From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Harold Hutchison

Fox Business host Charles Payne predicted Monday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will likely cause a short-term hit to the stock market as companies that sell the Pentagon a “$500 hammer” will “take a hit.”

President-elect Donald Trump named Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Nov. 12. Payne said that the committee had “no sacred cows” after discussing the committee’s plan to target federal spending and policies military and health care industries with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and “America’s Newsroom” co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino.

“Here is the way I look at the next Trump 2.0. I look at Trump 2.0 as not necessarily, we’re gonna get everything in the next four years, but we’re gonna put things into place to create prosperity for America that I think could last at least three decades and the key part of this is, look where they’re going – there are no sacred cows,” Payne said. “Look at what they are going after.”

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“On Friday, you had legislation to go after the pharmacy benefit managers, right? CVS stock is cratering. Eisenhower warned us about the industrial-military complex. Well, now we’ve got a health insurance industrial complex, we got a healthcare industrial complex, we got a military industrial complex now,” Payne continued. “There are hundreds of billions of dollars floating around and guess what? It’s not necessarily good news for the stock market initially. You know, because, some of these companies that get all of this money and charge us $500 for a hammer and $1,000 for a toilet seat, they may take a hit, but ultimately, it’s better for the country and that means it’s ultimately better for the stock market.”

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa sent Musk and Ramaswamy a seven-page letter in November with suggestions ranging from addressing unused space in buildings owned or leased by the federal government to halting uncommitted spending for COVID relief, with the proposed cuts totaling over $2 trillion.

In April, Republican Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida confronted Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall about the Air Force paying $90,000 for a bag of bushings. The Pentagon also paid $14,000 for a 3D-printed toilet seat and $1,280 for cups, according to a release from Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.

Ernst released a 60-page report on Dec. 5 that covered findings from Ernst’s investigations into telework since she sent an August 2023 letter to 24 government agencies seeking a review of the issues involved with telecommuting.

Trump reportedly is planning on privatizing the United States Postal Service, which lost $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024, according to the Washington Post.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

A top official within Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet abruptly resigned, citing growing policy disagreements on how the country should respond to tariff threats posed by President-elect Donald Trump and his “America First” economic agenda.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland officially resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet on Monday,  according to a letter she posted publicly and delivered to the prime minister. Freeland’s letter — which came just hours before she was supposed to deliver an address on border security with the U.S. — marks the latest turmoil to beset Trudeau’s government as he deals with a more adversarial partner in the incoming Trump administration and his Liberal Party remains beleaguered with poor poll numbers.

“On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the cabinet,” Freeland wrote to Trudeau. “Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet.”

The finance minister said the two had found themselves “at odds” in the past few weeks over how to find the best path forward for the country. However, she appeared to take particular umbrage with how to approach the “aggressive economic nationalism” presented by President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened Canada and Mexico with sweeping tariffs unless both countries do more to stop the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs.

The U.S.-Canada border, while never experiencing the level of activity seen annually at the southern border, has witnessed an uptick in activity in recent time. There were more than 23,000 encounters by made Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2024, more than doubling the 10,000 encounters experienced the previous fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Freeland wrote. “The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs.”

“We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” she continued. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war.”

Trump, fresh off his electoral landslide victory over Vice President Kamala Harris earlier in November, declared on social media that he would be imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada unless their governments met his demands on illegal immigration and other issues. The threat has since set off a series of reactions from both Canadian and Mexican governments.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a public letter that gave her government credit for the drop in migrant encounters along the southern border and blamed the U.S. for the number of guns in Mexico. Sheinbaum also notably warned that the Mexican government would have a “response in kind” if Trump moves forward with his threat to slap a 25% tariff on all of her country’s goods.

In what has been a more diplomatic approach so far, Trudeau reached out to Trump to discuss the situation, and later said he “had a good call” with the president-elect. The Liberal Party leader soon afterward visited Trump at his Mar-a-Largo residence and detailed what more the Canadian government is doing to bolster border security.

The Mexican government has already been dealing with the fallout of the tariff threats, with a slate of major international businesses suggesting that they would cease investments in the country until more clarity is given on the situation. Freeland’s resignation appears to show that the tariff threats are also wreaking havoc north of the border, with top officials disagreeing on how to respond.

“That means pushing back against ‘America First’ economic nationalism with a determined effort to fight for capital and investment and the jobs they bring,” Freeland said, speaking on how Canada should deal with Washington, D.C. “That means working in good faith and humility with the Premiers of the provinces and territories of our great and diverse country, and building a true Team Canada response.”

Trudeau, who has served as prime minister of Canada since November 2015, may not be the country’s leader following elections next year. Recent surveys indicate his Liberal Party will face a beating at the voting booth in October 2025 against the Conservative Party, led by Member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre. The Conservative Party leader is also viewed by Canadians as better equipped to work with Trump, according to a new Ipsos poll.

In response to the threat of tariffs from the incoming Trump administration, Poilievre has called for the Canadian government to beef up border security and tighten visa rules on legal immigration.

“What we are seeing is the government of Canada itself is spiraling out of control, right before our eyes and at the very worst time,” Poilievre said during a press conference Monday in reaction to the news, in which he detailed the country’s dire economic situation and political instability of the Trudeau government. “Out of control immigration has led to refugee camps opening in suburban Canada and then we have 500,000 in the country illegally, according to government estimates.”

“We cannot accept this kind of chaos, division, weakness while we’re staring down the barrel of 25% tariff from our biggest trading partner and closest ally, which by the way is headed by a newly elected president with a strong and fresh mandate, a man who can spot weakness from a mile away,” he continued.