Rubio to torch 132 State Department offices in historic bloat-slashing overhaul



The Department of State revealed on Tuesday the Trump administration’s plans to slash the agency’s bloat.

Internal documents obtained by the Free Press revealed that the State Department will close 132 agency offices — a 17% reduction. The office terminations also reportedly involve eliminating 700 positions, including civil service and foreign service employees.

'In its current form, the department is bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition.'

The news outlet reported that the offices earmarked for closure include those dedicated to advancing human rights, democracy overseas, and thwarting extremism and war crimes.

The State Departmen's new shake-up will consolidate 137 offices by transferring them to other parts of the agency.

The plans consider terminating the agency’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. Rachel Cauley, a White House budget office spokesperson, told the Free Press that “nobody is really sure what” the office does.

“When I ask them, they seem to not really be sure what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s an office that was created several years ago to look at Afghanistan [issues] and to avoid conflict areas. But we already have other offices within the department that do that,” Cauley said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly coordinating with the Department of Government Efficiency to restructure the federal agency.

— (@)

A senior State Department official told the Free Press that the agency’s undersecretaries have also been instructed to present plans to reduce their staff by 15%. While it is unclear how many staffers will be impacted by the directive, the outlet noted that six of the offices employ thousands of individuals.

A second senior State Department official told the news outlet that the cuts will not require Congress’ approval. The source claimed that by July 1, the U.S. Agency for International Development would “cease[] to exist.”

In addition to eliminating and consolidating hundreds of offices, the State Department is opening a post, the Bureau of Emerging Threats, dedicated to monitoring cyber threats, the second official told the Free Press.

“We’re trying to streamline the organization, to centralize functions that should be centralized, and to focus on the big things that support our America First diplomacy out in the field,” the official said.

Rubio told the Free Press, “In its current form, the department is bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition.”

“That is why today I am announcing a comprehensive reorganization plan that will bring the department into the 21st century,” he added.

“This approach will empower the department from the ground up, from the bureaus to the embassies,” Rubio continued. “Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality, redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist.”

Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state under President Donald Trump’s first administration, told the news outlet that he supports overhauling the agency.

“The State Department is desperately in need of significant reorganization, and there’s much efficiency that can be gained there,” Pompeo said.

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Trump purges Clinton's $1B woke, audit-failing volunteer agency



The Trump administration on Wednesday placed most of AmeriCorps' full-time employees on administrative leave as it moves to reorganize the Bill Clinton-era volunteer agency.

The independent federal agency was established by Congress in 1993 to connect young Americans with community service opportunities, providing roughly a $4,000 stipend, housing accommodations, food, and a higher education grant, the New York Times reported.

'It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination.'

Despite receiving about $1 billion annually, AmeriCorps failed eight consecutive audits.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) in December accused the agency of having "a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars."

"In 2023, the AmeriCorps inspector general issued a 'Management Challenges' report detailing significant challenges AmeriCorps faces. This includes being unable to detect fraud. We have no real idea when AmeriCorps will be able to have a clean audit again. In fact, this year's audit includes 78 recommendations still open, even after AmeriCorps said it addressed 20 last year," Owens said.

He called for AmeriCorps to be on the Department of Government Efficiency's "chopping block," arguing that it should not receive more taxpayer money while "it continuously fails to meet basic accountability standards."

"We can tell AmeriCorps to modernize and reform until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change unless we recognize the system is built on a flawed idea. It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination," Owens remarked.

Like many other federal agencies in recent years, AmeriCorps has become infiltrated with woke ideology, including climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Fox News Digital reported that the agency's 2024 annual management report listed "advancing racial and economic equity" as one of its key priorities.

"AmeriCorps has a decades-long commitment to advancing racial and economic equity through national service and volunteering," the report read. "These efforts are designed to expand pathways to opportunity for all Americans. Racial and economic equity will be central to AmeriCorps' planning and implementation of all priorities, ensuring AmeriCorps members and volunteers reflect the diversity of the American people and the communities in which they serve."

While Owens supports the elimination of AmeriCorps, a Trump administration official told the news outlet that the agency will receive an operational reset but will remain in existence.

On Wednesday, the White House placed 75% of the AmeriCorps full-time employees — 535 out of 700 staffers — on administrative leave while determining how it will reconfigure the agency. Additionally, agency contracts worth approximately $250 million have been terminated.

Anything else?

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) stated on Thursday that the state would file a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop its reorganization efforts.

He wrote in a post on X, "DOGE's actions to dismantle AmeriCorps threaten vulnerable Californians, disaster response and recovery, and economic opportunities."

"California will be suing to stop this," Newsom concluded.

In a separate statement, he called Trump's actions a "middle finger to volunteers serving their fellow Americans."

Earlier this week, Newsom filed a lawsuit against Trump to block the administration from imposing increased tariffs. The governor has set aside $50 million to challenge the current administration.

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Pentagon Geek Squad Resigns En Masse After Rival DOGE Nerds Streamline Them Into Obsolescence

'Either we die quickly or we die slowly'

Trump admin moves to end taxpayer funding for PBS, NPR



The Trump administration is moving forward with its plans to cut all taxpayer funding for public broadcasting.

The New York Post reported Monday that the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, sent a memo to Congress requesting the elimination of the funding. He is also pushing to codify other budget cuts identified by the Department of Government Efficiency.

'Since day one, the Trump Administration has targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending through executive action, DOGE review, and other efforts by departments and agencies.'

The "rescissions" plan would cut off $1.1 billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. Additionally, it would axe $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Vought's memo accuses CPB of a "lengthy history of anti-conservative bias" and USAID of "waste, fraud, and abuse," the Post reported.

CBP has argued, "Public media in the United States is a highly efficient public-private partnership that delivers a strong return on the taxpayers' investment. For every public dollar provided, stations raise nearly seven dollars from donors, underscoring their value to the communities they serve."

Vought noted that NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher called Trump a "deranged racist" and a "fascist." He also highlighted two PBS programs that included trans-identifying characters.

"Since day one, the Trump Administration has targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending through executive action, DOGE review, and other efforts by departments and agencies. Congress has expressed strong interest in supporting those efforts, and requested the Administration transmit rescissions to the Hill for swift approval," Vought wrote.

"OMB recommends the Administration respond with two proposals to cut $9.3 billion," he continued. "The first includes a rescission of $8.3 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending (out of $22 billion) that does not expire in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The second is a separate rescission of all Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — which funds the politically biased public radio and public television system."

Lawmakers have 45 days to adopt or reject the rescission plan. The White House is reportedly optimistic it will pass.

Vought stated that without the rescissions, taxpayer funds would continue to be spent on many wasteful programs, including $9.4 million for "Championing Transformative Changes in Gender Norms," $6 million for Palestinian media and civic society support, and $3 million for Iraqi "Sesame Street," to name a few.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) proposed legislation in March that, if passed, would prevent NPR and PBS from receiving taxpayer funds.

Jackson introduced the bill, No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Service Act, after a heated House Oversight subcommittee hearing with Maher and PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger, where lawmakers pressed them about their outlets' political bias. Both Maher and Kerger insisted their outlets were unbiased.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the subcommittee's chairwoman, asserted that the hearing proved NPR and PBS are "taxpayer-funded PR arms of the Democrat Party" and therefore "don't deserve the American people's hard-earned money."

"NPR and PBS hate President Trump, his supporters, and the majority of Americans who sent us a mandate in 2024. They can hate us on their own dime," Greene declared.

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DOGE: Criminal Aliens Paroled By Biden Took In $1.3 Million In Taxpayer Handouts

Thousands included on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center watchlist or who have criminal records received welfare benefits, DOGE reported.

Let there be light: The biblical truth driving DOGE's war on waste



Nothing in the second Trump administration has divided Washington more sharply than the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. The frenetic effort has featured foibles, but it has also uncovered shocking wastes of taxpayer dollars — discoveries that may have earned the DOGE more detractors than its faults. Whatever the final results may be, it’s worthwhile for Christians to consider a driving impulse behind the DOGE’s work that is deeply consistent with biblical values.

This is the DOGE’s impulse to push for transparency — or, perhaps more precisely, illumination — about government spending and processes. “In a Fox interview, Musk and his team … shined a greater light on the amount of inefficiency and financial waste that’s propagated by our federal government,” said FRC Action President Jody Hice.

'Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.'

In that interview, Musk told “Special Report” host Bret Baier, “We want to reduce spending by eliminating waste and fraud and reduce the spending by 15%. … The government is not efficient, and there’s a lot of waste and fraud. So we feel confident that a 15% reduction can be done without affecting any of the critical government services.”

“Most taxpayers would generally agree, I believe, that government transparency is a good thing,” responded Hice, a former U.S. congressman.

This is especially true of the voters who sent fiscal conservatives like him to Washington, D.C., and who were frustrated by the systematized sloth that prevented a few good men from attacking acreage of bureaucratic kudzu with any tool larger than nail clippers.

“We would often just beat our heads against the wall, because we would be so frustrated with the amount of money that the government is spending,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) recalled on “Washington Watch.” And so he welcomed “the fact … that President Trump is allowing and asking Elon Musk and the DOGE team to go through the checkbook of the American taxpayer and find waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“We always knew, instinctively, that the government was spending money irresponsibly — not in places that the American people would ever approve,” stated Stutzman. “We used to … think, ‘Oh, it’s probably, you know, maybe 1%, 2%.’ We’ve all known that there’s probably a lot more than that. And that’s what Elon is finding.” As of April 1, the DOGE website claimed an estimated $140 billion in savings, already more than 2% of U.S. federal government expenditures in fiscal year 2024 ($6.75 trillion).

“God always asks us to be light in this world,” argued Stutzman. “When there [are] problems, you need to shine a light on the problem. And that’s what the DOGE team is doing, shining a light on all of the spending. And we’re seeing where our tax dollars are going, and it’s just appalling.”

The primary way in which the Bible calls Christ-followers to be “the light of the world” is as models of righteous living, so that others “may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

But the application of this principle extends far beyond religious observance or spiritual disciplines. The apostle Paul wrote that “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:9). Therefore, he urged believers, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. … When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible” (Ephesians 5:11, 13). Thus, “illumination” is an apter descriptor than “transparency.”

In other words, Stutzman is right to extend the biblical metaphor of “shining a light” to exposing waste, fraud, and abuse in government.

One further extension of the Bible’s “light” metaphor is appropriate. Jesus taught in John 3 that “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19-21). The most direct application is that wicked people hide their sin, while the righteous repent of their sin and find forgiveness.

But Jesus draws out a truth about human nature that remains true in lesser contexts as well. Wrongdoers often try to conceal their wrongdoing. If this is true, and if there are wrongdoers benefiting from waste, fraud, and abuse in payments of the federal government, then we would expect significant opposition to any attempt to expose that waste, fraud, and abuse. (It does not follow from this that every DOGE critic wrongly benefits from government largesse; there are other legitimate reasons to criticize the department.)

In fact, some of the DOGE’s findings are consistent with a pattern of attempted concealment. One of the DOGE’s first targets was the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was funding bizarre projects like a transgender comic book in Peru.

“It’s easier to hide money away from us overseas than it is to hide it here in the United States,” Stutzman pointed out, and “the fact that President Trump and Elon Musk decided just to shut down USAID shows you how bad it is … there.” On March 28, the U.S. State Department and USAID “notified Congress on their intent to undertake a reorganization that would involve realigning certain USAID functions to the Department by July 1, 2025, and discontinuing the remaining USAID functions that do not align with Administration priorities.”

Nevertheless, some DOGE detractors are “screaming very loudly” about Musk’s outsider team bringing sunshine to the swamp, added Stutzman.

“I told the Democrats … if this is what you’re proud of — if you feel like these are the priorities of the American people — you should not have a problem with DOGE just telling all of us where our tax dollars are going, whether it’s DEI programs in South America, or whether it’s DEI programs in the Middle East, or a 'Sesame Street' program for $20 million in Iraq,” Stutzman stipulated. “If those are your priorities, why are you upset that the DOGE team is announcing those on … social media, telling us what they’re finding? I mean, if that’s what you want done with federal tax dollars, then you shouldn’t have a problem with it.”

Here, Jesus’ words echo loudly, “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20).

This article is adapted from an essay that was first published at the Washington Stand.

Plugged in, checked out: The Dept. of Energy needs a reality surge



The Department of Energy needs a complete overhaul.

Congress established the DOE in 1977 in response to the 1973 oil crisis, consolidating a patchwork of energy-related programs under one roof. The department took over the management of nuclear programs, national research labs, and a variety of alternative energy efforts. Its 2025 budget tops $50 billion. It supports 14,000 employees and a staggering 95,000 contractors across 83 field locations.

The Department of Government Efficiency should scrutinize the DOE’s effectiveness like any other federal agency. But this department demands a different kind of review. The issue isn’t just waste or mismanagement. It’s mission.

Energy is the lifeblood of any advanced society. The DOE should pursue one overriding goal: making America energy-independent with a long-term strategy for cheap, abundant power. That’s not what it’s doing.

Yes, the energy sector should remain a free-market enterprise. But it’s also a national asset. Energy production and distribution are essential to American sovereignty, economic security, and global influence. That makes the DOE more than just another bloated bureaucracy — it’s a strategic liability unless restructured with purpose.

If the DOE can’t define that purpose, the DOGE must.

Rapid population growth, AI, crypto mining, robotics, and automation will all drive explosive demand for electricity.

One of the department’s core missions should be to secure American energy independence. This is not just good policy — it’s a national security imperative.

Wars are won or lost based on the ability to fuel military and industrial operations. If America can’t meet its own energy needs, it risks becoming dependent on hostile regimes that can — and will — weaponize energy supplies against us.

Previous administrations have sabotaged this mission. The DOE should not focus on environmental goals like reducing carbon emissions. Those objectives often conflict with the department’s strategic purpose. “Climate change” is not a scientific certainty — it’s an ideological construct. Sea levels have risen 400 feet over the past 20,000 years, submerging the ruins of countless ancient civilizations, and none of that was caused by human industry.

Yet the Energy Department continues to throw billions at preventing a hypothetical sea rise of just a few feet — this time supposedly caused by human activity. That’s not just wasteful; it’s dangerously off mission. Nearly 40% of recent DOE budgets have gone to renewables and carbon capture. That funding should be powering the country — not chasing climate fantasies.

It’s absurd. America holds vast fossil fuel reserves — thanks to innovations like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling — that can provide cheap, reliable energy. These resources can make us energy-independent and globally competitive. The DOE should clear the way for fossil fuel extraction and pipeline construction, starting with permitting on federal lands and aggressive deregulation.

At the same time, the department should end all spending on alternative energy development — except nuclear.

The free market, not the federal government, should drive innovation. The DOE needs to stop subsidizing every corner of the energy industry, fossil fuels included. Government handouts distort markets, discourage competition, and reward political connections instead of performance. Cronyism, fraud, and corporate capture follow wherever subsidies go. A healthy, well-capitalized U.S. energy sector doesn’t need government favors — it needs government to get out of the way. Let consumers, not bureaucrats, decide the winners.

To sharpen its focus, the Department of Energy must shed every responsibility not central to its mission. Environmental policy belongs with the Environmental Protection Agency. Government-run electricity operations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, should be sold to private firms.

The DOE has no business in genomics. It should transfer its Human Genome Project work elsewhere. The Pentagon — not the DOE — should manage the nuclear weapons stockpile. The department should also end its subsidies for synthetic fuels like ethanol, which distort agricultural markets and drive up food prices. Many of its remaining research functions should be reassigned to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the National Science Foundation.

The department should also abandon appliance efficiency mandates that degrade performance, frustrate consumers, and increase costs.

It must reject the Biden administration’s bloated Green New Deal agenda, which has dragged the DOE into a fantasyland of bureaucratic overreach. The department should withdraw from the energy-related provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and related executive orders. These distractions must be repealed and the associated spending eliminated immediately.

The DOE needs to recognize the direction the world is headed: toward an electricity-dominated future. Electric vehicles are only the beginning. Rapid population growth, AI, crypto mining, robotics, and automation will all drive explosive demand for electricity. We’ll need fossil fuels to supply the grid for now — but that supply will become harder to access just as demand surges. The DOE must plan accordingly, not wander off chasing green illusions.

The coming surge in electricity demand cries out for a modern-day Manhattan Project — this time led by the Department of Energy. The DOE should lead a national effort to radically expand, modernize, and harden the electric grid. It must accelerate the development of small-scale nuclear fission reactors and push to make nuclear fusion commercially viable.

Nuclear energy — especially fusion — is clean, powerful, and virtually limitless. While the private sector should continue optimizing fossil fuel and alternative energy technologies, the DOE must draw up the blueprint for America’s energy future. It should clear regulatory obstacles that block meaningful progress.

So what should the DOGE do with the DOE? Strip away every distraction and narrow its mission to one goal: ensuring America has cheap, abundant, reliable energy. Everything else belongs on the chopping block.

Another Day, Another Alleged Would-Be Trump Assassin Charged

Shawn Monper, 32, of Butler, Pennsylvania, faces federal charges of making threats to assault and murder President Trump, Musk, and others.

Musk Slashes DOGE Savings Forecast By 85%

'A reduction of $150 billion dollars'

Trump revokes parole for 6,300 foreign nationals on terrorist watchlist or with criminal past



The Department of Government Efficiency announced Thursday that it discovered the former Biden administration paroled 6,300 foreign nationals who were either on the terrorist watchlist or had a criminal history.

The Trump administration has reportedly pulled their parole as a result of the DOGE's findings.

'Among these 6.3k paroled aliens with criminal or terrorist records (all have a social security number).'

Further, of the 6,300 foreign nationals, 905 received Medicaid, and 41 collected unemployment insurance — benefits totaling $318,000. Additionally, 22 individuals took out $280,000 in federal student loans. In 2024, 409 received $751,000 worth of tax refunds.

The DOGE also reported that some of the foreign nationals collected food stamp benefits, though the final number has not yet been determined.

The department indicated that there could be more individuals who were paroled despite being on the FBI's Terrorist Screen Center watchlist or having a criminal past.

The department detailed its findings in a post on social media.

"Under the Biden administration, it was routine for Border Patrol to admit aliens into the United States with no legal status and minimal screening. So far, [Customs and Border Protection] identified a subset of 6.3k individuals paroled into the United States since 2023 on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center watchlist or with criminal records," the DOGE wrote. "These paroles have since been terminated with immediate effect."

"Despite having no other legal status, paroled aliens are able to file for work authorization and receive social security numbers. Among these 6.3k paroled aliens with criminal or terrorist records (all have a social security number)," the DOGE added.

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A White House official confirmed to the Daily Caller that the Trump administration had revoked parole for the 6,300 foreign nationals.

The administration has also moved to yank parole for foreign nationals admitted into the country through several of the Biden administration's programs.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced that those who entered the U.S. under the CBP One app — approximately 985,000 — would have their parole revoked.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Politico, "Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem — in support of the president — has full authority to revoke parole. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security."

The administration previously attempted to pull deportation shields for those enrolled in the CHNV parole program, which allowed 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the U.S.

Those enlisted in the program, approximately 500,000, are scheduled to lose their protected status on April 24. However, on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani halted Trump's move to end the program.

"The nub of the problem here is that the secretary, in cutting short the parole period afforded to these individuals, has to have a reasoned decision," Talwani claimed. "There was a deal and now that deal has been undercut."

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