Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said this week that the state was returning nearly $900 million to the federal government, something it tried to do repeatedly during the Biden administration. “For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration—but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it,” DeSantis said in a post on X. The governor said that he met with Elon Musk on Friday and the rest of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team and was able to return the money. “We got this done in the same day,” DeSantis said. “Other states should follow Florida in supporting DOGE’s efforts!” The governor posted the letter that he sent to the U.S. Treasury Department alerting them that the state was formally returning $878,112,000.00 in taxpayer dollars to the federal government “as part of DOGE’s efforts.” “We will also continue to identify other unused or surplus federal funding granted to Florida and determine if further refunds can be made,” the governor added in the letter. For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration—but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it. Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the… pic.twitter.com/uWyloPAhBU — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 21, 2025 Musk highlighted DeSantis’ effort on X, writing: “Almost a billion dollars of your taxpayer money saved.” Related: Casey DeSantis Weighs In On Launching Bid For Florida Governor

Fear is a strong motivator—especially when it’s given a political megaphone. And Democrat officials, public employee unions, and their minions in the media have no qualms about trying to terrify the public with ridiculous claims in an attempt to counter President Donald Trump’s swamp-cleansing initiatives through the work of the Department of Government Efficiency.    Just look at the recent hysteria from Capitol Hill. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., likened the dismissal of federal employees to “a bank robber trying to fire the cops and turn off the alarm just before he strolls into the lobby.” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, pontificated that “firing this many critical employees at once could make it impossible for our government to provide BASIC services.” But the nuttiest scream of all came from yet another congresswoman, Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who urged supporters of dismissed U.S. Agency for International Development workers to “Shut down the city! We are at war!” She didn’t want to talk about the bizarre, absurd misuses to which those USAID workers had put the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers, like funding a “transgender comic book” in Peru. That is certainly something worth “going to war” about. Not! As usual, mainstream media outlets are seeking to amplify the political Left’s hysteria. But a realistic look at the reduction in federal bureaucracy relative to the bloated size of the federal government shows just how ridiculous these claims are. They are engaging in the worst type of fearmongering hyperbole.   The numbers can’t be exaggerated.  The current proposals for reduction in federal agency personnel add up to just over 238,000 employees. But that number represents less than 8% of the more than 3 million current federal employees, according to the Pew Research Center. That 3 million figure, however, does not include the roughly 1.3 million active-duty military personnel. Pop that number in and out of the total of 4.3 million individuals receiving paychecks from the federal government—paid for by U.S. taxpayers—the Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the executive branch by only 5.5%. That 4.3 million number of total employees makes the U.S. government the largest single employer in the entire country, larger than private companies like Walmart or Amazon. Moreover, that number is so large that it means the federal government bureaucracy is larger than the total population of half of the states, including places like Utah, Kansas, and Wyoming. Add in the conglomerate of 109,000 government contractors, according to a 2024 study by the Government Accounting Office, and the dismissal percentage plummets even more. The estimates of the number of individuals employed by those contractors range from almost 4 million to over 5 million. Including those federal contractors drops the percentage of taxpayer-paid staff being laid off even more drastically. If less than 8% of the civilian workforce has been shaved off, without taking into account contractors, that means over 92% of federal bureaucrats are still staffing the multitude of federal agencies. That’s 2.8 million federal workers still taking care of the business of the federal government. If the critics are correct that this minuscule reduction will cripple America, that says a lot about the inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and incompetence of vast swaths of the government. Only by ignoring these statistics can critics continue to proclaim that the reductions in force proposed by the Trump administration will lead to a disaster. In fact, fewer government workers means fewer federal bureaucrats trying to overregulate, overtax, and overburden Americans in their personal lives, their businesses, and their professions. Nor is this the end of the road for laid-off federal employees. Apparently, the critics believe that having to join the rest of us in finding a job in the private sector is a terrible infliction of harm.   Yet over 30% of the federal workforce holds a bachelor’s degree, and over two-thirds of the now-former staff of USAID possess postgraduate degrees. These folks will be just fine in the private sector, although they might have to actually show up at their workplaces to work (horrors—what an inconvenience!). It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath. And it is time for the American taxpayer to stop being burdened with paying the salaries of federal employees who are so numerous that they dwarf the populations of so many states. While the pace at which Trump has implemented his plans may be surprising, that is only because Washington usually moves at a glacial pace, when it moves at all. But his actions to constrain and streamline the federal government have been needed for a long time—with no one until now willing to do anything to try to trim the bloated monstrosity that the federal government has become. Most importantly, his moves are improving—not wounding—the government. Those listening to the shrill cries of the critics should step back and take in the full picture—a picture that shows that trying to get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse that infests the nation’s capital will benefit the American people and the republic. The post The Sky Will Not Fall and America Won’t Grind to a Halt Because Some Federal Employees Are Losing Their Jobs Due to DOGE appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Swedes Have Perfected The Wimpy APP

Cornell grad student Momodou Taal is the latest example of the Trump Administration revoking student visas in light of the holder’s anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. CNN OutFront host Erin Burnett played dumb on Friday as she claimed that for the administration, anti-Semitism is merely a justification to go after pro-Palestinian protestors. Burnett was talking about how the Department of Homeland Security laid off 300 employees from three divisions, including the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, when she switched to Taal, but not before using some wild rhetoric, “This Friday night, mass firing massacre coming as the Trump administration is now caught in the middle of another immigration standoff demanding the deportation of another university student involved in pro-Palestinian protests. A lawyer for Cornell University grad student Momodou Taal says ICE is now demanding he surrender to be deported.”     She then teed up a clip from her February 17 show, “Now, he's in the United States legally on a student visa. We actually spoke to him and we saw—he said he saw this coming a couple of months ago, he told our reporter, Elle Reeve that he's living in fear because of his views.” In the clip, Taal accuses university leadership and Trump of being out to get them, “Of course, there's like a fear for many international students right now, but that's the intended effect with the levels of repression that the university has meted out on their students. It was done in such a way to lull and bring down the protesters. And I think what Trump is trying to do now is a continuation of that kind of policy.” Burnett simply took Taal’s claims at face value, “Well, that is now playing out in court. They're demanding his surrender.” A few minutes later, she turned to Taal’s case and claimed, “And without even knowing the specifics of his case right, they're saying if someone was involved in those protests, that would put them suspect of just definitional anti-Semitism or supporting terrorism that could allow them to be kicked out of the country regardless of their legal status, which is pretty stunning in and of itself.” Back in the real world, the Washington Free Beacon has reported that Taal has claimed he takes “cue from the armed resistance in Palestine," views “every single Zionist is a sick sick individual,” and claimed “Zionists are indeed the chosen people… Chosen for hell." He also declared, “We are in solidarity with the armed resistance in Palestine from the river to the sea.” Taal also praised October 7, “The dialect demands: That wherever you have oppression, you will find those who [are] fighting against it. Glory to the resistance!" After receiving his visa, he tweeted, “Student Visa issued. We going to America baby! Alhamdulillah!" and “When the enemy is US imperialism, then absolutely anyone the US calls an enemy is my friend.” The scandal isn’t that Taal is going to be deported; it’s why he was let in in the first place. Here is a transcript for the March 21 show: CNN Erin Burnett OutFront 3/22/2025 7:02 PM ET ERIN BURNETT: This Friday night, mass firing massacre coming as the Trump administration is now caught in the middle of another immigration standoff demanding the deportation of another university student involved in pro-Palestinian protests. A lawyer for Cornell University grad student Momodou Taal says ICE is now demanding he surrender to be deported. Now, he's in the United States legally on a student visa. We actually spoke to him and we saw — he said he saw this coming a couple of months ago, he told our reporter, Elle Reeve that he's living in fear because of his views. MOMODOU TAAL: Of course, there's like a fear for many international students right now, but that's the intended effect with the levels of repression that the university has meted out on their students. It was done in such a way to lull and bring down the protesters. And I think what Trump is trying to do now is a continuation of that kind of policy. BURNETT: Well, that is now playing out in court. They're demanding his surrender. … 7:11 PM ET BURNETT: And, Ryan, you know, you have, we mentioned the man from Cornell. And without even knowing the specifics of his case right, they're saying if someone was involved in those protests, that would put them suspect of just definitional anti-Semitism or supporting terrorism that could allow them to be kicked out of the country regardless of their legal status, which is pretty stunning in and of itself. All of that context is part of what we saw even in that hearing today. So, there was something else I know that stood out to you there.

Stellantis is on the hunt for a new CEO — and whoever it is better be a miracle-maker. I've talked about the company's recent woes before. Stellantis has reported a steep 70% decline in net profit, falling from 18.6 billion euros ($19.5 billion) in 2023 to 5.5 billion euros ($5.77 billion) in 2024. Imagine the new Barracuda as a Challenger replacement, while using the 'Cuda name for performance versions. On top of that, the company is in the midst of a leadership transition following the sudden departure of CEO Carlos Tavares late last year. Until a successor is named — expected in the first half of 2025 — Chairman John Elkann is overseeing operations alongside an interim executive committee. Big enough to fail The future seemed a lot brighter back in 2021, when Stellantis was formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA. Now the world's fourth-largest automaker, the company was ready to throw its weight around. But with size came lack of focus. Stellantis' broad brand mix — which includes names like Jeep, Peugeot, DS, Lancia, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo — has proven difficult to manage efficiently. Investing big in EVs hasn't helped, either. Nonetheless, Stellantis is confident the right CEO will be able to turn things around. Whoever it is will have to make some tough decisions when it comes to some heritage brands. It's doubtful all will make it through. A better Barracuda? On the other hand, we could see some iconic names coming back. A smaller, twin-turbocharged, all-wheel-drive V8 coupe Barracuda, anyone? It could happen if rumors are true that performance guru Tim Kuniskis will return to the company. There are a lot worse strategies than putting Kuniskis behind the wheel of the Stellantis portfolio of brands. Cooking with gas Imagine the new Barracuda as a Challenger replacement, while using the 'Cuda name for performance versions, as the company has in the past, all with a V8 version that is smaller, lighter, and more sophisticated than its predecessors. They'll sell like hotcakes. The syrup and whipped cream on top will be if the U.S. Federal EV mandate truly goes away. When that happens, automotive stocks for companies making gasoline cars will see a dramatic revaluation. As always, we'll keep you posted.

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