Defense Secretary Hegseth pressed on Pentagon meeting with Musk

BlackHays

1 day ago

Originally published Defense Secretary Hegseth pressed on Pentagon meeting with Musk on March 25, 2025 03:45 by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2025/03/defense-secretary-hegseth-pressed-on-pentagon-meeting-with-musk/ at Federal News Network

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Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the Armed Services Committee ranking member, is asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about what was briefed to billionaire Elon Musk during his visit to the Pentagon last Friday and if any classified matters were discussed. In a letter to the defense secretary, Smith said that while Hegseth met with Musk in a personal capacity rather than in his role with the Department of Government Efficiency, it is “difficult to separate Musk’s work at DOGE from his business interests.” Smith also said that the lack of transparency around Musk’s and DOGE’s review of the DoD’s programs and policies and the decisions being made by DOGE are deeply concerning. Smith asked Hegseth about how the department addressed potential conflicts of interests for Musk and if he’s planning to meet with other companies to discuss innovation.
(Smith presses Hegseth on Musk meeting at Pentagon, questions DOGE’s transparency – Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.))
For every dollar invested in an agency inspectors general office, the government saves $18. A new report from the Council of the IG on Integrity and Efficiency found that in fiscal 2024, 73 agency IGs helped save more than $71 billion. The savings are both in terms of real dollars, more than $18 billion recovered, and in cost avoidance. Some of that savings came from investigations into contract, grants or loan problems. IGs suspended or debarred more than 4,200 companies or individuals last year. CIGIE also said it also released last year the first ever report highlighting cybersecurity trends and challenges across the government.
Federal employees will soon see new regulations defining what makes them suitable to work for the government. The White House is directing the Office of Personnel Management to broaden the reasons that employees can be found unfit for federal service. OPM already has the authority to find an employee unsuitable and remove them from their job. But a memo from the White House last week called for an expansion of the grounds for unsuitability. Kevin Owen, an attorney at Gilbert Employment Law, said he sees the White House’s directive as another effort toward politicizing the career federal workforce: “What happens if they start imposing suitability requirements that are restrictive of employees’ free speech or political donations, or charitable donations, or the fact that they’re married to a Green Card holder?” OPM is expected to soon update those suitability standards, but it’s unclear what those will be until OPM actually issues the new regulations.
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Originally published Federal News Network