The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is preparing to roll out once the Trump administration is sworn in with the stated goal of slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending.

DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department but rather a blue-ribbon committee outside of the government that will be tasked with examining issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. 

Proponents of DOGE, headed by Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have suggested that $2 trillion dollars in government waste can be cut from the federal budget through the reduction of spending, eliminating government programs and trimming the federal workforce. 

Although the commission does not have formal authority, it has pledged to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget to reform regulatory recissions, administrative reductions and cost savings.

In addition to a working relationship with certain government agencies, DOGE will likely suggest executive actions that may be taken by President Trump.

Several House Committees and caucuses have already expressed the intention and willingness to work with DOGE until it ceases operations on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of 1776’s Independence Day, to accomplish the goal of slashing government waste.

‘Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wakeup call for all Americans,’ House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) has explained. ‘We must take action to avoid diving headfirst off the cliff of fiscal ruin. I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task—they will need partners.

‘Our DOGE Caucus, will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to help rein in reckless spending and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.’

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) intends to establish a new subcommittee next, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that will oversee Delivering on Government Efficiency. The subcommittee will be tasked with coordinating with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through investigating wasteful spending, looking at how to reorganize federal agencies with an eye to improving efficiency and identifying solutions to eliminate bureaucratic ‘red tape.’

‘It is time to cut red tape, hold the unchecked federal workforce accountable, ensure programs are efficient, & work with @DOGE to tackle waste, fraud, & abuse,’ Comer posted on X in December.

On the Senate side, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst will chair the Senate Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus.

‘’Iowans elected me with a mandate to cut Washington’s pork!’ Ernst said about the DOGE efforts. ‘From billion-dollar boondoggles to welfare for politicians and trillion-dollar slush funds, my decade-long investigations have exposed levels of abuse that are almost too insane to believe.

‘The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block. As President Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy prepare to take action, the Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans.’’

Several historical examples exist in American history, with mixed results and less ambitious goals, of government-led efforts to cut back on unnecessary spending and staffing.

President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1905, set up the Keep Commission, which attempted to ‘place the conduct of the Government on the most economical and effective basis in the light of the best modern business practice’ and has been hailed as the ‘first of the orderly examinations into [Federal] administrative problems.’

Five years later, President William Howard Taft was appropriated $100,000 by Congress to ‘inquire into the methods of transacting the public business of the government in the several executive departments and other government establishments, with the view of… changing old methods…so as to attain greater efficiency… and recommend to Congress what changes in law may be necessary.’

President Bill Clinton’s administration launched the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), led by Vice President Al Gore, with the goal to make the federal government ‘work better, cost less, and get results Americans care about.’

Gore said, ‘We are turning some of today’s agencies into smaller, sleeker organizations that won’t look like government at all. They will be like private companies, with a real CEO on contract to cut costs, and a free hand when it comes to the remaining government rules.’

President Obama signed an executive order in June 2011 establishing the Campaign to Cut Government Waste that created an 11-member Oversight and Accountability Board with a stated mission to give ‘taxpayers the same ability to track where their dollars are going and to have the same confidence that the dollars are not being lost to waste, fraud, or abuse, not just for Recovery Act dollars, but more broadly.’

Steve Davis, president of Boring Co., Musk’s tunneling operation, and Michael Kratsios, former US chief technology officer, are among those leading interviews of potential DOGE employee candidates, according to people familiar with the effort. 

DOGE is believed to have hired roughly 10 individuals so far and is seeking software engineers as well as people with experience in artificial intelligence. Other high-profile names believed to be associated with getting DOGE off the ground include Palantir co-founder and investor Joe Lonsdale, investor Marc Andreessen, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick.

For now, DOGE is operating out of glass-walled office space in Washington leased by SpaceX, another Musk-owned company, about four blocks away from the White House.

Some other key areas that DOGE hopes to make progress in, Musk and Ramaswamy have previously outlined, include simplifying the U.S. tax code, auditing the Department of Defense, returning National Institutes of Health money to taxpayers and foreign aid transparency. 

‘I expect DOGE to operate in ‘founder mode’ — lean, decisive and led by two great people in Vivek and Elon who are obsessed over every detail,’ said James Fishback, a Ramaswamy confidant, and the co-founder of investment firm Azoria Partners.

Iran’s nuclear program is nearing the ‘point of no return,’ French President Emmanuel Macron is now warning. 

Iran is the top ‘strategic and security challenge’ for France and Europe this year, Macron said this week during an annual foreign policy conference with French ambassadors, according to Reuters. 

‘The acceleration of the nuclear program leads us nearly to the point of no return,’ the French leader was quoted as saying. 

‘In the coming months we will have to ask ourselves whether to use… the mechanism to restore sanctions,’ Macron added. 

The comments come after International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December that Iran is enriching uranium close to the 90% level required for weapons grade. 

French, German and British diplomats are now set to meet their Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 in an effort to defuse tensions, according to Reuters. 

Iran has argued that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. 

Axios recently reported that in a top meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan roughly a month ago, President Biden was presented with a series of strike options should Iran make a move to develop a nuclear weapon.

Biden has vowed not to let Iran develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, but it remains unclear what steps Iran would have to take in order for the Biden administration to respond with direct hits, given that Tehran has already been reported to have stockpiled near-weapons-grade uranium and to be bolstering its weaponization capabilities.

The president was reportedly presented with a series of scenarios and response options during the meeting, though sources told the outlet that Biden has not made any final decisions regarding the information he was given.  

Another source reportedly told Axios there currently are no active discussions on militarily hitting Iran’s program.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump announced the Gulf of Mexico is getting a new name. 

‘We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,’ Trump said on Tuesday. ‘The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.’

Trump made the announcement in his first press conference since Congress certified his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday from Mar-a-Lago. He opened the press event by announcing DAMAC Properties will invest $20 billion in new data centers across the country in addition to previewing a bevy of policy issues ahead of his inauguration this month. 

The Gulf of Mexico is a partly enclosed sea that borders states such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as Mexico.

Trump did not detail how his administration would go about renaming the body of water, but went on to slam Mexico for the immigration woes in the U.S. under the Biden White House. 

‘Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs,’ he said. 

 Trump’s pledge is his latest remark regarding land territories, including potentially expanding the U.S. 

Trump has referred to Canada as the nation’s ’51st state,’ while his son and other Trump allies traveled to Greenland this week following Trump repeatedly calling for the U.S. to acquire the autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark. 

‘As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I’m excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week,’ Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital of his trip to Greenland. 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting.’ Trump Jr. is not meeting with government officials while in Greenland, Fox Digital previously reported. 

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Signman contributed to this report.

Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland on Tuesday as his father, President-elect Trump, made remarks that sparked speculation that the U.S. may seek to acquire the Danish territory.

Trump Jr. landed in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital, to meet with locals, visit cultural sites and shoot video for a podcast. The president-elect posted a video showing a plane emblazoned with the word ‘TRUMP’ landing in Nuuk.

‘Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,’ Trump wrote. ‘The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’ 

Trump also spoke with locals over speakerphone in video that supporters shared online.

A source familiar told Fox News Digital on Monday that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting. He will not be meeting with any government officials or political figures.’

The trip comes as President-elect Trump seeks to buy the mineral-rich, geographically important territory. 

At a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday afternoon, the president-elect again said that ‘Denmark should give it up.’ 

‘We need Greenland for national security purposes,’ Trump said.

American interest in Greenland dates back to the 1800s. 

But Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said last week that the country is not interested. 

‘Greenland is ours,’ he said. ‘We are not for sale, and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President-elect Donald Trump is keeping up his push to make Canada the United States’ 51st state.

‘Canada and the United States. That would really be something,’ Trump said Tuesday at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. ‘They should be a state.’

Trump highlighted that if Canada were to join the U.S., it wouldn’t be by using military force but instead through ‘economic force.’

A day earlier, the president-elect argued in a social media post that ‘many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State.’

Trump emphasized that ‘if Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!’

In recent weeks, the former and now president-elect has trolled the United States’ neighbor to the north, musing about it becoming the 51st state, and posting a doctored photo of him standing beside a Canadian flag high atop a mountain.

Additionally, his recent mocking of longtime Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, repeatedly referring to him as ‘governor,’ along with his threat to impose massive tariffs on Canada, was likely a contributing factor in Trudeau’s resignation announcement this week.

Trump’s fixation on Canada comes as he also turns up the volume on his calls for Denmark to sell the sparsely populated but massive North Atlantic island of Greenland to the U.S.

However, what if the unlikely expansionist scenario of Canada joining the U.S. actually came to fruition?

Hypothetically, it could be a massive political boon for Democrats at the expense of Republicans.

Canada’s modern political history points to the left.

‘The Liberals have been in charge of the Canadian federal government for the majority of the time since World War Two,’ longtime Republican strategist Dave Carney noted to Fox News.

It is likely the voters supporting those governments would vote for Democrats rather than Republicans if Canada became the 51st state.

With a population of slightly more than 40 million, Canada would become the most populous state in the U.S., edging out blue-state California for the honors.

Canada’s addition to the U.S. as the nation’s largest state could give a big boost to the Democrats in the battle for Congressional majorities and the electoral vote count in presidential elections.

Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of the prominent conservative magazine National Review, warned in an opinion piece for the New York Post that ‘Canada would be a blue-state behemoth, matching California in population…and, presumably, in reliably Democratic politics.’

‘We might think we’d annex Canada and make it more like us, but — with two Democratic senators and a huge tranche of electoral votes for Democratic presidential candidates — Canada would surely make us more like it,’ Lowry predicted.

Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance agreed, noting that ‘Canada as a state would bring millions of voters more likely to align with the Democrats’ agenda and ideology. And with 40 million voters, the new 51st state would be the largest state in the union with a congressional delegation much more likely to oppose Trump and his party’s political agenda.’

Lesperance, president of the New Hampshire-based New England College, said if Trump ‘is serious, and does bring a proposal forward, I would expect tremendous support for his initiative…especially from Democrats.’

Democratic strategist and political analyst Van Jones, on CNN, said that Canada would ‘be a huge blue state’ and that ‘if Canada wants to come here and rescue us, I am more than happy.’

However, Carney, noting that the likelihood of Canada joining the U.S. is extremely slim, said that it is a great negotiating strategy by Trump when it comes to negotiations with America’s northern neighbor.

‘He has an ability to use tools that no one would have ever thought of,’ Carney said. ‘He has the ability and the willingness to use every tool in his toolbox.’

Carney, the top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns, added that Trump ‘uses the soft power of the presidency to get people to pay attention and get what he wants.’

House Republicans are pushing to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office later this month.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is unveiling the bill on Tuesday and already has several co-sponsors in Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mike Collins, R-Ga., Bob Onder, R-Mo., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Mary Miller, R-Ill., Keith Self, R-Texas, and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.

Burlison argued that the ATF was an ‘unconstitutional agency’ and that its mission and goals are duplicates of existing state and local regulations. 

‘The Constitution makes it very clear that when it comes to the federal government, there shall be no laws restricting firearms,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s in the purview of the states, and so I don’t think it belongs on the federal level.’

‘But here’s the thing I want to reiterate – they don’t have the manpower to enforce the laws that they implement. So they go and they solicit help from every local state law enforcement official to help them implement their stupid new rules.’

He said assisting the ATF ‘takes them out of the things they should be prioritizing to keep the community safe.’

Burlison said he has not spoken with members of President-elect Trump’s orbit on the bill, but added, ‘I’m sure there’s quite a few people in Trump world that would be open to this.’

One possible supporter the bill could find is Vice President-elect JD Vance, who previously called for abolishing the ATF and vowed to fight toward that goal in the Senate.

The ATF makes federal regulations for firearm handling and storage, gun licenses and other matters. It also assists in law enforcement investigations like the recent New Orleans attack.

The modern iteration of the ATF was formed as a bureau under the Treasury Department in 1972. It was transferred to the Department of Justice in 2003 as a law enforcement agency after laws on gun control and explosives were added to the ATF’s purview in the 1990s.

Supporters of the ATF’s existence include gun control advocates who argue it does important work to fight gun violence.

However, opponents like Burlison argue its regulations are unnecessary.

ATF Director Steven Dettelbach warned earlier this week that he believes curbing the ATF will result in more unnecessary deaths.

‘People who don’t think that law enforcement, including ATF, has anything to do with driving down violent crime are just wrong — it didn’t happen by accident,’ he told the New York Times.

‘What I am concerned about is that people will take their eye off the ball, that they’ll either get complacent or political, or some combination of those things.’

The ATF has gotten public blowback for its handling of the infamous standoffs in Ruby Ridge and Waco, Texas, however.

Trump previously promised to fire Dettelbach on his first day in office. He told an audience at a National Rifle Association event that the Biden administration appointee was a ‘radical gun-grabber.’

It is not clear if he would abolish it altogether, however. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Trump and the ATF for comment.

Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the certification of the 2024 presidential election results on Monday, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asserted in a post on Tuesday that the political battle was only beginning.

Blumenthal, who has served in the Senate since 2011, claimed President-elect Donald Trump has tapped ‘malignly motivated’ nominees who are not qualified.

‘Now that the Electoral Count is done we can move on? No. Not with Trump planning blanket pardons. Not with dangerously unqualified, malignly motivated Trump nominees. Not with Trump normalizing election denial. The fight is just beginning,’ the senator declared in the post on X.

‘Enough with the Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ Karoline Leavitt, who Trump has selected to serve as his White House press secretary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

‘The American people clearly support President Trump and his policies to secure the border, end inflation, and restore world peace; and President Trump will work with anyone on Capitol Hill who wants to solve these problems and deliver results,’ she added.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Blumenthal’s office to request comment from the senator on Tuesday, but no comment was provided.

Trump, who is slated to be sworn in on January 20, has indicated that on his first day back in office he will likely pardon people connected with the Jan. 6 episode, telling ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristin Welker late last year that the cases would be examined and there could be exceptions if a person was ‘radical, crazy.’

After President Joe Biden announced a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter last year, Trump declared on Truth Social, ‘Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!’ 

In a March 2024 post, Trump said freeing ‘January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned’ would be among his ‘first acts’ as president.

‘Pardoning any convicted Jan 6 rioter, particularly anyone who attacked police officers, would disgrace them & endanger democracy,’ Blumenthal asserted in a tweet on Monday.

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing his report relating to his now-suspended investigations into President-elect Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference and alleged improper retention of classified records. 

Trump co-defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed an emergency motion to block the reported imminent release of Smith’s final report. 

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon ruled in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira to ‘prevent irreparable harm.’ 

Cannon said Smith is ‘temporarily enjoined’ from ‘releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice.’

The order remains in effect until three days after a resolution is announced from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

It is customary for a special counsel to release a final report when his or her work is done, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached as a result of the probe. In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president-elect and longstanding Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president. 

The report would first go to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office for review, according to standard practice.

Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. 

Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Cannon, this summer, dismissed Smith’s case against Trump relating to classified records, ruling that he was appointed unlawfully as special counsel. 

And in November, federal Judge Tanya Chutkan dropped Smith’s charges against Trump in the 2020 election interference case. Smith also dropped his appeal to Cannon’s ruling in the classified records case. 

President-elect Trump, during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday reacted to Cannon’s decision to block Smith’s report. 

‘Deranged Jack Smith dropped the lawsuits. He was told to by the DOJ because they had no lawsuit. They lost in court in front of a very strong and a very brilliant judge,’ Trump said, referring to Cannon. ‘So, he wanted to do a report just before I take office probably, so he’ll do a 500-page report and it will be a fake report, just like the investigation–it was a fake investigation.’ 

Trump added that Smith was ‘thrown off the case in disgrace.’ 

‘Why should he be allowed to write a fake report? It will only be a fake report,’ Trump said, ‘That’s great news.’ 

Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure — publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents.

: President-elect Donald Trump reacted to Meta’s move to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, telling Fox News Digital that the company has ‘come a long way.’ 

Fox News first reported that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to ‘restore free expression’ across its platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have ‘gone too far.’ 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said he thinks Meta’s ‘presentation was excellent.’ 

‘They have come a long way,’ Trump said.

Trump’s comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video Tuesday morning, saying his company is ‘going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.’ 

Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a ‘Community Notes’ model similar to the one used on X.

Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to ‘manage content’ and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to ‘political pressure,’ executives said, but admitted the system had ‘gone too far.’ 

Meta Chief Global Policy Director Joel Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is also changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that they feel are ‘too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.’

‘We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,’ Kaplan told Fox News Digital. ‘We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we are actually changing how we enforce the rules.’

Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make ‘too many mistakes’ and removes content ‘that doesn’t even violate our standards.’

He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.

However, as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital the company has ‘a real opportunity now.’

‘We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression,’ Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. ‘It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.’

Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, in which he admitted that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly with regard to COVID-19 content, and even subjects like satire and humor. 

‘The thing is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government pressuring U.S. companies to take down content, it is just open season then for those governments to put more pressure [on their companies],’ Kaplan explained. ‘We do think it is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home.’

Kaplan also said Meta sees ‘opportunities for partnership’ with the Trump administration, not only on issues of free expression but also in ‘promoting American business and America’s technological edge.’ 

‘Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector,’ Kaplan said. ‘And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals.’

Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so that users who want to see more posts of that kind can do so.

Meta said it will refocus its enforcement efforts to ‘illegal and high-severity violations.’

Meanwhile, this week, Trump ally UFC CEO Dana White joined Meta’s board. 

‘I love social media,’ White wrote. ‘And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies.’

Also joining the Meta board is former Microsoft Corp. executive Charlie Songhurst, who has been working with the company already on artificial intelligence products, and Exov NV CEO John Elkann. Elkann’s company has stakes in many European businesses, including Ferrari NV and Italy’s popular soccer team, Juventus Football Club.