Trump announces new Department of Government Efficiency: What is it?

US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

What is DOGE?

🔘 DOGE is a non-governmental agency that will provide “advice and guidance” from outside the government;

🔘 Musk and Ramaswamy will “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before” alongside the Office of Management and Budget, Trump said;

🔘 DOGE will be tasked with the reducing government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful spending, and restructuring federal agencies, according to the president-elect;

🔘 Trump believes that “the massive waste and fraud” has ballooned government expenditures up to $6.5 trillion a year. The proposed department will have to “shrink” the size of the government by July 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Why is DOGE needed?

◽️ By 2023, the US government was spending nearly $2 trillion more than it was raising in revenues, as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Since 2001, annual spending grew faster than annual revenue – at an average rate of 5.5% versus 3.9%;

◽️ 2023 spending covered transfers, including benefit and subsidy payments ($3.19 trillion), aid to different US states ($1.15 trillion), interest ($0.95 trillion), purchases ($0.84 trillion), and worker compensation ($0.56 trillion), according to the Cato think tank;

◽️ In 2023, the US gave almost half of its spending to aid programs that failed to add to national GDP, including social security, Medicare, and food stamps, Cato also reported.

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🇧🇪🚜 More than 100 Belgian farmers have protested against the European Commission's plan to sign a free trade agreement with Latin American countries.

Some of them drove their tractors into central Brussels, fearing that cheaper produce from the region will drive down prices on the EU market.

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Why will US call the shots in possible Ukrainian presidential elections?

The likelihood of Ukrainians going to the polls this spring is quite high, as the incoming US administration may have its own agenda regarding the matter, Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries and expert on the Other Ukraine movement, tells Sputnik while discussing The Economist’s report suggesting that Ukraine's elections could take place as early as May 25.

The new US administration is frustrated with Volodymyr Zelensky, and Donald Trump can remember the times when the former ignored the 45th president’s request for assistance relating to information about the Biden family’s activities in Ukraine, according to Dudchak.

“They [the new Trump team] will probably try to establish their own power in Ukraine, because the current top of the Ukrainian colonial administration is, after all, client of the British special services. Not everything is so rosy in relations between Britons and Americans as there are certain contradictions, a situation Trump may want to change,” the expert points out.

As for the results, they will most likely be known beforehand if the elections are held under Western control, he argues.

“They [the West] will know perfectly well who will be the next Ukrainian president, because in these conditions achieving the desired result is no problem at all,” the expert says, adding that Zelensky will not play a role in the process.

When it comes to presidential candidates, they “have been on everyone’s lips” and any new names are unlikely, the Institute of CIS Countries expert says, citing former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, ex-Parliamentary Speaker Dmitry Razumkov and ex-President Petro Poroshenko.

The latter regularly slams the Zelensky regime, appealing to ordinary people to remember how “wonderfully” he ruled the country, Dudhcak concludes.

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❗️Donald Trump is expected to appoint a special envoy to Ukraine soon to negotiate an end to the conflict, according to Fox News

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What's behind Saudi crown prince's demand to Israel not to attack Iran?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also referred to as MBS, warned Israel against attacking Iran at an Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit in Riyadh on November 11.

The crown prince specifically said that the international community should make Israel "respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands."

🗣 "This is certainly an interesting development," Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar, tells Sputnik.

Kamrava outlined possible reasons behind the crown prince's move:

▪️Trump's decision to appoint anti-Iran politicians to key foreign policy positions could embolden Israel to step up attacks against Iran and ignite a larger regional war. "What we're seeing is an attempt by Saudi Arabia to signal its displeasure and disapproval of a potential expansion of the conflict," the pundit says.

▪️MBS laid the groundwork for de-escalation, giving Iran the opportunity "to gracefully back out" of the conflict with Israel.

▪️"Iran has now renewed popularity in the proverbial Arab street because of it being the only regular army to have attacked Israel after 1973," the professor continued, suggesting that MBS's words were also a show of support to Tehran.

▪️"This is part of a broader regional sign that is being sent to Washington" with regard to its overall Middle Eastern policy, according to Kamrava.

Meanwhile, in October, Saudi Arabia and Iran held joint naval drills in the Sea of Oman. MBS and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke on the phone a day before the summit. On November 10, Saudi Arabia’s top military official visited Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterparts. These signals are "important" and "significant", the pundit emphasizes.

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🚨Russia won’t accept Trump’s reported Ukraine peace plan — senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev (Vice Speaker of Federation Council) to Sputnik.

The plan recently outlined in the Wall Street Journal fails to address Russia’s fundamental concerns, he said.

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❗️President-elect Donald Trump arrived at the White House on Wednesday to meet President Joe Biden, marking a significant moment as the two leaders exchanged a handshake.

This visit is Trump’s first return to the Oval Office since leaving his handwritten letter for Biden two years ago.

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📹 President Joe Biden assured President-elect Donald Trump of a “smooth transition” in January as the two met in the Oval Office. In response, Trump acknowledged the challenges of politics but expressed gratitude, saying, “It is a nice world today, and I appreciate it very much.”

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THROWBACK: Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick Secretary of Defense, voiced support for the Third Temple movement back in 2018.

The movement calls for rebuilding the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the current location of Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of holiest sites in Islam. This was once considered a fringe movement by Israeli society, but it has gained greater prominence in recent years due to influential patrons such National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

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John Thune reportedly elected new US Senate majority leader, according to Fox News

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Day of RCBD Troops: Key insights into Ukraine’s use of toxic agents

November 13 marks the Day of Russia’s RCBD Troops, formed after World War I to address nuclear, chemical, and biological threats through detection, decontamination, and safety efforts.

RCBD Troops have played a key role in exposing Kiev’s use of toxic agents during Russia’s special military operation. Here are the facts shared by their chief, Igor Kirillov.

On 'dirty bomb':

⭕️ Chemical production waste and spent nuclear fuel are being imported into Ukraine, potentially enabling Kiev to create a "dirty bomb" — a conventional explosive device laden with radioactive material designed to contaminate the environment.

⭕️ Ukrainian security service officers are trained to use a "dirty bomb," as well as to manufacture and detonate it in a crowded place.

⭕️ The Kiev regime could resort to a “false flag” provocation using a “dirty bomb” against the Russian population to counter the goals of the special military operation.

On 'smoke shells' and incapacitating agents:

🔺 Kiev forces covertly used chemical weapons disguised as smoke shells during their incursion into Russia’s Kursk region this summer. Over 20 people were injured in an attack near Sudzha, where Ukrainian forces used cluster munitions containing choking agents.

🔺 The Ukrainian military has used temporarily incapacitating agents more than 400 times, including listed chemicals like hydrocyanic acid and chlorine cyanide, near the cities of Donetsk, Gorlovka, and Artemovsk.

On chemical caches and biolabs:

⭕️ Russian soldiers discovered ready-to-use substances based on the strong toxicant thallium nitrate in a Ukrainian Armed Forces cache.

⭕️ Over 40 members of the Ukrainian security services were trained in The Hague on how to take samples to document the use of toxic substances.

⭕️ Russian specialists gained access to Ukrainian biolabs in Rubezhnoye, Severodonetsk, and Kherson, revealing Pentagon-led experiments in the special military operation zone aimed at creating biological weapons components.

⭕️ The US Department of Defense financed military-biological projects in Ukraine, allocating $32 million to the task.

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🚨Trump unfortunately will not destroy NATO – senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev (Vice Speaker of Federation Council) to Sputnik.

NATO is too valuable as a tool of geopolitically dominating Europe for any American president to abandon it, he said.

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Who is John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick for CIA director?

John Ratcliffe, a politician who served as the director of national intelligence (DNI) during Donald Trump’s first presidency, has been chosen by the president-elect to head the CIA.

▪️During his tenure as DNI chief, Ratcliffe became known as a critic of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, drawing the Democrats’ ire for releasing intelligence data about Hillary Clinton’s alleged attempts to use the “Russian collusion” hoax against Trump;

▪️He was a vocal opponent of claims by some in the US intelligence community that Hunter Biden’s laptop was an element of a Russian disinformation, claims that have ultimately been proven untrue. “The intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there’s no intelligence that supports that,” Ratcliffe declared at the time;

▪️Ratcliffe views China as a global threat, claiming in a 2020 WSJ op-ed that “Beijing intends to dominate the US and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically” and labeling the Chinese Communist Party as the real driver behind “many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies”;

▪️In June 2024, he criticized the Biden administration for “refusing to share valuable information regarding Hamas with Israeli intelligence” and for unfreezing several billion dollars’ worth of Iranian funds previously blocked by US sanctions. Voicing his grievances in an article published by the Heritage Foundation, Ratcliffe further accused Iran of funding and arming “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the myriads of other terror groups currently attacking US forces in Iraq and Syria”;

▪️In 2020, Ratcliffe also blamed Iran for masterminding an intimidation campaign against US voters.

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❓Is Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Doomed to Fail?

Here’s what investor Peter Schiff wrote on X:

"I hate to rain on this parade, but the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is not a real department. It exists outside of government and has no authority to do anything. Like any one of a number of independent think tanks that already exist, it's free to make any recommendations it wants, and the government is free to ignore them all. Even if the Trump administration actually proposes some of the DOGE recommendations, they mean nothing unless Congress votes to pass them, which it won’t.

Since no Democrats will vote in favor of eliminating any government department or agency—except perhaps the Space Force—the House will need over 98% of Republican votes. This is nearly impossible to achieve with so many RINOs still in the House and so many representing swing districts. In the Senate, even if all Republicans vote in favor of the cuts, they still don’t have 60 votes.

Also, regarding firing government workers, the civil service unions make that nearly impossible. The best Trump can do is allow the workforce to shrink naturally through attrition. That will help, but the savings over the course of his term will be minimal.

Of course, the nearly impossible task will become completely impossible after the Republicans lose the House in the midterms. That is normal for the party in power. In two years, Trump and the Republicans will own the economy. With stagflation firmly entrenched by then, disappointed voters will again vote for change. But as usual, there will be no real change until an actual dollar and sovereign debt crisis finally forces our leaders to act."

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‘May be new beginning’: What could come from Turkiye severing relations with Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced today that his country “cut all trade and relations with Israel – period.”

Commenting on this development, Hasan Unal, professor of political science and international relations at Ankara Baskent University, noted that he does not know exactly what this means since Turkiye “cut off its diplomatic ties to Israel months before or just months after the Israeli operations began in Gaza.”

His sentiment was echoed by Turkish political analyst Oytun Orhan from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, who said that Turkiye started the process of severing relations with Israel in October 2023 over Tel Aviv’s mass killings of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

“Tensions between the two countries continued to rise and that led to the implementation of specific sanctions,” Orhan explained. “Turkish-Israeli energy cooperation was halted, the process of political normalization between the two countries that started earlier was suspended completely. Turkiye announced the suspension of all trade operations with Israel.”

He also said that Erdogan’s declaration reflects the will of the Turkish people who condemn Israel’s actions and seek the cessation of bloodshed in Palestine.

Meanwhile, Unal argued that Erdogan’s move is unlikely to have a serious impact on the situation in region.

“If Turkiye is now cutting off its diplomatic relations formally with Israel, it may be a new beginning. But in terms of any impact that it is likely to make on the Middle East and on Israel, I would think it would make almost no impact at all on the region or in the on the Israeli attitude,” Unal warned.

He added that this development may further complicate relations between Turkiye and the United States as the incoming Trump administration, “as seen from various vantage points, is going to be quite pro-Israeli.”

Unal also pointed out that, despite declarations about Turkiye cutting off its trade with Israel, “there are quite a considerable allegations and some appear to be not easily deniable, if you like, - that Turkiye is carrying on with its trade with Israel through Palestine.”

“In other words, goods destined for Israel in the past are now destined for Palestine. But you know, once they arrived in an Israeli port like Ashdod, for instance, they are taken over by Israeli companies,” he elaborated.

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Sputnik's fact-check: Is Trump's White House chief of staff a Big Pharma lobbyist?

GOP strategist Susi Wiles, who was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump for the position of White House chief of staff, came under criticism on X for being "a Big Pharma lobbyist" promoting Bill Gates’ GAVI, Gilead, and Pfizer, to name just a few. For MAGA Republicans, who largely opposed mandatory COVID vaccinations, it's a serious matter.

Roger Stone, a long-time Trump ally and Republican political operative, rushed to shred the claims on X: "Susan Wiles has never worked for or represented any pharmaceutical company."

Do the accusations have merit?

▪️Susan Wiles, nicknamed by Trump "The Ice Maiden", most recently worked as a co-chair in lobbying firm Mercury's Florida and Washington DC offices since February 2022.

▪️On its website Mercury lists Gavi, Ford Foundation, Tesla, Pfizer, United Nations Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and Gilead as being amongst its 550 clients.

▪️While employed by Mercury, Wiles lobbied on behalf of Swisher International, Inc according to US Senate Lobbying Disclosure website. Swisher is an American international tobacco company, listed in disclosure forms as SI Group Client Services.

▪️Wiles lobbying efforts concerned Food and Drug Administration regulations in the US Senate and House of Representatives. However, she was promoting not drugs, but tobacco.

▪️US investigative website Sludge claims Wiles' tobacco contracts contradicted Trump's Make American Healthy Again agenda.

Prior to working for Mercury, she had been employed by lobbying company Ballard Partners.

According to lobbying disclosure reports, her clients were:

▪️fossil fuel company Alliance Resource Partners;
▪️clean energy advocate Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions;
▪️automobile company General Motors;
▪️insurance company Bankers Financial Corporation;
▪️international network Children's Hospital Association, and others.

Still, there are no Big Pharma companies or their subsidiaries in the list of her lobbying efforts between 2017 and now.

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