The Official President Trump Thread - Second Term Edition

https://prod-i.a.dj.com/public/resources/documents/treasury-doge-letter-02-04-2024.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY WASHINGTON, D.C.

February 4, 2025

The Honorable Ron Wyden
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Ranking Member Wyden:


I am writing in response to your letter dated January 31, 2025, regarding payment systems operated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) operates vital payment systems for the federal government, and those systems should promote financial integrity and operational efficiency. The Fiscal Service disburses nearly 90 percent of all federal payments, in over 1.2 billion transactions per year. Treasury is committed to ensuring that the Fiscal Service is functioning in a manner consistent with the highest levels of efficiency and in accordance with the expectations of taxpayers to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.

Treasury has no higher obligation than managing the government’s finances on behalf of the American people, and its payments system is critical to that process. In keeping with that mission, Treasury is committed to safeguarding the integrity and security of the system, given the implications of any compromise or disruption to the U.S. economy. The Fiscal Service is confident those protections are robust and effective. Therefore, expanding on efforts that began under the prior Administration, Treasury has been undergoing a review of these systems to maximize payment integrity for agencies and the public.

Importantly, the ongoing review of Treasury’s systems is not resulting in the suspension or rejection of any payment instructions submitted to Treasury by other federal agencies across the government. In particular, the review at the Fiscal Service has not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed. To be clear, the agency responsible for making the payment always drives the payment process. Currently, Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment. This is similar to the kind of access that Treasury provides to individuals reviewing Treasury systems, such as auditors, and that follows practices associated with protecting the integrity of the systems and business processes.

Mr. Krause is conducting this effort in coordination with veteran career Treasury officials, and all operational processes continue to be conducted only by career Treasury staff in accordance with all standard security, safety, and privacy standards. Mr. Krause is a longtime technology executive. His decades of experience in building companies and managing balance sheets as a chief financial officer are of great benefit to this review. In order to allow him to perform this function, he has been hired as an expert/consultant by the federal government and designated in a role commonly used across Administrations—a “special government employee” —pursuant to applicable law. This role involves a hiring process that includes a review of a candidate’s credentials and background, and demands the same ethical standards of privacy, confidentiality,

conflicts of interest assessment, and professionalism of other government employees.1 These assessments are conducted by career legal and ethics officials. Mr. Krause is subject to the same security obligations and ethical requirements, including a Top Secret security clearance.

Treasury will continue its efforts to promote efficiency and effectiveness in its operations, and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Blum
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Office of Legislative Affairs


​

 

Another left wing conspiracy theory debunked.

GOOD DAY

 

All government waste discussions should start and end with the pentagon. For 35 years they have been required to pass an audit and have never been able to do so.

 

Telsa without federal government "green new deal" subsidies will stop growing and have its stock value collapse. Musk will soon no longer the world's richest person ... not unless he can find a new venture with unlimited growth potential.

 

Critical thinking is not in your wheel house?

If the dirty brown skinned Muslims are forced to be relocated, so Trump and Israel can develop beach front real estate in Gaza, how do you think that will end up? I suspect car bombs are far as the eyes can see, in the new French Riviera ... and no rich white person buying properties.

The rest of the world is laughing at Trump's stupid, brain dead idea for Gaza. Might be time for the 25th amendment, no? Grandpa needs his nap.

 

Unlike you, I'm going to show a little class and tell you regardless of who rebuilds Gaza the Palestinians are going to have to be moved somewhere while it's being rebuilt. Why, because the place has been leveled and currently there's nowhere for them to live.Hopefully countries like Egypt and Jordan will take them in

 

You appeared to get 100% behind what has to be one of the most brain dead Trump ideas, which leads me to question either your motives or your critical thinking skills.

I am unsure if the Gazans want to be relocated, even if temporarily. The decision to relocate is the Gazans to make ... not some rando on a basketball BBS

 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Trump’s plan would “lead to new suffering and new hatred,” while the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry said it would reject “any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land.”

The French foreign ministry said displacing Palestinians would “constitute a serious violation of international law.” Other nations who said Trump’s idea is unworkable include Russia, China, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Australia, and Spain.​

 

Who is going to pay for this sh*t, Transactional Don?

What is in this deal for the Convicted Felon?


[AP] Trump mulls deploying troops to rebuild Gaza, sees ‘long-term’ US ownership

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he isn’t ruling out deploying U.S. troops to support reconstruction of Gaza and he envisions “long-term” U.S. ownership of a redevelopment of the territory.

“We’ll do what is necessary,” Trump said about the possibility of deploying troops to fill any security vacuum. “If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

The comments came after Trump said he wants the United States to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.

“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said a start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump added that the United States would level destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

The comments came after Trump earlier suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.
​

 

Tesla sales fall 60% YoY in Germany

That's gotta hurt, Leon.

 

Im seeing a lot of these meme tweets focused on how destroyed the left is and not how good one thinks the actions are for Americans

The priorities of politics in this age

 

link will work for everyone

https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-m...2?st=zGK9b7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

EXCLUSIVE
POLITICS​

DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud
Elon Musk’s allies have been on site at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offices this week
By Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte
Updated Feb. 5, 2025 at 1:05 pm ET

Representatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to key payment and contracting systems, according to people familiar with the matter.

The DOGE representatives have been on site at the agency’s offices this week, the people said, and they are looking at the systems’ technology as well as the spending that flows through them, with a focus on pinpointing what they consider fraud or waste. DOGE representatives are also examining the agency’s organizational design and how it is staffed, the people added.

White House and DOGE officials didn’t comment. Musk, on his X platform, posted: “Yeah, this is where the big money fraud is happening,” referring to the Medicare agency in a repost of another user who referenced the Journal’s reporting.

Musk’s allies have moved swiftly to exert control over vast swaths of the U.S. government, including at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. They have demanded access to sensitive information at federal agencies and laid out plans to block spending they deem excessive.

CMS in particular is a highly politically and economically sensitive agency. It is the nerve center of much of the nation’s complex healthcare economy, with outlays of about $1.5 trillion in fiscal 2024, or about 22% of the federal total. With around 6,710 employees, it oversees Medicare, the health coverage program for older and disabled Americans and Medicaid, for lower-income enrollees, among other areas. Many veteran CMS staffers have worked there for decades.

A CMS official said that the agency has “two senior agency veterans who are leading the coordination with DOGE,” and that CMS leaders are “taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient spending in line with meeting the goals of President Trump.”

One of the systems accessed by the DOGE representatives is CALM, or the CMS Acquisition Lifecycle Management system, which includes information about contracts, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

One of the people familiar with DOGE’s work at CMS said that, to their knowledge, Musk’s allies hadn’t yet been given access to databases that include identifiable personal health information of Medicare or Medicaid enrollees. DOGE also hadn’t yet accessed a sensitive accounting system called HIGLAS, or the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System, this person said.

The DOGE access is “read-only,” meaning that its affiliates cannot make changes to the systems, the person added.

CMS payment structures are complicated, and they vary by program, often involving layers of contractors and other companies. Much of Medicare, for instance, now goes through private insurers, which are paid by the federal government. Medicaid is jointly overseen by federal and state officials, and federal payments typically flow to the states.

The federal government has enforcement efforts around healthcare fraud, at the Justice Department, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and CMS itself.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the high-profile physician and former television host, has been nominated to lead CMS, but hasn’t yet been confirmed by the Senate. Several CMS officials who are expected to work under Oz have already taken over at the agency.

Ken Thomas contributed to this article.

Write to Anna Wilde Mathews at Anna.Mathews@wsj.com and Liz Essley Whyte at liz.whyte@wsj.com


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He doesn't need to do this to get subsidies for Tesla

 

Owning the libs is more important than owning a house.

 

Reducing state capacity and expertise and intentionally dragging the economy while embarking on expansionist activities and creating additional enemies at home and abroad is, I'm guessing, not going to work in the long run.

 

He's managed to be one of the companies biggest assets, but also its biggest liability. He is the reason I've never held Tesla stock as a long-term investment. It has become so stupidly overpriced especially with its plateauing growth.

 

This is absolutely terrible. Lmao he's really gonna try to touch Medicare. I do not trust that read only BS.

 

It is like Musk does not understand who the Telsa customer base is ... you know ... people thinking about an EV since it is good for the planet ... people who are not climate change deniers ... people who have college education ... people who do not hate as scientists as elitists.

Just like.