of the incoming SecDef. Total sham. The party of ‘norms’ and ‘decency’ strikes again. We will never back down.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has picked a group of investigators who will look into the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. “We’ve already identified folks that’ll be in charge of that full investigation inside the Pentagon.” “I don’t have a time frame on it. Sadly, we’ve already waited two-and-a-half years, three years since what occurred. I don’t want to wait longer, but I always want to get it right,” “The way you establish real accountability is by establishing real fact chains — chains of events, information, what happened. Why did it happen? Who made the decision? What was the reason they made that decision? Why did they give advice or not give advice? Why did they execute an order a certain way? Did they speak up when they were supposed to or not? I don’t think there’s anybody that feels like there’s been an honest accounting of what happened in Afghanistan. That’s our job.” “So, we’re going to drive that full investigation and get a sense of what happened. And as I stated to the workforce on Friday, I guess less than a week ago, accountability will be coming for what happened in Afghanistan, and that’s important to reestablishing trust at the Defense Department.”

"To all of the Democrats who are planning to protest this week, here’s an explanation on DOGE, from your party’s own beloved leaders!" Karoline Leavitt - White House Press Secretary (She posted the video below on X showing Obama and Biden lauding the same efforts DOGE is now undertaking.) .

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has discovered $4.7 trillion in United States Treasury payments on an untraceable budget line. The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), used to describe the account the money is linked to, was missing on a number of payments the Treasury Department has made. In the federal government, the TAS field was optional for about $4.7 trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, DOGE has now made TAS a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.

Breaking News The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, has apparently been fired over her refusal to allow Elon Musk and DOGE broader access to government records. "What I know is that DOGE wanted access to SSA’s sensitive files — the same way they’re trying to do at Labor and Treasury — and the acting commissioner wouldn’t give it, and she was replaced." Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works President Trump has already nominated Frank Bisgnano to takeover permanently but he has not yet been confirmed by the senate. Leland Dudek, who runs the SSA's anti-fraud division, has been appointed acting commissioner. "President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner." The White House

According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security. Yes, there are FAR more eligible social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history." Elon Musk And yet the Democrats fume "constitutional crisis!" as they demand that DOGE stop their investigation. Hmm. Do dead people have the constitutional right to continue collecting social security and bankrupt the program for us still living? Note there are 20 million Americans listed over age 100, including 3.9 million age 130 to 139, 3.5 million age 140 to 149, and some 1.3 million age 150 to 159. Plus one citizen age 360

Mayor Eric Adams's administration's four deputy mayors are resigning Monday in protest over his nowfound willingness to enforce federall immigration laws. First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, who runs the government Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker Maria Torres-Springer said, "I have often said the phrase ‘public service is an act of love over the course of the last several months. I have tried to live every day in my long career as a public servant showing that love.” Apparently, Maria doesn't grasp the reality that illegal aliens are NOT members of the American public, hence her job role is NOT to serve them in any way. Rather, her responsibility as a "public servant" is to have NYPD arrest any and all illegal aliens and have them turned over to ICE.

That one doesn't count, not after Nissan and the Japanese government railroaded and locked up Carlos Ghosn, the Brazilian/Lebanese head of Renault who saved Nissan from certain bankruptcy in 1999 by creating the Renault/Nissan Alliance and reinflating Nissan with European money. They wanted to make Nissan a "Japanese" company once more without paying for it by creating false accusations against Ghosn. Thank goodness two brave Americans outsmarted the Japanese and smuggled him out of prison and out of the country in 2019. It proved the rule of law doesn't exist there.

The President's threatened 25 percent import tariffs on products from Mexico would effective destroy the new Volvo truck plant in Monterrey, Mexico that is supposed to open in 2026 and produce both Volvo and Mack-branded trucks. Couldn't happen to a more arrogant company. The new Mack on-highway model uses the Volvo cab. At this juncture, why even bother with a Mack nameplate?

Based on the Trump Administration’s official policy of the U.S. government was that “there are only two genders: male and female,” the government is removing the T from all print that formerly stated LGBT. Now, you will only see LGB. One step at a time.

More in-depth on the Army's missing $151 million. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/16/report-151m-food-money-collected-u-s-army-soldiers-spent-elsewhere/

Clearly, AOC doesn't grasp the reality that illegal aliens are NOT "everyday Americans". .

Senator Rand Paul: "It would be great if Elon Musk could take a look inside Fort Knox just to make sure the 4,580 tons of US gold is there. Last time anyone looked was 50 years ago in 1974." Elon Musk: "Surely it's reviewed at least every year?" Senator Rand Paul: "Nope." Allegedly in August 2017, Mitch McConnell brought a small group to Fort Knox including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. However, it was not an audit.

On Friday, the Trump administration fired 20 Biden administration appointed immigration judges,13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week. The Trump administration had already replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the acting director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. Sirce Owen, the current director and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a long list of new instructions aimed at reversing policies of the Biden administration.

The issue is not new. In 2020, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) pressed then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy on the food money matter during a budget hearing, saying the Army is either "wasting half the food, or the money is not being spent on the soldiers' food and it's being spent on something it's not appropriated for." However, there was no follow-up to that inquiry,

"Stealing food money from our soldiers is not how we achieve military readiness. The fact that at least $151 million was collected from soldiers and not spent on food as required demands not just an immediate investigation, but swift accountability." Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii (A Democrat demanding "swift accountability". And yet they complain about DOGE)

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has recovered $1.9 billion of misplaced funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, adding that former President Biden’s administration was to blame. “These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed. The funds were lost in the first place due to a broken process. Newly confirmed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and DOGE worked together to fix the issue and de-obligated the funds which are now available for other use by the Treasury. Turner plans to work with DOGE in setting up a task force within the agency, saying the collaboration will be very detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent in serving tribal, rural and urban communities across America. The task force, comprised of HUD employees, will examine how to best maximize the agency’s budget and ensure all programs, processes and personnel are working together to advance the purpose of the department. In Turner's video message on Thursday, he said that the task force recovered an additional $260 million in savings.

President Trump's newly installed attorney general, Pam Bondi, has ordered the transfer of a federal inmate to Oklahoma so he can be executed, following through on Trump's executive order to more actively support the death penalty. Bondi this week directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer inmate George John Hanson, 60, so that he can be executed for his role in the kidnapping and killing of a 77-year-old woman in Tulsa in 1999. “The Department of Justice owes it to the victim and her family, as well as the public, to transfer inmate Hanson so that Oklahoma can carry out this just sentence,” Bondi told the BOP's director. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who sought Hanson's transfer last month, praised Bondi's swift action. He requested Hanson be transferred before Oklahoma's next execution on March 20 so that he would be eligible for the next available execution date, likely in June. Hanson was sentenced to death in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, after he was convicted of carjacking, kidnapping and killing Mary Bowles after he and an accomplice kidnapped the woman from a Tulsa shopping mall. Hanson has been serving a life sentence in federal prison in Louisiana for several federal convictions, including being a career criminal, that predate his state death sentence. Drummond’s predecessor, John O’Connor, previously sought Hanson’s transfer and sued the Bureau of Prisons in 2022 after it refused to turn over the inmate to state custody during the Biden administration. The agency’s regional director at the time, Heriberto Tellez, said the transfer was not in the public interest, a decision Drummond called “appalling.”

The Department of Energy under the Trump administration announced that it is postponing the implementation of the Biden administration’s efficiency standards on household appliances. The efficiency standards for household appliances including central air conditions, washers and dryers, walk-in coolers and freezers, general service lamps, gas instantaneous water heaters, commercial refrigeration equipment, and air compressors is postponed. “A top priority for President Trump is lowering costs for American families. Today’s announcement will foster consumer choice and lower prices — it is a win for all Americans. The people, not the government, should be choosing the home appliances and products they want at prices they can afford.” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright The Department of Energy also announced that it is creating a new energy efficiency category for natural gas tankless water heaters. By creating a new category for these popular and low-cost water heaters, they are exempt from the Biden-Harris administration’s onerous rules. President Trump previously revealed that he is instructing EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin to return to his “Environmental Order” regarding “Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES” and other appliances, which former President Joe Biden terminated. “I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe. I look forward to signing these Orders.” In July 2023, the Biden administration cracked down on water heaters by “imposing greater efficiency standards.” The Biden administration also created new guidelines on ceiling fans, which were reported to cost manufacturers $86.6 million annually.

Last month at the winter retreat of BMT Investor members in Monaco, we discussed this matter and decided on neutral stance. Reason being, we expect the market to perform significantly better under President Trump than it did over the last four years. At this juncture, BMT Investors COO Barry Holden wisely has us heavily invested in energy including oil and natural gas, and President Trump has demonstrated a willingness to work with America's energy industry to the benefit of our positions.

President Trump signed an executive order Friday establishing a White House energy council to promote the nation’s energy industries. Called the National Energy Dominance Council, the group is headed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin also serving on the council. It’s tasked with centralizing the nation’s energy policies under the eye of the White House and underscores Trump’s position that American energy production is a pressing national security issue. “Energy security is also national security. President Trump’s vision for energy dominance is that we’re selling energy to our friends and allies, not having them buy it from our adversaries.” "President Trump wisely understood that under the Biden Administration, there was a war against American energy, and today that war has officially ended. President Trump on day one declared a national energy emergency, and this is a real emergency because the Biden Administration restricted the production of oil and natural gas." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum

President Trump said on Friday that he planned to move forward with tariffs on foreign cars on April 2. He did not specify how much the tariffs would be or which nations could be targeted. The President has complained particularly about European tariffs on American cars. The European Union charges a 10 percent tariff on the American vehicles it imports, while the United States charges a tariff of only 2.5 percent on European cars (Lyndon Johnson's chicken tax, a holdover from 1964, does apply a 25 percent tariff on imported European light trucks).