Congress

GOP privacy hawks brush off concerns about DOGE data dives

Published

6 months ago

February 19, 2025

Some of the Senate’s most notorious GOP privacy hawks are shrugging off moves by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to access Americans’ sensitive taxpayer data.

It’s a sharp turn for lawmakers who often carp about intrusions on individual privacy, and just the latest example of how Republicans are willing to forgive an unelected billionaire set on shattering institutional norms.

In this case, Musk is seeking to give his team the ability to look up personal information on an IRS system that contains broad individual financial records along with information from the Social Security Administration.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a frequent critic of Big Tech’s use of Americans’ personal data, said Tuesday night that DOGE employees were required to “follow all federal laws related to privacy and so forth” and he would be “shocked” if they were skirting those rules.

“I assume and expect that they are adhering to whatever the rules are for their level of clearance and their level of government employee and their designation,” Hawley said, adding that he did not know the security clearance status of DOGE’s staff. “So long as they’re adhering to those, that’s fine.”

But DOGE’s move to access IRS data has prompted real questions about its lawfulness — and a legal challenge. Democrats have raised alarm that the Trump administration could be looking to leverage government databases against Americans whose activities they oppose, while a group of organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit that would block Musk and his associates from obtaining information from the tax agency.

The White House has argued DOGE is simply trying to prevent fraud. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with Fox News, said Musk’s team was working within “guardrails” to modernize “an outdated IT system,” and Americans “don’t have to be concerned about any of this.”

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, another defender of individual privacy rights and opponent of government surveillance efforts, also appeared like Hawley to be taking the administration at its word that there was nothing out of the ordinary taking place.

“I think anybody who looks at government data is bound by rules on privacy — I don’t know how this would be any different than someone else looking at it,” said Paul in an interview. “All the rules of privacy still apply. If they’re breaking any rules, they’ll get in trouble, but you have to look at the data to find the problems.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune conceded that “there certainly are concerns when it comes to the privacy of personal information,” but also said, “I don’t think it’s unusual that a White House or administration … would have access to these type of records.”

One Senate Republican, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, cast aside concerns around privacy for the sake of the administration’s ability to “get rid of all the fraud … instead of worrying about our information.”

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress’ funding power

Published

2 days ago

August 29, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

The White House budget office said Friday morning that President Donald Trump has canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid by using a so-called pocket rescission — furthering the administration’s assault on Congress’ funding prerogatives.

The move raises tensions on Capitol Hill as lawmakers face an Oct. 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Many lawmakers from both parties, as well as Congress’ top watchdog, view the maneuver as an illegal end-run around their “power of the purse.”

The Trump administration boldly embraced the strategy on Friday. “Congress can choose to vote to rescind or continue the funds — it doesn’t matter,” an official from the White House budget office said in a statement. “This approach is rare but not unprecedented.”

The White House is allowed to send Congress a clawbacks request and then withhold the cash for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore the proposal. Because there are less than 45 days left before the end of the fiscal year, Trump’s top budget officials — led by budget chief Russ Vought — argue that they can employ the so-called pocket rescission to withhold the funding until it lapses at month’s end, ensuring its cancellation regardless of what Congress decides.

The pocket rescission request was first reported by the New York Post.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Bondi, Patel to testify before Congress amid Epstein fallout

Published

3 days ago

August 28, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Two top Justice Department officials are expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks amid fallout over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to two people granted anonymity to share scheduling information not yet public.

FBI director Kash Patel is set to give testimony Sept. 17, with attorney general Pam Bondi on tap to appear Oct. 9. Both have been invited as part of the Judiciary Committee’s general oversight work, and each will have an opportunity to outline some of the pieces of a crime bill President Donald Trump wants Hill Republicans to produce in the coming months.

But the hearings will likely focus most heavily on how the DOJ has maneuvered around the release of files related to the late, convicted sex offender.

Senior Republicans have continued over the August recess to press the Trump administration to unseal more Epstein documents after a mutiny over their release caused chaos in the GOP-controlled House, running the chamber aground before lawmakers left town early in late July.

DOJ started transmitting some of the so-called Epstein files last week in compliance with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. And Alex Acosta, President Donald Trump’s former labor secretary who singed off on Epstein’s previous plea deal as a then-U.S. attorney in Florida, will separately sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight panel Sept. 19.

However, lawmakers otherwise have so far received scant new information during the month-long district work period, with members of both parties promising to continue to press the issue when the House is set to return to session next week.

Bondi has, in particular, been the subject of Republican consternation over allegedly withholding documents she at one point promised to reveal.

Congress

Mark Teixeira, former MLB All Star, kicks off Texas House campaign

Published

3 days ago

August 28, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Baseball star Mark Teixeira launched a campaign to fill an open Texas House seat Thursday, the latest celebrity athlete to dive into politics.

Teixeira is running as a Republican in a safe red seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Chip Roy. And he’s already appealing to President Donald Trump in search of a home run on the campaign trail.

“As a lifelong conservative who loves this country, I’m running for Congress to fight for the principles that make Texas and America great,” he wrote in a post on X. “It takes teamwork to win — I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty.”

Teixeira was a superstar on the diamond, going yard 409 times in a career that spanned 14 seasons and saw him play for four big league outfits, including the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He last played in the 2016 season.

He reached baseball immortality when the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. He was included on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot but failed to get enough votes from sportswriters to either get elected to the Hall or return to the ballot in future years.

Should he win the seat, he could be a major boon for Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, the annual charity event that pits Democrats against Republicans. The GOP has dominated the game in recent years, a gap that a former major leaguer would likely only widen.

Teixeira is leaning into his baseball bona fides.

“In Congress, he’ll bring the same grit, preparation, and competitive spirit that made him a champion in Major League Baseball to fight for Texas—and win,” reads his campaign website.

Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who has served in the House since 2019, is leaving Congress to run for the Texas attorney general post.