Top federal agency exposed for spending billions on migrants in a single year
The Biden administration spent tens of billions of dollars on grants to migrants and refugees through one of its government agencies, including over $10 billion in just one year, according to a new watchdog report.
The watchdog group Open the Books looked at grants to nonprofits awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Its responsibilities include caring for unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the southern border illegally and refugees entering legally.
The watchdog found that in FY 2021, it distributed $2.4 billion in grants to nonprofits. In FY 2022, it distributed $3.4 billion, then that number skyrocketed up to $10 billion in FY 2023 before being reduced to $4.2 billion in FY 2024.
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The numbers surged amid a historic migrant crisis at the southern border which plagued the Biden administration between 2021 and 2024.
According to the watchdog, the money included spending to help migrants save for car and home purchases, while another gave out business and personal loans, along with other programs for legal aid and cultural orientation.
“We’re hurting American taxpayers. People in places like North Carolina, Los Angeles that have lost everything,” Open the Books CEO John Hart told Fox News. “How is it moral to ask them to pay the bill for someone who wants to come to this country illegally? That’s outrageous.”
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The revelation comes amid a government-wide scrutiny of funding, including funding for migrants, by the Trump administration and led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week that it had taken back $59 million in FEMA funds earmarked for hotels housing migrants in New York City and had fired four FEMA employees involved in the payments being distributed.
“There will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” a DHS spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been ramping up border security and cracking down on releases into the interior. It has suspended refugee resettlement, taken off limits imposed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and declared a national emergency at the southern border.
US and Russia lay ‘groundwork’ for peace plan as Putin eyes electing ‘puppet president’
U.S. and Russian officials held diplomatic talks in Saudi Arabia without any Ukrainian officials present on Tuesday.
The groups, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, are seeking terms for a peace agreement in Ukraine as well as negotiating a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have proposed a framework that could involve a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine followed by the signing of a peace agreement.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce also confirmed that Rubio’s team agreed to “lay the groundwork for cooperation” with Russia on various issues in addition to Ukraine. They also agreed to appoint “high-level teams” to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Reports from multiple foreign diplomatic sources say forcing Ukraine to hold new elections could be a key part of a peace deal. Both the U.S. and Russia believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a low chance of winning re-election, the sources say.
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“Putin assesses the probability of electing a puppet president as quite high and is also convinced that any candidate other than the current President of Ukraine will be more flexible and ready for negotiations and concessions,” the diplomatic sources said in a readout of the meeting.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., who chairs the House Ukraine caucus, rejected the idea of forced elections in Ukraine on social media.
Zelenskyy has said his country would never accept peace terms negotiated by the U.S. and Russia without Ukrainian involvement. Trump has vowed that Ukraine will be involved in the larger process. Zelenskyy cut short his trip in the Middle East following news of Tuesday’s meeting. He was scheduled to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but he will instead return to Kyiv.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff emphasized on Sunday that the ongoing meeting in Riyadh is more about “trust building” than getting into the details of an actual peace agreement.
Zelenskyy urged Trump not to trust Putin in a phone call last week.
“I said that [Putin] is a liar,” Zelenskyy said of the call. “And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.'”
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The Ukrainian leader nevertheless said he believes Putin is a “little bit scared” of Trump.
Also excluded from Tuesday’s talks are any European representatives, a notable absence given the stern rebuke of European allies delivered by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last week.
Some European allies are taking the cue, with U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer announcing that he is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to ensure its security as part of a peace deal.
“I do not say that lightly,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”
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“But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country,” he added.
Trump poses for photo with NFL players at golf course on President’s Day
Several Buffalo Bills players were seen posing with President Donald Trump on a golf course on Monday as they got their offseason started on the right foot.
Spencer Brown, Dalton Kincaid, Sam Martin, Ryan Van Demark and Tommy Doyle were all seen with the president at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach. Brown posted the photo of his teammates with the president on his Instagram.
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“45-47,” he wrote.
Doyle was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, which has been Trump’s tagline during his pursuits of the presidency in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
“Met the president on Presidents’ Day,” Doyle wrote on his Instagram Stories.
Trump garnered support from some NFL players during the 2024 season, including San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa.
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Bosa was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat after a game and even did Trump’s dance as a sack celebration.
“I think you know the answer to that question,” Bosa said in November about what inspired him to do the move, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “All the guys wanted me to do it. I wasn’t even going to do it, but the boys reminded me. And it was fun.”
Trump was at Super Bowl LIX to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs. He picked the Chiefs to win the game, but it was the Eagles who eventually came out on top.
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The president was also at the Daytona 500 and could complete the sporting trifecta should he show up at the 4 Nations Face-Off final in Boston later this week.
James Carville tells Dems to ‘play possum’ as nationwide protests rage against Trump
Democratic strategist James Carville suggested the tide is turning in the country and advised Democrats to “play possum” while it does.
Carville appeared on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” where the two discussed protests taking place throughout the nation against President Donald Trump and his mass firings of federal employees.
Heartened by these demonstrations, Carville said the best thing for Democrats to do in response is “nothing.”
“So the question is, how should Democratic politicians respond to this? And what I think they should do is what we call in rural America play possum. Just let it go,” Carville said.
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He continued, “Don’t get in the way of it. Or as we like to say, don’t just stand there, do nothing. Let this germinate. We don’t need to get in front of it. This freight train is moving. Let’s just get out of the way. And then we’re going to have time. In the immortal words of Dalton in ‘Roadhouse,’ be nice until it’s time not to be nice. And that time is coming shortly.”
Carville added later in the segment that former federal employees and their families could be a significant voting bloc in upcoming elections.
“I think the smartest and quickest way out of it is just let it go,” Carville repeated. “And way sooner than you think. It’s going to come in just one more event.”
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He continued, “You know, I’m a big believer in elections. Think about the Virginia governor’s race in November. Think about the turnout among federal employees. What percent of the voters in northern Virginia are federal employees or families of federal employees? Do you think they’re going to vote? I think they’re going to vote. I think I know which way they’re going to vote and they’re going to vote heavily.”
“So I’m in despair. But boy, what you showed me today pumps me up more than anything in the world. And we just got to let this go and get the hell out of the way because it’s coming,” Carville closed.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have attempted to crackdown on government spending, leading to thousands of layoffs across several departments.
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Attorneys general from across 14 states have filed a lawsuit to try and prevent more federal firings. D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to make a ruling on the case on Tuesday.
Trump’s immigration exception that bucks the Dem narrative on illegal migrant crackdown
While President Donald Trump has taken a series of measures to restrict immigration into the U.S., particularly illegal immigration, he has also made a handful of less-scrutinized moves to help some immigrants on their way to becoming citizens.
Trump ran on a platform of securing the southern border, deporting illegal immigrants and also shutting down parole programs introduced by the Biden administration to allow migrants to enter the U.S.
Since taking office, he has also signed executive orders declaring a national emergency at the border and suspending refugee resettlement.
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But he made an apparent exception to the refugee resettlement pause this month when he signed an executive order accusing the South African government of allowing attacks on white Afrikaner farmers.
That executive order, which cut assistance to the South African government, was accompanied by a move to offer Afrikaners refugee status.
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“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination,” Trump’s order said.
“Such plan shall be submitted to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor,” he said.
Trump’s administration also made a significant move affecting immigrants in the U.S. already, if they are applying for their green card.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a short announcement on Jan 22, announcing that it was waiving the requirements that those immigrants applying for an adjustment to permanent legal status present documentation showing they have had a COVID-19 vaccine.
Mandates for the COVID vaccine were controversial, and many Americans have declined to take it and pushed back against requirements that they do so. Now, those who are seeking to remain in the U.S. permanently have the ability to avoid the vaccine but still progress on the way to citizenship.
“USCIS will not issue any Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny related to proving a COVID-19 vaccination,” the announcement said. “USCIS will not deny any adjustment of status application based on the applicant’s failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination.”
It is unclear if any additional moves by the Trump administration are incoming that could be viewed as pro-immigrant.
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While some of Trump’s broader moves on immigration have cut legal forms of immigration, including parole and refugee limits, the main focus has been on cutting and disincentivizing illegal immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security has dramatically increased illegal immigrant arrests in the interior, and numbers at the border have also dropped significantly, according to government data.
Musk says he didn’t realize the toxic outrage over Trump until he went to a dinner party
Billionaire Elon Musk said he didn’t realize “Trump Derangement Syndrome” was a real thing until he was at a friend’s dinner party a month or two before the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential election.
“I happened to mention the president’s name and it was like they got shot with a dart in the jugular that contained like methamphetamine and rabies,” Musk said in a joint interview with President Donald Trump that airs Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 9 p.m. EST on “Hannity.”
Musk imitated people at the party going crazy and questioned why they couldn’t have a normal conversation.
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“It’s like they’ve become completely irrational,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Musk and Trump sat down for a wide-ranging interview last week at the White House, where they discussed the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) work, the first 100 days of the Trump administration and more. It marks the duo’s first joint television interview.
The DOGE leader and the 47th president held a news conference at the Oval Office last week, taking questions from reporters about the unofficial government agency’s role in the Trump administration and its plans to cut “waste, fraud and abuse” at the federal level.
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DOGE has in recent weeks targeted the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Education.
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Trump said he’s instructed Musk to also look into the Pentagon, which hasn’t passed an audit in years.
FDA division chief who oversaw food dye ban resigns with sour words for Trump
The head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food division resigned on Monday after stating widespread cuts across the agency will make it challenging to meet the Trump administration’s desired changes, according to a report.
Jim Jones cited the termination of 89 staffers in the food division, criticizing the layoffs over the weekend as “indiscriminate,” Bloomberg News reported Monday evening.
“I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,” he wrote in his resignation letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, according to the outlet.
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Jones said it would be “fruitless for me to continue in this role” because of the Trump administration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to make the changes it wants.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Jones’ resignation, saying some “bureaucrats” are resistant to the “mandate delivered by the American people” in an email to Bloomberg News.
“President Trump is only interested in the best and most qualified people who are also willing to implement his America First Agenda on behalf of the American people,” she told the outlet. “It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.”
The staffers who lost their jobs over the weekend include employees with “highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response,” Jones said in his letter, noting that 10 terminated staffers were responsible for reviewing potentially unsafe ingredients in food.
Jones led a successful push to ban red dye No. 3, which had its authorization revoked by the FDA last month while former President Joe Biden was still in office.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday after running a “Make America Healthy Again” campaign with Trump.
Trump has nominated Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary to lead the FDA, although he has not yet been confirmed.
How RFK Jr’s mission to ‘make America healthy again’ has already made an impact
State-level lawmakers are introducing a wave of bills aimed at advancing priorities championed by new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” platform, in some cases citing the new administration’s support for these causes as the catalyst for their efforts.
Arizona, Kansas and Utah are examples of states doing this. The move is aimed at prohibiting junk food like candy and soda from school lunches and other federally funded food assistance programs, something Kennedy has expressed support for in the past. Others have included efforts to rid these programs of ultra-processed foods, certain additives and dyes.
“It took Bobby to get into the position that he is in now for something to happen,” Arizona state Rep. Leo Biasiucci said during a press conference this month during which he introduced HB 2164. The bill seeks to ban several food dyes and other additives from school lunch programs in the state. “I can’t thank him enough for being the microphone … at the high level, to finally put a spotlight on this.”
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Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Idaho, similarly touted the new administration as a reason why he thought his new bill to remove candy and soda from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would be successful. The bill, HB 109, would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to seek a federal waiver to remove these items from SNAP. When asked by a fellow state lawmaker why he thought such a waiver to get rid of these foods would be successful, Redman cited a Trump administration that would be friendly to him.
“I think that the chances are higher now with the new administration,” Redman said.
Wyoming, Kansas, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming have introduced similar bills aimed at reforming SNAP and school lunches.
In addition to dietary-related legislation, several states have also taken steps to amend their vaccine rules. During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, he was routinely grilled about his past skepticism towards vaccines. The new HHS secretary iterated to lawmakers at the time that he was not anti-vaccine, but rather “pro-safety.”
Roughly a dozen states, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Texas have introduced a variety of changes.
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Some of the new bills targeting state vaccine rules include protections for immunization exemptions, efforts to bolster vaccine transparency, revised requirements related to the administration of vaccines and efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable for harmful side effects. Others prohibit any future COVID-19 vaccine mandates related to education, work or travel, with some providing an exception if state legislatures are able to pass a new bill requiring vaccinations for certain public health emergencies.
Meanwhile, bills expelling fluoride from public water systems are also being introduced at the state level, another change Kennedy has promoted in the past.
While states like Arkansas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota and others have taken steps to introduce legislation preventing fluoride from being added to public water systems, other states, like Kentucky and Nebraska, are considering bills that would make fluoride optional.
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At the federal level, the Senate’s Make America Healthy Again Caucus, which was formed to back the policies of Kennedy’s agenda, is reportedly readying a “package of bills” aimed at improving nutrition and the nation’s agriculture sector, according to Politico.
“The MAHA Caucus is ready to get to work with Robert F. Kennedy Jr,” the group’s official X account stated on Friday after Kennedy’s confirmation by the Senate.