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1500+ “Zombie Programs”, Over 8% of Federal Budget Spending at $516 billion, is Unauthorized, Possibly Illegal

Hardworking Americans face rising prices and a weaponized federal government, yet more than 1,500 federal programs are still receiving billions in taxpayer dollars despite their legal authorizations expiring years or even decades ago.

A federal program is separately authorized and funded by Congress. If a program is not authorized, or authorized at a specific level, it is not supposed to receive funding. But because of Congressional inaction, apathy, and inattention, these programs regularly receive such funding even though they lack legal authorization.

491 specifically-identified unauthorized programs and federal spending accounts for roughly 8% of the annual federal budget of $6.45 trillion, or $516 billion dollars. The DOGE effort to cut government fraud, waste, and abuse has so far saved taxpayers $140 billion by comparison.

The Congressional Budget Office couldn’t find or estimate the dollar amounts spent by the other 1,000 zombie programs they identified.

According to a recent investigation by RealClearInvestigations, the United States government is quietly funding what experts are calling “zombie programs” — agencies and initiatives that legally expired but are kept alive through backdoor budget tricks and annual appropriations.

In 2016, candidate Trump even mentioned this concept of refusing to pay for unauthorized programs as a way to get more funding to the military. The media ‘fact checked’ Trump’s claim as ‘false’ even though it was true, because, they said, Congress doesn’t have to follow the law.

One of the most egregious examples? The Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a taxpayer-funded outfit originally established to provide free legal assistance to low-income Americans. Congress let its authorization expire in 1980, yet the agency is still alive and well in 2025 — operating with 135 employees and a $560 million budget.

Republicans in 2011 tried to make modest cuts to the LSC, and the left-wing mainstream media said it would cause major social problems. Leftist media said it was going to “gut a crucial anti-poverty lifeline.” Left-wing non-profits rallied to protect this subsidy and corporate welfare to the nation’s attorneys.

The LSC has long been accused of funding politically motivated litigation, supporting left-leaning advocacy groups, and diverting taxpayer money into causes far beyond its original mandate. In past decades, LSC grantees have been caught assisting in lawsuits to block welfare reform, challenging voter ID laws, and filing environmental and immigration-related lawsuits aimed at advancing progressive policy goals rather than defending the poor in court. Some grantees have used federal funds to lobby state legislatures, coordinate with activist networks, and even sue landlords and small businesses en masse under dubious legal theories.

45 years after it was supposed to be shut down, the LSC is still spending hundreds of millions with zero legislative oversight.

This problem has been plaguing Congress for years, and many white papers and organizations have attempted to bring this problem to the legislature’s attention for many years.

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Here’s Why Trump Will Win The Tariff Standoff

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made it clear in an interview with CNN that the era of trade imbalances is over, and under President Trump, the U.S. will no longer tolerate unfair treatment. 

During a discussion with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Bessent confidently explained the administration’s position on tariffs and trade policy, signaling that Trump’s economic strategy is deliberate and well thought out.

When pressed on how the administration’s policies could impact the auto industry, particularly regarding vehicles made with foreign parts, Bessent was blunt. 

“If half the cars coming into the United States are foreign-made, that’s hard to turn around overnight, as you know,” Collins said. 

“So what would you say to people in the auto industry who are worried about that timeline and how quickly that could shift?”

“Buy American,” Bessent said bluntly. He also clarified that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) exempts certain vehicles and parts from the new tariffs.

Collins attempted to raise concerns from U.S. allies, questioning what the administration would say to countries like South Korea and Japan, which are now facing increased tariffs. Bessent’s response was direct:

“Well, I would say they’ve been doing it to us for a long time. And, if they don’t like tariffs, then why do they have them?”

His answer underscored the administration’s stance that America has been on the losing end of trade deals for too long.

As for whether the tariffs should be considered permanent, Bessent took a wait-and-see approach.

“I think we’re gonna wait and see how this plays out,” he explained, suggesting that adjustments could be made based on how the policy unfolds.

Collins also asked about the possibility of retaliation from other countries. Some foreign leaders have hinted at potential countermeasures, while others have opted to observe before making a move. Bessent urged patience. 

“One of the messages that I’d like to get out tonight is everybody sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate, let’s see where this goes. Because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation.”

When Collins pressed him on whether such escalation could turn into a full-fledged trade war, Bessent dismissed the idea. 

“Not a trade war. Depends on the country,” he said, before explaining that history favors the United States in such disputes.

“Remember that the history of trade is, we are the deficit country. The deficit country has an advantage,” he explained.

“[The others] are the surplus countries. The surplus countries traditionally always lose any kind of a trade escalation.”

His message to foreign governments was clear: Acting hastily would be a mistake. 

“As a student of economic history or a professor of economic history, I’d advise against it,” he said. When Collins sought further clarification, he reinforced the point: “I would say that doing anything rash would be unwise.”

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“Complete Corruption”: Michigan’s Far-Left Atty General Dana Nessel Accused of Illegal Prosecution Against her 2022 GOP Opponent Matt DePerno, Criminal Violations of FOIA

The Democrat who ran for re-election as Michigan’s Attorney General in 2022, far-left Dana Nessel, has been prosecuting her Republican opponent, Matt DePerno, because he tried to investigate voter fraud by getting access to a Dominion Voting machine.

“This is what lawfare looks like: an unconstitutional appointment of a political ally to persecute a political opponent. Illegal funding. All to attack your former opponent,” said Matt DePerno

Michigan’s far-left Attorney General Dana Nessel is currently still prosecuting the 2020 Trump electors, as well as also engaged in, critics say, another outrageous abuse of power to punish her former GOP opponent, Matt DePerno, through what many believe is a blatantly unlawful prosecution.

DePerno, who challenged Nessel in the 2022 election, is currently facing charges stemming from his involvement in the investigation of election equipment in the aftermath of the 2020 election. His investigation was authorized pursuant to a court order in the case of Bailey v Antrim County and Jocelyn Benson. But in legal filings DePerno’s legal team is asking the court to dismiss the charges outright—arguing that Nessel and her office have violated multiple statutes, constitutional provisions, and budgetary laws in orchestrating a political vendetta.

DePerno is specifically charged with “unauthorized access to voting machines.” This stems from the Bailey case where DePerno successfully proved vulnerabilities and susceptibility to election results and equipment being administered remotely and anonymously through an open VPN.

At the core of DePerno’s motion is Nessel’s unprecedented maneuver to hand-pick Muskegon County Prosecutor Dale “DJ” Hilson—a political ally and rumored successor—as “Special Prosecutor” to go after DePerno.

Hilson is the Prosecutor who has repeatedly refused to bring charges against GBI Strategies and the notorious Muskegon Voter Registration Fraud run by the far-left company. Nessel ‘took over’ the investigation from the City of Muskegon, only to quietly terminate and cancel the investigation, lying to the public when she said it had been handed off to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. DJ Hilson, who was also on the 2020 ballot to serve as Muskegon County Prosecutor which he won apparently did not want results of the election reviewed and therefore put the GBI fraud investigation on ice.

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Biden Handed Out CDLs Like Candy… Now US Highways Are A Public Safety & National Security Nightmare

Several major highway collisions across the U.S. have raised serious red flags about public safety and national security threats.

American motorists remain entirely unaware that tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands of migrant truck drivers, some of whom cannot read English- are operating fully loaded 80,000-pound big rigs on the nation’s highways.

The latest big rig crash occurred just weeks ago in Austin, Texas, involving a migrant driver who spoke little English but held a non-domicile commercial driver’s license (CDL). The horrific crash left five people dead and 11 injured.

There is growing suspicion that a network of shady NGOs may have supported so-called “refugees” brought into the country under the Biden administration in obtaining CDLs. One such organization based in Texas is the Global Impact Initiative.

Who is involved with the Global Impact Initiative?

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Bill Gates’ Foundation in Danger of Losing Tax-Exempt Status for Alleged Discrimination Against White Americans

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire leftist Bill Gates’ nonprofit may be in danger of losing its tax-exempt status.

The news surrounding the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also involves two other organizations facing accusations of breaking the law when it comes to their scholarship and career programs, the Times of India reported on Thursday.

“The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) has accused the Gates Foundation, the Lagrant Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation 0f ‘intentionally’ excluding white people, a claim detailed in letters sent to the IRS. The AAER argues that these alleged discriminatory practices may violate federal law and provide sufficient grounds for the IRS to revoke the organizations’ tax-exempt status,” the report said.

In a statement, AAER President Edward Blum stated, “These organizations are free to operate as they wish — but not with the public subsidy that tax-exempt status provides. Racial discrimination, whether in scholarships, professional development, or artistic grants, violates public policy and must not be underwritten by American taxpayers.”

“Organizations that discriminate based on race — whether their intentions are benevolent or not — are not eligible for public subsidies through the tax code. The IRS must act to uphold the law,” he added.

A Breitbart News article in 2021 detailed how many famous billionaires avoid paying taxes. Among those who reportedly paid very low taxes was Bill Gates.

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U.S. Labor Secretary: Trump Admin Will Return $1.4B In Unused COVID-Era Funding To Taxpayers

As the Trump administration pushes the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said this week that the agency will return more than $1 billion in unused COVID-era funds to U.S. taxpayers.

The Labor Department stated in a news release that it is currently taking “action” in order “to recover the remaining $2.9 billion,” but that $1.4 billion of unspent COVID funding will soon be “returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s General Fund.” However, it did not specify a date for either.

“The roughly $4.3 billion was intended for states to use for temporary unemployment insurance during the pandemic,” the press release states. “Instead, several states continued spending millions of dollars despite no longer meeting necessary requirements, which was uncovered in a 2023 audit conducted by the department’s Office of Inspector General.”

In the press release, Chavez-DeRemer clarified that the program is especially designed to offer expanded unemployment insurance to Americans who were unable to work during the pandemic and that the financing came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March 2020.

The 2023 audit “found four states were allowed to access the funding ‘despite not meeting program requirements,’ totaling over $100 million in spending,” according to the department, which stated that the program was discontinued in 2021.

“There’s no reason leftover COVID unemployment funds should still be collecting dust,” DeRemer told Fox News. “I promised to look out for Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars, and we are delivering at the Department of Labor.”

“Any money still sitting around for pandemic-era unemployment funds is a clear misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Chavez-DeRemer said in the press release, noting that they are “rooting out waste to ensure American Workers always come First.”

Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling made a statement as well.

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Flip-Flop: Longtime Free Trade Opponent Bernie Sanders Now Calls Trump’s Tariffs ‘Unacceptable’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is opposing President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs after spending his career in Washington, DC, trashing the nation’s decades-long free trade policy for allowing multinational corporations to easily outsource American jobs to low-wage countries like China and Vietnam.

“As someone who helped lead the effort against disastrous unfettered free trade deals with China, Mexico, and other low-wage countries, I understand that we need trade policies that benefit American workers, not just the CEOs of large corporations,” Sanders said in a statement before using economic libertarian talking points to attack Trump’s recipricol tariffs:

And that includes targeted tariffs which can be a powerful tool in stopping corporations from outsourcing American jobs and factories abroad. Bottom line: We need a rational, well-thought-out and fair trade policy. Trump’s across-the-board tariffs are not the way to do it. We do not need a blanket and arbitrary sales tax on imported goods which will raise prices on products that the American people desperately need. We should be doing everything we can to lower prices, not make them incredibly higher. [Emphasis added]

Further, and most importantly, what Trump is doing is illegal and another step toward authoritarianism. In pushing his tariffs he is usurping the power of Congress and abrogating existing agreements under “emergency” provisions – when there are no real emergencies. In other words, he is incorporating more and more power into his own hands. That is unacceptable. [Emphasis added]

The statement is unusual for Sanders, as he has spent most of political career in Washington, DC, warning against the devastating impact that free trade has had on America’s working and middle class communities.

In 1993, then-Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as nothing more than a massive outsourcing giveaway to multinational corporations looking to cut labor costs by sending American jobs to the lowest-wage countries.

“The NAFTA treaty is being supported by almost every multinational corporation in America, and these corporations are spending tens and tens of billions of dollars trying to influence the members of this body to vote for it,” Sanders said at the time.

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Trump’s shift in policy could save American farmers from climate regulations and bureaucratic red tape

  • The Trump administration directed the USDA to remove climate change references from its websites, signaling a move away from climate-focused regulations seen as burdensome to farmers.
  • USAID’s climate initiatives, like “$150 billion net-zero strategies” and projects in developing nations, are criticized for prioritizing ideology over practical agricultural productivity and food security.
  • Programs aimed at reducing carbon emissions or promoting “climate-smart” agriculture are deemed counterproductive, as CO? is essential for plant growth, and such measures often hinder farming efficiency.
  • U.S. farmers risked losing competitiveness due to restrictive climate policies (e.g., methane reduction mandates), while countries like China and India prioritized high-yield, fossil fuel-based agriculture.
  • Trump’s withdrawal from agreements like the Paris Accord is framed as a win for U.S. farmers, ending costly, impractical climate mandates and refocusing on productivity and rural economic needs.

Amid recent headlines on tariffs and fiscal overhauls, a less noticed but significant shift has quietly unfolded in agricultural policy under President Donald Trump. An executive directive mandating the removal of all climate change references from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) websites signals a departure from the bureaucratic red tape of climate regulations that once stifled domestic farming practices and tied U.S. support for agriculture abroad with superfluous climate mandates. This change, mirroring similar actions during the previous Trump administration, promises a rebirth for American agriculture, free from the shackles of counterproductive and politicized climate orthodoxies.

For years, federal climate initiatives have prioritized “green” orthodoxy over agricultural productivity. Programs funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have poured millions of dollars into climate-focused ventures that often had little impact on climate change itself. Instead, these programs imposed burdensome regulations on farmers and rural communities, promoting “$150 billion ‘whole-of-agency’ climate strategies” under the guise of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Some of these projects have intertwined with rural agricultural communities, involving other activities. For example, USAID and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) jointly participated in a $55 million credit guarantee aimed at addressing the economic impact of COVID-19 by supporting farm production organizations, ag-tech companies and companies in the agricultural sector working on clean energy solutions.

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Democrat Lawmakers in Georgia Stage Walkout to Protest Bill Stopping Taxpayer Funds for Transgender Surgeries for Inmates

Democrat lawmakers this week staged a walkout to protest a measure that would effectively stop taxpayer dollars from going toward transgender surgeries for inmates.

The walkout occurred at the state Capitol on Wednesday, as Democrats took issue with SB 185. The reader summary is as follows:

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to correctional institutions of state and counties, so as to prohibit the use of state funds or resources for certain treatments for state inmates; to provide for the adoption of rules and regulations by the Board of Corrections relating to such prohibitions and exceptions; to provide for a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

According to reports, this would include funds going toward “gender-affirming” care for prisoners, which is leftist speak for surgical mutilation, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who has made a name for herself standing up against illogical pro-transgender policies catering to the far-left, shared the video of the walkout with the caption, “Did anyone let them know not to come back?”

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Ex-CDC Director Pushes Extra MMR Shot For Babies, As Arizona Reports Suspected Measles Case Was ‘Rare’ Vaccine Reaction

Some infectious disease experts — including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) former director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky — are pushing health officials to recommend an extra dose of the MMR vaccine for babies ages 6-11 months who live in or travel to areas of the U.S. with measles outbreaks, according to Medpage Today.

The news comes as a suspected measles case in a 1-year-old child in Pima County, Arizona, this week turned out to be a reaction to the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine — not measles.

According to a Pima County news release, reactions to the MMR vaccine are “rare and do not carry the same risk as community-acquired measles.”

The Pima County Health Department did not specify the toddler’s symptoms but said state and county health authorities — and the local hospital where the child was treated — “took precautions in the child’s treatment as if it were an infectious case.”

Arizona has not reported any measles cases so far in 2025, the release said.

The CDC’s current Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule recommends children receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine between the ages of 2-15 months, and their second dose between ages 4-6 years.

Infants 6-11 months old who are about to travel internationally are advised to get an extra dose before traveling.

Walensky and colleagues argued in op-eds published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and STAT News that the recommendation should be changed due to the uptick in U.S. measles cases.

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