Republicans Quietly Axed IRS Funding Amid Government Shutdown Chaos

During last week’s negotiations to avert a government shutdown, Congress quietly slashed $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.

Republicans have long targeted the tax agency, and their cuts will hurt its efforts to go after rich tax evaders and improve the IRS’s functionality. It’s their second successful cut from President Biden’s $80 billion funding boost to the agency in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, as the GOP took away an earlier $20 billion in a 2023 budget deal.

The latest cuts to the IRS will come automatically thanks to the 2023 deal, as the language was repeated in last week’s bill. The Biden administration said the cuts would end up adding $140 billion to the national debt, as they hurt the tax agency’s ability to audit big corporations and the wealthy.

Specifically, the White House said, the IRS will conduct 400 fewer major business audits each year, and 1,200 fewer audits of rich individuals. Customer services for taxpayers will also be hurt, according to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. Last month, he warned that by 2026, the IRS will only have the resources to answer two of every 10 phone calls to its helplines, with wait times increasing to an average of 28 minutes.

The Inflation Reduction Act’s boost to the tax agency helped relieve a long backlog of tax filings, and created a well-liked free tax filing pilot program. All of that is on the chopping block now, fitting in with Donald Trump and Republicans’ plans to weaken the IRS. The president-elect plans to appoint anti-tax extremist Billy Long to take over the agency next year, who repeatedly tried to abolish the IRS as a member of Congress.

These cuts combined with Long’s planned appointment mean that tax season next year will almost certainly result in headaches for the average taxpayer and windfalls for the wealthy and powerful. A ballooning national debt is also on the horizon. The question is whether Trump and the GOP will be able to get away with all of it.

“New age guru” to some, center-left crank to others—former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson has thrown her name into the hat for the next Democratic National Committee chair. 

“I’m proud to announce I’m running for Chair of the DNC. In order to respond to the challenge of this moment, the Democratic Party needs transformation,” Williamson, who is 72, wrote Thursday in an X post linked to a longer statement. 

“I am announcing I’m running for DNC chair because I feel that I can bring a level of expertise to the process of lifting up this possibility of victory over the next two and four years in a way that will not occur if we are only looking to traditional means of politicking in order to make that happen,” the former spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey said in a video announcement on YouTube. 

She joins former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, New York State Senator James Skoufis, and former Maryland Senate candidate Robert Houton in the race to succeed outgoing Chair Jaime Harrison.  

This upcoming DNC chair election may be a pivotal moment in time for the direction and ideology of the Democratic Party. Its sweeping defeat in November has resulted in a renewed energy to redefine the party towards the working class.    

“I’ve traveled extensively throughout this country, and I’ve seen how much pain there is out there,” Williamson said in her announcement. “I’ve been up close and personal with people who didn’t have health care, who couldn’t survive on just one job, who were so depressed about so many of the conditions in their lives that were, in fact, at least indirectly due to bad public policy, and too many of them didn’t feel like the Democratic Party had their back.… We need to understand what it is that has made people emotionally and psychologically disconnect from a sense that the Democratic Party was part of a great legacy in American history.”

Williamson has an eclectic range of both progressive and questionable views. She’s on the record supporting Medicare for All, abortion access, and reparations for Black Americans. But she also views vaccine mandates as “draconian” and referred to cancer and AIDS as “physical manifestations of a psychic scream.” She also chimed in with an awful aside about Haitians while President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance were spreading horrendous lies about them eating pets. 

​​“Continuing to dump on Trump because of the ‘eating cats’ issue will create blowback on Nov. 5,” she said in a now deleted post on X. “Haitian voodoo is in fact real, and to dismiss the story out-of-hand rather than listen to the citizens of Springfield, Ohio confirms in the minds of many voters the stereotype of Democrats as smug elite jerks who think they’re too smart to listen to anyone outside their own silo.”

Expect more strangeness from Williamson as the DNC chair race heats up.

Donald Trump’s inaugural fund is set to break the fundraising record the president-elect set in 2017. 

The fund is not restricted by campaign finance law and is made up of donations by businesses and executives, raising questions about corruption and influence peddling in the next Trump administration. Seven years ago, Trump’s first inaugural fund raised $107 million, and this time, corporate leaders will shatter that amount, with pledges already exceeding $150 million. 

For example, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg have each pledged $1 million to the fund. Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin has said he’ll donate $1 million, and Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, plan to donate $1 million each. Automakers General Motors, Ford, and Toyota are also donating $1 million apiece, with Ford reportedly donating a fleet of vehicles as well.  

Some companies on the donation list, according to The Wall Street Journal, are scrubbing their websites and corporate policies of anything that could be perceived as pro-Democrat or hostile to Trump, including, in the case of hardware manufacturer Stanley Black & Decker, criticism of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The company is donating $1 million to the fund, up from the $25,000 it donated to Trump’s 2017 inauguration. 

The donations come with immediate perks: Anyone who donates $1 million or raises $2 million from other donors will get six tickets to pre-inauguration events, including a black-tie ball, a candlelight dinner with Trump and his wife, Melania, and a reception with Cabinet nominees. 

Trump celebrated last week, posting, “EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” on his Truth Social profile. More likely, all of these businesses and executives don’t want to run afoul of the president-elect’s trade policies or deal with anger from his supporters. Trump’s tariffs, if they go ahead, will upend the economy and hurt several U.S. industries such as automobiles. CEOs will be hoping for exceptions and carve-outs, and the way to Trump’s heart is through his wallet.

Trump went shitposting for Christmas.

The president-elect spent Wednesday on Truth Social taking shot after shot at his perceived enemies. What started as a “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!” became 34 straight posts of vitriol. In one post, he gave a shoutout to “the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.’”

He then took shots at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, suggesting that he’d slash the country’s taxes if they’d be oh so kind enough to become our “51st State.”

The posting marathon continued as Trump got into his usual self-victimization bag. “Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME,” he wrote in yet another Truth Social post in the afternoon. He also aimed his ire at the 37 prisoners on death row whom Biden granted clemency, commuting their sentences to life in prison rather than execution. “Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky ‘souls’ but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL!”

Aside from the two longer posts, Trump posted a meme with a picture of himself and former President Barack Obama captioned “when you see the guy who said ‘you’ll never be president’ at your inauguration.” He also reshared multiple headlines and positive articles regarding his FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, and defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth.

“We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!” he concluded.

Donald Trump’s “border czar” is pledging to bring back the practice of family detention for undocumented immigrants.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Tom Homan, who oversaw the family separation policy as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first term, said that the next Trump administration will be holding families in detention centers and won’t hesitate to deport undocumented parents with U.S.-born children.

“Here’s the issue,” Homan told the Post. “You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position.”

“We’re going to need to construct family facilities,” Homan added. “How many beds we’re going to need will depend on what the data says.”

In the first Trump term, ICE used facilities known as “residential centers,” which contained 3,000 beds similar to dormitories. Immigration activists and doctors criticized them as creating a harmful environment for children. This time around, with Trump’s plan to increase deportations on a massive scale, ICE plans to house immigrant families with “soft-sided” tent structures, Homan said.

President Biden ended the family detention policy in 2021, and the federal judge who oversees immigration detention has put a 20-day limit on how long children can be held at an immigration facility. Trump has repeatedly promised an overhaul of Biden’s immigration policies, pledging mass deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Trump is already getting pushback on his deportation plans, which is probably a contributing factor as to why Homan said he hasn’t committed to a target number of deportations.

“I’ll be setting myself up for disappointment,” Homan said, telling the Post that he doesn’t know how much resources he’ll have.

Billionaire immigrant Elon Musk and his supporters are beefing over how to grow Silicon Valley.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” Musk wrote on X on Wednesday morning, in response to Replit CEO Amjad Masad, suggesting that the industry needs to look outside of the United States for its engineers.

“The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk continued in another post. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”

This ruffled the feathers of many MAGA fans on the right who are anti-immigration.

“There are over 330 million people in America. Surely, there must be enough among them to build your ultimate team?” said one X user in a viral reply to Musk. “Why would you deny real Americans that opportunity by bringing foreigners here?”

That “real Americans” quip underscores some of the tension between Musk, himself an immigrant from South Africa, and the MAGA base. Musk thinks it necessary to draw an influx of international engineering talent while many of those who voted for Trump (and arguably Musk by proxy) are against that on principle. The end result of this tension is yet to be seen.

“It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE. If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE,” Musk reiterated in another post. “End of story.”

In the least surprising revelation ever, Donald Trump’s adviser Corey Lewandowski said the president-elect’s dream of annexing Greenland was all to boost his own ego—and acted like that was a good enough reason.

During an interview on Newsmax Monday, Lewandowski suggested that Trump’s recent calls to have the U.S. claim the Panama Canal and Greenland were purposefully outrageous declarations, and just part of the tactical brilliance one could expect from his bold America First agenda.

“So what is Donald Trump talking about? He’s talking about maybe Greenland from a historic perspective coming as part of the United States, taking back the Panama Canal so that China doesn’t have its influence there,” Lewandowski said.

“This is a president who is making out-of-the-box announcements to put the world on notice that once again the United States is the dominant world superpower, and we have a president who understands what that means, and is not going to kowtow to our foreign friends, or our foreign adversaries,” Lewandowski added.

Technically, Lewandowski is right. A world superpower can easily keep both allies and enemies on their toes if they continually make a series of absurd statements on the world stage.

When Newsmax’s Emma Rechenberg gently reminded Lewandowski that Greenland was a semiautonomous state, owned by Denmark, he didn’t seem the least bit dissuaded.

“Why would [Trump] want this?” Rechenberg asked.

“Well, look, Donald Trump is a real estate master, and he understands the historic and the strategic, more importantly, significance of Greenland,” Lewandowski replied, but didn’t appear to know what exactly made it so significant.

“So it’s not because of its beautiful temperatures. We know that’s not the case,” Lewandowski continued. “There is a very important strategic value to the United States having control of this.”

But Lewandowski wasn’t done. “And by the way, we have not expanded our country in 70 years. So, look, Donald Trump is, again, thinking outside the box. How do we have a lasting impact on the world stage? What does his legacy look like?”

Pretty much stating the obvious, Lewandowski explained that the megalomaniacal Trump was hoping to acquire Greenland so he would look cool. A big acquisition like that might distract from any calamities stateside, including his planned massive violent deportations and tariffs set to tank the economy.

Donald Trump has an outstanding tax evasion case in Panama, the same country he’s just publicly accused of financial wrongdoing, according to Newsweek.

Trump railed against Panama’s commerce policies while speaking at the Turning Point USA conference in Arizona on Sunday, threatening to take over the Panama Canal.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair. Especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama, I say very foolishly, by the United States,” the president-elect told the conference crowd. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question.”

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, himself a conservative, rebuked Trump.

“As president, I want to express clearly that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone belongs to Panama, and will continue to do so,” he said in a video statement. “The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.”

Every analysis of this new Trump threat should come with a reminder: In 2019, the owners of a Panama City hotel tower that was previously managed and operated under the Trump brand, accused Trump Panama Hotel Management LLC and Trump International Hotels Management LLC, of not paying the required 12.5 percent taxes to the Panamanian government. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the companies simply kept the money, “intentionally evading taxes” and leaving the new owner liable for millions.

A tax audit of the hotels submitted as evidence found massive inconsistencies. The case is still pending in New York District Court.

President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 men on federal death row, before Donald Trump could return to office and carry out his planned “execution spree.”

“I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden said in a statement. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”

The prisoners on death row will now serve life in prison instead. Biden also noted that he wouldn’t commute the sentences of those charged with hate crimes or terrorism. Dylan Roof, who killed nine Black people at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston in 2015, Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, will each remain on death row. 

Biden’s announcement has already infuriated the right, who see it as some great injustice that men who were set to be executed will instead be spending the rest of their lives in a cage.

“It’s horrifying that Pres. Biden has granted clemency to some of our nation’s most monstrous killers,” Senator John Kennedy wrote on X. “Their victims deserve better, and justice demands more.”

“I think it’s yet another abuse of the pardon power,” said Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy. “He wiped the slate clean … and he did it in a way that is a categorical change of the law.” 

“It wasn’t BAD ENOUGH Joe Biden let in violent criminals and terrorists across our border ON PURPOSE. Now, he’s commuting the sentences of 37 of America’s OWN most dangerous criminals,” chimed Speaker Mike Johnson on X. “This is a slap in the face to the families who have suffered immeasurably at the hands of these animals.”

Luigi Mangione’s lawyer slammed Mayor Eric Adams during a hearing Monday, after the embattled New York politician made public statements about her client. 

“I’m very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial in this case,” said Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s lawyer. “He’s being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials.”

Friedman Agnifilo said that her client was being used as “political fodder” when New York officials on Thursday made a theatrical show of transporting him from Pennsylvania to New York, where he will face state and federal charges.

“He was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I’ve ever seen in my career,” Friedman Agnilio said. “It was absolutely unnecessary.”

She argued that it was also illegal, given that a perp walk is unconstitutional if not used for a “legitimate law enforcement objective,” citing a Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling, Lauro v. Charles.

Mangione was escorted away from a helicopter surrounded by a massive entourage of more than 15 people, including some heavily armed New York Police Department officers, and one special guest. 

“And what was the NYC mayor doing at this press conference? That just made it utterly political,” Friedman Agnifilo said. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on federal corruption charges in October, inexplicably loomed behind Mangione.  

“There was absolutely no need for that whatsoever, and frankly, your Honor, the mayor should know more than anyone of the presumption of innocence that he too is afforded when he [is] dealing with his own issues,” Friedman Agnifilo said. “And frankly, I submit that he was just trying to detract from those issues by making a spectacle of Mr. Mangione.”

In an interview with Pix11 News Thursday, a transcript of which Friedman Agnifilo read out for the record,  Adams had explained why he wanted to be present for the stunt. 

“I wanted to send a strong message with the police commissioner that we are leading from the front,” Adams said. “I’m not going to just allow him to come into our city. I wanted to look him in the eye and state that, ‘You carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love.’ And I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”

Agnifilo pointed out that Adams was missing a crucial “allegedly” in there. “Your Honor, he’s not a symbol. He is somebody who is afforded the right to a fair trial, he’s innocent until proven guilty.”

Mangione pleaded not guilty to the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Last week, Mangione was indicted on several charges, including “murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.”