Morning Wire - DOGE Probes the Fed & Trump’s Gaza Proposal Fallout | 2.6.25

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

President Trump and Elon Musk tighten the belt on the federal government, Trump garners support and outrage over Gaza proposal, and a pending zoning law could prevent some LA residents from rebuilding. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Lumen: Head to http://lumen.me/WIRE for 20% off your purchase. NetSuite: Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for FREE at https://NetSuite.com/MORNINGWIRE Shopify: Go to https://Shopify.com/morningwire to sign up for your $1 per month trial period and upgrade your selling today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Trouvee de petitions like another on Amazon.ca. President Trump and Elon Musk are rooting out fraud, waste, and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars in the federal government. The more than 8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico,

I'm the American taxpayers die and will no longer be happening. What else is on the chopping block? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, February 6th, and this is Morning Wire. Reactions to Trump's bold proposal to take control of Gaza have been swift and extreme. It's going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions. And as L.A. residents pick up the pieces from the devastating fires, a pending zoning law could prevent many of them from rebuilding.

We need to get moving. People are in pain. They've lost their community. Let's get it rebuilt. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. Did you know that 80% of resolutions fail by February? You, however, can beat the odds and improve your health with Lumen, the world's first handheld metabolic coach. By simply breathing into your Lumen each morning, you'll discover if your body is burning fats or carbs. The app then provides personalized nutrition plans and lifestyle guidance based on your unique metabolism. Take the next step in improving your health.

Go to Lumen.me.combe slash wire to get 20% off your Lumen. That's L-U-M-E-N-D-M-E-S-Wire to get 20% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen for sponsoring this episode. The Trump administration, with much help from Doge leader Elon Musk, is continuing to rapidly overhaul the federal government. They've also uncovered millions of taxpayer dollars going to legacy media outlets, raising more questions about political bias in reporting. Here to discuss is Daily Wire Reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda.

So Trump campaigned on streamlining the federal government and cutting waste. What's the latest here? So more recently, Trump has offered a buyout to the entire CIA workforce. That's both to downsize the government and to more align the agency with Trump's priorities. This follows his broader offer to give millions of full-time federal workers full pay and benefits for eight months if they choose to resign by February. 6, though, today. The goal there is to save American taxpayers an estimated $100 billion, and frankly, to get rid of employees who don't want to be there or who refuse to return to in-person work, which Trump has already mandated. Trump administration officials are also

reportedly drafting an executive order to effectively dismantle the Department of Education. The Education Department currently employs more than 4,000 people and has an annual budget of $79 billion dollars. And then there's US AID, which is effectively shuttered at this point, correct? Yeah, that's right. That had an annual budget of around $40 billion and currently has around 10,000 employees. Nearly all the staff at the agency will be placed on leave by Friday night, so by tomorrow night, and all overseas missions have been ordered to shut down. Very dramatic action there and lots of money on the line. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the goal was to reform USAID, but he said they were met with a lot of.

lot of resistance from the agency and effectively forced to take drastic action. They're completely uncooperative. So we had no choice but to take dramatic steps to bring this thing under control. The White House has released an initial list of wasteful projects USAID has funded, including giving millions of taxpayer dollars to a group involved with research at the Wuhan Lab, hundreds of thousands to a nonprofit linked to terror groups, two million to LGBT activism in Guatemala, and 1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia. Elon Musk has called USAID a criminal organization, and he boasted on Monday that he and his team, quote, spent the weekend feeding USAID into the woodchipper. Pretty dramatic middle image there.

Now, as Georgia mentioned at the top, the legacy media is entangled in this USAID controversy. What have we learned on that front? Right. This is starting to generate a lot of debate in controversy. It involves left-wing publication Politico, which produces a premium service product for professionals called Politico-Pro. On Wednesday, press secretary Caroline Levitt said that Doge spotted at least $8 million in taxpayer dollars going toward Politico Pro subscriptions, and the administration can now confirm that they will be canceling those payments. We are going line by line when it comes to the federal government's books,

and this president and his team are making decisions across the board on, do these receipts serve the interests of the American people? Is this a good use of the American taxpayers' money? Some reports suggest that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that Politico is certainly not the only legacy media outlet that's been getting big money from the federal government, particularly during the Biden administration. Those claims have, of course, raised even more questions about media bias.

Right, and in fact, we're digging into this and we'll have more on this soon. Now, we've mentioned Musk in the central role he's playing. What else is he focusing on? Yeah, he's tackling this in a very holistic way, you could say. Musk has gained access to view the Treasury's payment system. That process is trillions of dollars in spending each year. This past fiscal year, the Fed's reported an estimated $236 billion in improper payments. So a lot of potential waste could be spotted there.

And just to paint a picture of how invested Musk is in all of this, he has reportedly moved beds into the headquarters of the federal personnel office, and he and his staff, mostly young engineers, they're working into the night and weekends to find waste. It's a very musky an approach for sure. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts. You'll get 10 different answers. Can someone please invent a crystal ball?

Until then, over 41,000 businesses have future-proofed themselves with NetSuite by Oracle, bringing accounting, inventory, HR, and financial management into one platform. With real-time insights, you're closing your books in days, not weeks. Here at the DailyWire, we're proud to partner with NetSuite because they're leading the way. Speaking of leading the way, download the CFO's guide. to AI and machine learning at net suite.com slash morning wire. This guide is free to you at net suite.com slash morning wire. Again, that's net suite.com slash morning wire. President Trump sparked both support and outrage Tuesday when he expressed his desire for the U.S. to take over Gaza. Here with the latest

details on Trump's groundbreaking plan and the ensuing political fallout is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. So, Cabot, first off, what exactly is Trump proposing for Gaza? So for those who missed yesterday's show, President Trump made two bombshell announcements during his Tuesday press conference with Benjamin and Yahoo. First, that Gaza's entire population, around two million people, should be permanently relocated to other countries in the Middle East. Second, and even more stunning, Trump said the United States ought to, quote, take over the Gaza Strip, creating what he called the Riviera of the Middle East. Now, it's not clear whether that land would become U.S. soil or remain in the hands of the Israelis. We're still waiting for full details.

Wednesday, the White House walked back those remarks slightly, saying the removal of Palestinians could be temporary and that it does not mean American boots on the ground in Gaza. But they did reiterate that the region is unlivable at the moment and must be cleared for reconstruction to take place safely. Here's Trump Press Secretary Caroline Levin. His goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region. We've had the same people pushing the same solutions to this problem for decades. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.

It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in the region. And what sort of response did that proposal get? Well, overseas leaders across Europe, Asia and the Middle East denounced the idea, saying Palestinians must be allowed to retain control of Gaza. Everyone from Britain, China, Russia, Australia, and Spain essentially said the idea was insane and that they would continue to support what they call a two-state solution. Elsewhere, Middle Eastern leaders outright refuse the idea of resettling any Palestinians from Gaza within their own borders. And Hamas issued a statement calling the plan, quote, ridiculous, absurd, and racist, claiming that it would further ignite tensions in the region. States side, Democrats immediately decried the plan as an affront to what they called Palestinian sovereignty.

Michigan rep Rashida Tili, for example, said Trump was, quote, openly calling for ethnic cleansing. For his part, though, Prime Minister Nanyahu seemed open to the idea. Your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals. Another voice in support is David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel. Here's what he told Morning Wire about the plan. Whatever the legal issues may be, whatever the moral issues may be, they can't stay. There's not a building there which wouldn't be condemned by any zoning board in the United States. They're going to fall down.

And so they all want to leave. I mean, much more so than before even. I just think that once you reach the United States, they're going to fall down. the conclusion that for their own safety, for their own health, they have to leave, then it opens up a much wider focus on what could be. Freedman says that while Egypt and Jordan both expressed opposition to taking in Palestinians, they don't have much leverage on the issue. The big question that we don't yet have an answer to is how serious President Trump actually is about taking over Gaza. There are some within the GOP who believe that he's throwing out the idea as more of a

bargaining chip than anything to try and encourage Hamas to take a more favorable deal with Israel as those negotiations continue. Right. Well, you always have to bake in that Trump wants a deal. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. It's been weeks since wildfires ravaged parts of L.A., and even though the fires are now out, the political heat is really just now starting to pick up. Joining us to discuss as actor and Daily Wire contributor Micah Parker. Hey, Micah. So the controversy in L.A. is really only growing at this point. What can you tell us? Yeah, John. Well, the Los Angeles fires have left entire communities and ruins, destroying thousands of homes and now forcing all of those residents to consider what rebuilding is going to actually look like. But for areas like

the Pacific Palisades, which is historically a fluent enclave, the reconstruction process, it might not be as simple as just returning to their former address. A pending housing law, the citywide housing incentive program, also known as CHIP, could fundamentally alter the neighborhood's economic makeup, potentially preventing many of those residents from moving back into their old addresses through a series of new zoning requirements. The Palisades, like the rest of L.A., it's not just populated by homeowners living in houses, but also renters living in apartments. And for those residents, this is especially concerning. What exactly will this ordinance do and how will it be implemented? Yeah, well, the CHIP ordinance aims to increase housing affordability by requiring that at least

20% of new apartment units be designated as, quote, affordable housing. Proponents claim that this initiative is designed to create more inclusive communities and provide lower income families with access to, quote, high opportunity areas. Sort of lots of DEI buzzwords in there. Yeah, no kidding. So under the ordinances guidelines, many middle to high income earners would exceed the eligibility threshold for affordable housing, but they're still going to struggle to afford market rate units, especially with construction costs and rental prices

expected to surge post-disaster. Essentially, this policy could price out for. former residents in favor of newcomers who meet that lower income criteria. What are officials saying on the ground there? Well, I had the opportunity to speak to L.A. real estate developer and formal mayoral candidate, Rick Caruso. And he believes that this is simply not the time to have a planning discussion and that the most important thing right now is to get people who have lost their homes back into the same address

they had before as quickly as possible. And if you change the zoning requirements, it could prevent that, leading to more pain and heartbreak. So here's Caruso discussing the proposed zoning laws on a recent podcast. I think people want their neighborhood back. And personally, I can't speak for everybody in the palisades, obviously, but I wouldn't support rezoning. And I know there's some efforts to do that, and I would push against that. So it's like losing your home twice, in effect, once from a fire, once from public policy. What else are opponents of this ordinance saying about it? Well, they argue that it's part of a broader push towards the so-called 15-minute

cities, and more specifically, Smart LA 2028. This is a concept in urban planning that seeks to create self-sufficient neighborhoods where residents can live, work, and access to central services within a short distance. This plan was adopted in December 2020 by former mayor Eric Garcetti. With the plan prioritizing the reduction of car dependency and lowering carbon emissions, critics fear it's going to lead to government overreach and restrictions on personal freedoms. And then the emphasis on developing housing in high-opportunity areas raises more concerns. By mandating more affordable housing in affluent neighborhoods, skeptics believe the city is not only trying to address housing inequity,

but also restructuring urban development in a way that limits mobility and concentrates populations in specific zones. So we could be seeing the Pacific Palisades, once a symbol of exclusive coastal living, at the center of this social experiment. And as we've seen, these types of things don't often turn out as the planners planned necessarily? Not at all.

So what happens next? Well, the chip ordinance has cleared several hurdles in the LA City Council and is expected to be finalized soon. And if fully implemented in the wake of the fires, it could set a precedent for how rebuilding efforts and disaster zones across the city and potentially the state are handled. While supporters champion it as a necessary step towards addressing LA's housing crisis, those who have called Pacific Palisades home for years may find themselves priced out. Not by the free market, by policy.

The whole nation is watching how LA's political leaders handle this. Let's hope that scrutiny actually encourages them to act in the best interests of residents this time. One can hope. Micah, thanks so much for coming on. It's my pleasure. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you enjoyed listening, share this episode with a friend. What's the secret behind wildly successful businesses?

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