TruthArchive.ai - Tweets Saved By @DOGECommittee
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
Playing God with the Weather – A Disastrous Forecast https://t.co/Y1F2Za2vwS
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
BREAKING from @RepTimBurchett: Witness CONFIRMS that the families of politicians are profiting from leases to the federal government. Why should these people make money off of YOU? Isn’t that the definition of corruption? https://t.co/hyBy14JotK
Video Transcript AI Summary
A congressman questions witnesses about property ownership and federal spending. He asks if members of Congress or their spouses own property leased to the government and is told that this information can be found on USA Spending and Open the Books websites.
He inquires about underutilized federal space and is told that there is not good data available, but Congress has required a study. The congressman expresses skepticism about government studies. He asks how much the government could save by letting unneeded leases expire and is told the government spends about $6 billion on leased office space.
The congressman advocates for the federal government to list its properties for public review, similar to what he did as mayor of Knox County. He suggests the public is smart enough to make better assumptions if given access to this information. Witnesses acknowledge the importance of data and transparency, stating that taxpayers have the right to inspect the government's finances.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Chairlady, thank you for indulgence in allowing me to be on this committee. I come in here usually ticked off, and I leave in worse condition, so thank you for that. You're welcome. If I ever have a counselor, I'm gonna send you the bill. Mister Hart, do any members of congress, their spouses, or their immediate family have any property ownership rights to this property or any federal land?
Speaker 1: Congressman, I don't I don't know the answer to that question off the top of my head.
Speaker 0: Okay. Do spouses of members of congress own real property and lease it to the federal government? And how would we find that out? Because I think I know what you're gonna say.
Speaker 1: I believe the answer to that question is yes.
Speaker 0: You do? I do believe that. Was there any way we could verify that information?
Speaker 1: Go to USA Spending and search, open the books, our website, and you can look up members' names, you can look up any person's name and and find that information.
Speaker 0: Alright. I suspect that's being done as I speak. Mister Maroney, how much underutilized space does the federal government have?
Speaker 2: Can't say there's not good data. We just don't have data. If it's gonna come this summer, congress has now required it. But prior to this, once you get outside of headquarters, there wasn't measurement of how much the
Speaker 0: I hate these studies. Every day we vote on a new study, and I suspect there's some warehouse like in Raiders of the Lost Ark at the end where they're putting this, and our top people are looking at it and there's these studies are just on these shelves in these vast warehouses. Would you agree with that assumption? There are
Speaker 2: a lot of studies.
Speaker 0: All right. Remember you're whatever. All right. How much would the federal government save by allowing unneeded leases to expire?
Speaker 2: Federal government sends us about $6,000,000,000 on leased office space, so depending on what how many you let expire, you get substantial savings.
Speaker 0: As I said up here, people chastise the thought of making a profit. To me, that's not an evil thing. That allows for more people to be employed. It seems that we have forgotten who exactly who we work for, and it's the people back home who were struggling. When I was mayor of Knox County, One of the first things I did was I said, get me a list of all the property we own in Knox County.
And it was amazing to me. We had property in neighborhoods. Had property. Some of it was obviously undevelopable. Someone was on the corner of a small airport.
But it was all over. We had something listed as a park and it was nothing further from a park. And we ended up selling a lot of this property and we paid cash for schools, crazy things like that. We didn't stay in debt. And to me that just seems like the model that the federal government should adopt.
We should have a listing of the property, and the people ought to be able to review that and make better assumptions, because I assume, I think they're a lot more smarter than we give them credit for, and I suspect that's part of the problem. They don't want to let them look behind the curtain, so to speak. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2: It is important to have that kind of data. There is a data, there is a inventory that's available online, but there are significant issues with this reliability.
Speaker 0: Mister Hart, would you care to address that?
Speaker 1: We would we would like to enhance the transparency of all of that data. I think I think it's one of the most important assets that taxpayers should be able to review the cost so that they can make good decisions. And again, the purpose of transparency is to empower taxpayers. Transparency is not a two way street. The government does not have the right to inspect our checkbook.
Taxpayers do have the right to inspect the government's checkbook because it's their money.
Speaker 0: Mister Kendall, would you care to offer your I'm all in favor of transparency. No objection. It seems our friends in the media always strive for that, and then, and we get pretty gutless up here. So I would hope in the future we would address that. I yield my 49 seconds back to you, Chairlady.
Thank you for your indulgence, ma'am. Thank you, mister Birchitt. In
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
BREAKING: NPR CEO Katherine Maher admits to @RepCloudTX that NPR FAILED to properly cover Hunter Biden’s laptop & the truth about COVID-19. 🔥 American tax dollars should not be used to fund LIES and DISINFORMATION across television and radio. https://t.co/g8Pb4UTTfd
Video Transcript AI Summary
Congressman Cloud questioned NPR's nonpartisan stance, citing the Hunter Biden laptop story, the Wuhan lab leak theory, and Adam Schiff's Russia collusion claims. He submitted an article by Uri Berlinger criticizing NPR's loss of trust and the hiring of Ms. Maher, who he says promotes Marxist ideology and disregards truth.
Cloud asked NPR's representative if she would bring the same "lack of reverence for truth" to her management, referencing past comments where she allegedly prioritized getting things done over truth. He questioned if there was a "come to Jesus moment" that would make taxpayers trust her leadership.
Cloud then questioned the relevance of taxpayer-funded public broadcasting, given the abundance of news sources available today. Mr. Gonzales stated that PBS added a third of the networks that existed in the 1970s, but that is not the case today. He also stated that conservatives have been saying for fifty years that NPR is completely biased, and they have the audacity to say they are not.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I now recognize mister Cloud from Texas for five minutes.
Speaker 1: Thank you, chairwoman. NPR fancies itself as a nonpartisan news outlet, public information outlet, even says that we should consider all things. All things are considered, yet their history of political bias has shown that there are a number of things they have not considered. They asked us not to consider that the Hunter Biden laptop was real. They dismissed the what was always the most probable theory of the COVID lab leak from Wuhan.
They interviewed Russia collusion hoaxter Adam Schiff twenty five times who claimed to have a vault of information in his office leading to the impeachment of president Trump, which of course we now know was all fraudulent. I'd like to submit for the record an article by Uri Berlinger. I've been at NPR for twenty five years. Here's how we lost America's trust.
Speaker 0: Without objection.
Speaker 1: So NPR unfortunately has lost much of the the audience that they used to have and now they have a very partisan audience because of this. Who do they bring in to fix it? They bring in miss Maher who has a history of common in commentary of promoting Marxist ideology, including critical theory, said we should not use the terms boy or girl, has called our president a deranged racist sociopath, and said that our reverence for the truth has become a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus in getting important things done. And one could look at that and think that maybe, in your view, promoting groupthink is more important than finding the truth. I thought we liked diversity of ideas, especially, and that as an online encyclopedia that you used to manage, activism was more important than accuracy.
Now, I had an uncle who used to say that, you should never let the truth get in the way of fine of a good story and while that was humorous when we were talking about weekend fishing expeditions, when we're talking about news and information and encyclopedias and things that are of national importance, I find that very troubling. Now you are here managing NPR, which is in part federally funded. Can we expect that you will bring the same lack of reverence for truth to your management of NPR?
Speaker 0: Thank you, congressman. First of all, I do want to say that NPR acknowledges that we were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner. Our current editorial leadership Wuhan? We recognize that we were reporting at the time, but we acknowledge that the new CIA evidence is worthy of coverage and have covered it.
Speaker 1: What have you done to clean up the bias before? You you've mentioned you I wasn't there for that. What are you doing to clean up and make sure that we have
Speaker 0: Absolutely. Thank you, congressman. As I mentioned, I came in in May. Mr. Berliner published his story two weeks into my tenure regarding stories that had happened prior.
I wish that I had had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Berliner. I would have loved to have had him engage and come back to us with some suggestions as to what we could do editorially in order to address what he perceived as bias.
Speaker 1: Now, you've had a long history, including the thing that I mentioned, about lack of reverence for truth, and how reverence for truth, you've even talked about the First Amendment kind of getting in the way of what you wanted to get done. And and then you're wanting us to believe that NPR is now taking this non biased approach. I mean, where was the come to Jesus moment for you, I guess, that has turned you around and that we can trust the American taxpayer dollars with your leadership of NPR.
Speaker 0: I so appreciate the opportunity to perhaps clarify some things. My talk about truth was really referencing the way that people use truth to refer to belief as opposed to facts. And my encouragement was that we focus on facts. With regards to the First Amendment
Speaker 1: That's not what your comment said. Your comment said that truth was getting the way of getting things done and that you were prioritizing what you wanted to get done over truth.
Speaker 0: My And
Speaker 1: that's really unfortunate. I want to go to a different context because you're allowed to have your political, opinion. Any news organization, should be going after the truth. That's what we want and expect out of news organizations. But certainly, a media platform can can have whatever opinion it wants in a free society.
The question before us today as a committee is whether or not the taxpayers should be forced to pay for this kind of thing. Mister Gonzales, I wanted to to to get your take on this about why the corporate public broadcasting is it still relevant today? I mean, we're in a different context than we were in the sixties where maybe not every home had a television. Now, many of them have multiple televisions and certainly, we most have a screen in their pocket, most times during the day. I have three here on my desk.
And so it seems like we're in a different context of where could we possibly get the news today or information. Could you speak to the importance or lack thereof of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting in the context of where we are today in society? Society.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right. When it came on after the passage of the sixty seventh Public Broadcasting Act in the early seventies, there were only three networks. We had Crockhide, Reasoner, and the other guy. And PBS added by a third the number of networks that we had.
That's not the case today. And as far as education, which has been diminished Mhmm. And by the way, I believe that Sesame Street was sold to HBO ten years ago. But but as as far as the numb the the educational value, we have an unending stream of educational content online. I could reel off a number of websites that people can access YouTube channels where kids of all income levels can access educational content.
But basically, as I said in my testimony, it goes back to the basic unfairness that conservatives for fifty years have been saying, but you're completely biased. And they have the audacity to say, oh, no. We're not. And and and you have to just pay us. And it's, it's it's just that's that is the basic
Speaker 0: The gentleman's time has expired. Thank
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
📢 @RepTimBurchett: If Real America’s Voice, NewsMax, Fox News, or News Nation were to receive federal funds, would you all support that? NPR & PBS CEOs: I have no opinion on the matter. https://t.co/mPbCnZd38G
Video Transcript AI Summary
During a congressional hearing, Representative Burchett questioned PBS and NPR representatives. He inquired about HBO's arrangement with Sesame Street and whether Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" is considered propaganda, referencing a comment made by a guest on North County Public Radio. He confronted NPR about alleged bias, citing a 2020 tweet where an NPR representative called President Trump a "fascist" and "deranged racist sociopath," which she stated she regretted.
Burchett questioned whether NPR or PBS had conducted internal reviews to assess the representation of conservative perspectives. He referenced a statement by a former NPR editor about a lack of open-mindedness within NPR. NPR clarified that the editor was suspended for an outside work policy violation, not for his statements.
Burchett challenged NPR's claim that federal funding is essential while also stating it only constitutes 1% of their funding. He asked committee members if they would support federal funding for conservative news outlets like Real America's Voice, Newsmax, Fox, or News Nation. Some declined to comment.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: I now recognize the gentleman from Tennessee, mister Birchitt, for five minutes.
Speaker 1: Thank you, chairlady. Miss Kerger, is it true that HBO bought the rights to Sesame Street?
Speaker 0: No, it did not. It developed Sesame Street entered an arrangement with HBO for a number of years.
Speaker 1: And it was a paid arrangement. Correct?
Speaker 0: Yes. Which allowed us to get the series for free during the period
Speaker 1: of that How money was transacted during
Speaker 0: that I don't know. Sesame Street is a private organization. It is separate from ours.
Speaker 1: Okay. Ms. Meyer, what about Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA is Propaganda?
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, sir. Could you repeat the question?
Speaker 1: What about Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA is propaganda?
Speaker 2: I don't believe that is propaganda, sir.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, in January, North County Public Radio, and that's a subsidiary of NPR, had Daphne Brooks, who apparently is a Black feminism scholar, on its show where she it was hosted by the host, Brittany Luz, and it says, Have you ever watched something on TV and thought, Okay, now this is propaganda. Have you ever had that moment? To which Daphne Brooks replied, Whenever I see Lee Greenwood singing Proud to Be an American.
Speaker 2: I believe that represents the individual we interviewed on air, not the position
Speaker 1: we And did you say there's no bias on NPR?
Speaker 2: That is not That is a
Speaker 1: biased statement, ma'am. That is not even both parties wrap themselves around this song. Every time there's a national conflict, Lee Greenwood sings it, and he does a beautiful job. But you say there is no bias in NPR.
Speaker 2: That is that individual's opinion and she, of course, is entitled to it, but that is not the position of NPR.
Speaker 1: Ma'am, you said in your opening statement that you were going to be transformative and I believe you failed to do that. Let me ask you, why did you call President Trump a fascist and a deranged racist sociopath in 2020?
Speaker 2: Congressman, I appreciate the opportunity to address this. I regret those tweets. I would not tweet them again today. I they represented a time where I was reflecting on something that I believe that the president had said rather than who he is. I don't presume that anyone is a racist.
Speaker 1: You don't believe anyone is a racist?
Speaker 2: I don't start by presuming anyone is a racist,
Speaker 1: sir. Okay. Has NPR or PBS ever conducted an internal review to assess whether conservative or right leaning perspectives are fairly representative news and programming?
Speaker 2: Congressman, what we look at is the distribution of people who listen to our work, and we can tell you and I'm proud to tell you that for our digital our podcasts and our website, the distribution of Americans who come to NPR does reflect the political distribution of the nation. In fact, the distribution on our websites, 33% of folks who come are conservative versus 28% who are liberal, and the rest identify as independent. So the largest group is conservatives who come to NPR's websites.
Speaker 1: So you believe that most Americans think President Trump is a fascist and deranged racist sociopath?
Speaker 2: I don't believe that at all, sir.
Speaker 1: Okay. Ma'am?
Speaker 0: We obviously are constantly looking at the voices that we bring forward. We take to heart our commitment to bringing forward perspectives from the country. Our programming comes from our local stations and I mentioned in my opening comment the series that we did out of Arkansas Southern Storytellers. That's just one little example. 10% of our schedule is is news.
The rest of it is either children's programming or programming based on history to give us all a collective expression, and we're constantly looking to making sure that we're bringing forward a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives and experiences that really do make up the fabric of this country.
Speaker 1: Okay. NPR senior editor Leonard, it's been mentioned before, but he was quoted as saying, An open minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America. Yet you stated that the audience does reflect America. He was suspended without pay for five days for saying this. And of course, he eventually resigned in April 2024.
You've also stated that federal funding is essential for NPR to operate, but also claim only 1% of your funding comes from the federal government. Which is
Speaker 2: Mr. Berliner was suspended for the outside work policy, not for what he said, sir. In terms of federal funding, the federal funds go to support our operation of the public radio satellite system, which enables all of our local stations to be able to communicate information and broadcast,
Speaker 1: including As stated earlier, ma'am, funding is very fungible. It flows wherever it needs to. I don't buy that argument. I wonder if any of the members of the committee would comment real quickly. Would you agree that Real America's Voice, Newsmax, Fox, or News Nation, if they were to see federal funds, would you all support that?
Yes. Yes or no? Mister Allman? Yes or no? I'd have to get back to you on that.
Ma'am?
Speaker 0: Yeah. I actually don't have an opinion about
Speaker 1: that. Ma'am?
Speaker 2: I I don't have an opinion about that, sir. That would be congress's decision.
Speaker 1: Thank you, chairlady.
reSee.it AI Summary
I believe NPR and PBS are guilty of significant bias in their journalism, spreading far-left propaganda and misleading the American public on important issues. They have strayed from their mission to serve the American people and should lose all federal funding. I am committed to no longer supporting voices that divide our nation and indoctrinate our children. It’s time to defund NPR and PBS and dismantle the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
🚨@RepMTG CLOSING STATEMENT🚨 NPR & PBS have continued to deny their MAJOR BIAS within their coverage and journalism. They are GUILTY of spreading FAR left-wing propaganda and for LYING to the American people about impactful issues. They have ABANDONED their mission to serve the American people and should be CUT OFF from ALL federal funding. We are DONE amplifying voices that DIVIDE our country and INDOCTRINATE our children. We must DEFUND NPR & PBS and DISMANTLE the Corporation for Public Broadcasting!
Video Transcript AI Summary
The U.S. is $36 trillion in debt, with interest expected to exceed $1 trillion in fiscal year 2025. The speaker alleges waste, fraud, and abuse within the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, citing LGBTQ indoctrination, systematic racism narratives, and censorship support by NPR and PBS heads.
The speaker claims that the CPB, funded with over $500 million, serves wealthy, liberal elites and that PBS and NPR are brainwashing Americans with un-American, anti-family, pro-crime, fake news. Examples include an NPR article discussing the complexities of biological sex and another claiming crime stories are rife with misinformation and racism. The speaker also mentions a PBS NewsHour segment that allegedly gave over 90% of airtime to the left on gender ideology stories and a child predator drag queen featured on a PBS education show for children ages three to eight.
The speaker asserts that NPR and PBS have abandoned unbiased reporting and are suppressing truth and diverse viewpoints. The speaker will call for the complete defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: The United States is $36,000,000,000,000 in debt. In fiscal year twenty twenty four, the government spent over 1,800,000,000,000.0 more than it took in. In fiscal year twenty twenty five, the interest on our debt is expected to exceed $1,000,000,000,000 As we continue investigating waste, fraud, and abuse, and we can look no further than the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The LGBTQ indoctrination of our children, the systematic racism narrative, and the support for censorship being pushed by the heads of NPR and PBS are just several of the many abuses of taxpayer dollars. And if you are one of the select few who might support such content, you can personally support and fund it with your own money through private donations. Because the reality is, The United States Of America is broke and can't afford it.
And after all, PBS and NPR are already fundraising off of this committee hearing. The American people are closely following along today in this long awaited hearing to hear the case for why Americans' hard earned tax dollars should continue for public broadcasting. I think from what we have heard here today, the American people will not continue to allow such propaganda to be funded through the federal government with their hard earned tax dollars. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting that we give over half a billion dollars to no longer serves the public. It serves a narrow audience of wealthy, liberal elites who are out of touch with everyday Americans.
Not only have the times changed and the American people who once needed these outlets can now access the news anywhere at any time, but the content that is being put out through these state sponsored outlets is so radical, it is brainwashing the American people and more significantly, American children with un American, anti family, pro crime, fake news. The American people do not support their tax payer dollars going to NPR articles like, How is Sex Determined? Scientists Say It's Complicated. Which discusses how biological sex is not limited to male or female. Or another article about how stories on crime are rife with misinformation and racism.
Or about how birds and trees are racist. Over a seven month period, the Media Research Center discovered the PBS NewsHour gave over 90% of the airtime to the left on gender ideology stories. 90. As mentioned earlier, PBS was the outlet that featured the child predator drag queen on the education show for kids ages three to eight years old. And to clarify the record, because our witness, Ms.
Kerger, lied under oath and said it wasn't featured on PBS, This show was aired on PBS on 04/01/2021, and we will take a look at this video right now. We're using a TV today because our audio system is having problems. Let's go ahead and watch this video. The hips go swish, swish, swish. The shoulders go shimmy, shimmy, shimmy.
That's repulsive. That's not what children ages three to eight should ever be watching, a grown biological man posing as a woman. And by the way, Ms. Kerger, that was aired on 04/01/2021. And then something happened.
It wasn't an accident. And it wasn't just for a brief time that it was up. It was aired April 1. And then somehow it expired May 24 later. Later on, it was taken down.
Wonder I wonder why. Wonder why that was taken down. Another egregious example includes back in 2010, PBS's Travis Smiley stated that Christians blow up people every single day. Haven't seen that ever happen in my life. And today, if you look on NPR's website, there is still zero mention of any negative coverage of any Democrat today.
And trust us, there are more than plenty of examples to pull from. How about a member from this committee making fun of the governor of Texas for having a disability and living his life in a wheelchair? Ms. Marr. From headlines to podcasts to documentaries to children's programming, NPR and PBS have all but abandoned their promise to deliver unbiased, nonpartisan, and fact based reporting.
The American people have woken up to this nonsense and blatant disregard for truth, and truth matters. And they will not put up with it any longer. Contrary to the beliefs of the head of NPR, Ms. Marr, truth is not subjective. It's actually very important.
And there are not multiple truths. There's just one. For a civilization to exist, objective truth must exist. It must be embraced. It must be protected.
It is not a distraction. And despite many attempts to whitewash it, truth will prevail. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is using taxpayer dollars to actively suppress the truth, suppress diverse viewpoints, and produce some of the most outlandish, ludicrous content. After listening to what we've heard today, we will be calling for the complete and total defund and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Here's how it works in America every single day.
Every single day, private businesses operate on their own without government funding. We believe that you all can hate us on your own dime.
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of your tax dollars GONE. 💨 Not only wasted, but used to actively undermine U.S. national interests abroad and here at home. This Wednesday at 11AM, @DOGECommittee will EXPOSE the truth about USAID and other foreign aid slush funds. TUNE IN! https://t.co/Ht9oVejDSU
Video Transcript AI Summary
USAID is a fraud and a slush fund for left-wing projects globally, with very little being put to good use. This occurs while denying funds to those who clearly need them, with only cents on the dollar reaching those in need.
USAID was initially created for humanitarian purposes, but it has been captured by the military-industrial complex, becoming a sinister propagator of totalitarianism and war.
The US government, through USAID, has funded things like DEI initiatives in Serbia, gender surgeries worldwide, sex change surgeries in Guatemala, and social media influencers in Ukraine. USAID is using taxpayer dollars to fund opposition and subvert democracy in other countries. USAID and the CIA don't promote democracy; they are run by radical lunatics that we are working to remove. As an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: USAID. USAID. USAID. The USAID was a slush fund for left wing projects around the globe. That's a fraud.
The whole thing is a fraud. Very little being put to good use. This was being done, and all this money was being spent while they were denying money to people that clearly needed it. All too often, only cents on the dollar actually makes it to people in need.
Speaker 1: My uncle started USAID in 1961 for humanitarian purposes to put our country on the side of the poor. It has been captured by the military industrial complex. It has become a sinister propagator of totalitarianism across and war across the globe.
Speaker 2: The US government funded the creation of the virus that caused the global pandemic.
Speaker 0: One point five million dollars to advance DEI in Serbia's workplaces. Gender surgeries around the world.
Speaker 2: And $2,000,000 for sex change surgeries in Guatemala. Four Point Eight Million Dollars for social media influencers in Ukraine.
Speaker 0: Equity and inclusion policy. Where is that money going? It was funded by taxpayer dollars. These are taxpayer dollars. USAID, we're working against you, funding your opposition indirectly, and really trying to subvert democracy in your country.
Speaker 1: USAID doesn't really do and the CIA, they don't do democracy.
Speaker 0: Did the USAID and the CIA helped orchestrate Trump's impeachment? Well, it was it's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're getting them out. I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this crap, and I know the American people don't either.
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
👉 OPENING STATEMENT 👈 Today, we gaveled in to our first @DOGECommittee hearing to launch the WAR ON WASTE! ⬇️ WATCH BELOW ⬇️ https://t.co/sFq2Zecttt
Video Transcript AI Summary
Welcome to the first hearing of the Oversight Subcommittee on Doge. We're laser-focused on transparency regarding waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Our $36 trillion debt is not a partisan issue, but an American problem, with compounding interest growing out of control.
Interest payments alone will exceed our military budget, reaching $1.8 trillion by 2035. These payments benefit no American, instead, they enslave us to our creditors. This debt, a betrayal by elected officials, fuels inflation and cripples businesses.
The federal government doesn't operate by the same rules as Americans. It takes our taxes regardless of performance. Congress's low approval reflects the people's disgust. We must unite, leaving our beliefs behind to save our sinking ship. This subcommittee, alongside President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Doge team, will tackle improper payments, starting with Medicaid and Medicare.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: This hearing of the subcommittee on delivering on government efficiency will come to order. Welcome, everyone. Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time. Also, for today's hearing, chairman Comer and ranking member Connolly will each be recognized for one minute after me and the ranking member provide our opening statements. I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement.
Good morning. Today, we begin the first hearing on the Oversight Subcommittee on Doge. This committee will be laser focused on bringing full transparency to waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government and presenting the plans to fix the tremendous problems we expose. We as a country are $36,000,000,000,000 in debt. That is such a stunning amount of money.
It's absolutely staggering to even comprehend how we as a people, we as a country, found ourselves here. This is not a Democrat problem. This is not a Republican problem. This is an American problem. To make it clear for everyone, not only are we $36,000,000,000,000 in debt, but the com the compounding interest on our debt is also growing out of control.
Even if we decided to defund the entire federal government, we cannot escape our debt and the compounding interest owed on our debt, which grows bigger and bigger every year. In 2025, interest payments are projected to be $952,000,000,000, which is more than our entire military budget. In 2026, it will be $1,000,000,000,000, and by 2035, '1 point '8 trillion dollars. Over the next decade, total interest payments are projected to be $13,800,000,000,000. These interest payments don't serve a single American.
They don't build a bridge, a road, provide disaster relief, or fund a single part of the behemoth that is the federal government. These interest payments pay our masters who own our debt, and the American people are in debt slavery to everyone who owns our debt. Our crippling national debt and massively growing interest on our debt will destroy us. Not destroy one political party or the other, it will destroy all of us together. It drives inflation, making life unaffordable for Americans struggling to financially survive.
It is crippling small businesses struggling to be successful. Our massively growing debt and interest are the chains and shackles harnessed to every American and their children in every generation to come. But first, let us be brutally honest about how this massive debt came to be in the first place. It came from Congress and from elected presidential administrations. And I believe enslaving our nation in debt is one of the biggest betrayals against the American people by its own elected government.
This American the American people's anger over this betrayal is what gave birth to the concept of Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency. In fact, Doge became a major part of president Trump's campaign and led to his overwhelming victory in November. Every day, Americans go to work. They run businesses. They have to earn their paycheck.
No one guarantees it. And if they don't do a good job, they get fired. They also have to pay their bills, credit card debts, balance their checkbooks, and scrap and save every penny they can in order to plan for that rainy day and hopefully retirement one day. Private businesses only survive on hard earned income by serving their customers so well that their customers pay them for the services and products they consume. If that business fails, its employees lose their jobs and paychecks, and the owners lose their business and everything they risked along with it.
Many go bankrupt in this process and lose everything. No one bails them out. They only survive by excellent customer service and smart financial management. This is the real world that most Americans live, work, and survive in every day. This is the pursuit of happiness, and this is how you pursue the American dream.
However, the federal government, government employees, and unelected bureaucrats do not live by the same rules as the great American people and private businesses. The federal government's income is the American people's hard earned tax dollars, their literal blood, sweat, and tears. And taxes are collected by law at gunpoint. Don't pay your taxes, and you go to jail. The federal government does not have to provide excellent customer service to earn its income.
It takes your money whether you like it or not. And federal employees receive their paycheck no matter what. Whether veterans receive their benefits or not, whether your mail shows up or not, and whether your tax dollars are used to help Americans in need or sent to foreign countries, for foreign people, for foreign causes. No matter how bad the federal government fails the American people, it still takes your money. It still pays its own federal employees, and it never ever goes out of business.
There are no consequences for bad customer service, total failure, and for enslaving the American people against their will in the ever growing and future all consuming national debt. Congress has a dismal approval rating that ranges between 1220%. I don't blame the American people one bit for their sentiment and disgust. The American people will be watching this committee and how we tackle one of the biggest problems of our time. While we are a committee made up of the opposite far reaching corners of congress, we were each elected to serve and represent the American people and how their hard earned tax dollars are spent.
We as Republicans and Democrats can still hold tightly to our beliefs, but we are going to have to let go of funding them in order to save our sinking ship. This is not a time for political theater and partisan attacks. The American people are watching. The legislative branch can't sit on the sidelines. In this subcommittee, we will fight the war on waste shoulder to shoulder with president Trump, Elon Musk, and the Doge team.
This week, we turn our attention to improper payments by the federal government, including in Medicaid and Medicare. I'm looking forward to what we find out and how to solve this crisis. I now yield yield to the ranking member, miss Stansbury, for her opening statement.
@DOGECommittee - DOGE Subcommittee
$2.7 TRILLION of your hard-earned dollars down the drain. Your money sent to: Fraudsters. Dead people. Illegal aliens. It has to stop. @DOGECommittee will EXPOSE the truth and offer solutions to fix it. FIRST HEARING 2/12 @ 10AM ⬇️WATCH BELOW⬇️ https://t.co/TCLTsb3IGc
Video Transcript AI Summary
Since 2012, the government has wasted nearly $3 trillion in taxpayer money. Last year alone, improper payments totaled $247 billion. This includes payments to deceased individuals; over $530 million in pension payments went to dead people. Medicare improperly paid out $47 billion, and Medicaid, $81 billion. Fraudulent payments under the Biden administration reached $764 billion in just three years. These improper payments add up to $2.8 trillion – enough to cover five years of US foreign aid. This amounts to $850 per person in the country.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Government has wasted nearly $3,000,000,000,000 in taxpayer bills since 2012. Billion dollars in improper payments last year. $247,000,000,000 Billions blown on improper payments. Paid to people that should not have received them. Payments.
Payments to the wrong Dead people received more than $530,000,000 last year in pension payments. Medicare paying $47,000,000,000 Hundreds of billions of dollars. Medicaid improperly issuing $81,000,000,000.644000000 was fraud. And 764,000,000,000 under three years of the Biden administration. These improper payments have piled up to a total of $2,800,000,000,000.
Billion dollars per month or enough to pay for five years of US foreign aid to all countries. For every man, woman, and child across the country, it was $850. Who is receiving these payments? Well, in some instances, dead people.