Chapter 1: What are the major fraud issues being addressed in Congress?
Fraud and the economy take center stage on Capitol Hill as the Fed cuts rates and the Senate holds a key hearing on corruption.
The most openly abused and shockingly corrupt program in the federal government is so-called set-aside contracting.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, December 11th, and this is Morning Wire.
New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani has yet to take office, but critics say the storm clouds are already forming over the city.
We put together a team of more than 400 New Yorkers who bring with them both a fluency of the policies and politics of the city, the places that they've succeeded, the places that they've failed.
And as new estimates put Minnesota's massive fraud scandal even higher than previously believed, lawmakers call for tougher federal oversight on relief programs.
We're going to have to look into this in a lot more detail because, you know, there's a lot of allegations out there and they've been out there for years.
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This episode is sponsored by Good Ranchers.
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Chapter 2: How does the 8A program contribute to federal contracting fraud?
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That's GoodRanchers.com, code WIRE for $40 off, plus free meat for life. GoodRanchers.com. Let's get back to the table. The Senate is investigating a multi-billion dollar DEI fraud scheme as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, sending markets soaring.
Chapter 3: What controversies surround New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani?
Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here to break it all down. So Cabot, let's start with the massive fraud scandal that's being discussed on the Hill right now. Our own Luke Rosiak testified before the Senate. Can you give a little context about what brought him there and what he discussed?
Sure. So this all centers on the Small Business Administration's 8A program, which was initially intended to offer support for those businesses that were deemed socially and economically disadvantaged.
Now, under the Biden administration, federal agencies were instructed to make sure that 15% of all government contracts were awarded to businesses operated by minorities or women, meaning billions of taxpayer dollars were given individually. based on race and gender. So basically, this was one of the largest DEI programs in the country.
Now, not only was the program intentionally excluding certain people based on race, it was also rife with fraud. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak has documented countless cases in which minority-owned businesses would win a contract and then outsource nearly all of the work to non-minority-owned businesses, pocketing most of the money in the process.
Chapter 4: How is Mamdani's administration impacting public safety and law enforcement?
In many other cases, large government contractors like Deloitte or Booz Allen Hamilton would seek out minority-owned businesses to secure contracts on their behalf through the 8A program, and then those smaller businesses would keep a huge chunk of the money while the larger contractor would do all of the work.
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Small Business held a hearing to address that fraud, and here's what Rosiak had to say about his findings.
8 creates a random group of influence peddlers who, like lobbyists, get rich by selling their access to government insiders for the benefit of big business while driving up the costs for all of us. This is the kind of thing people hate about Washington.
You owe it to voters to end this program. So the process of the government insisting that certain contracts be awarded to these minority or women-owned businesses is referred to as set-asides. And here's Rosiak testifying about the danger that he says is inherent in these set-aside programs.
Chapter 5: What are the details of Minnesota's fraud scandal?
Wherever there's the prospect of millions of dollars going to somebody without the usual competitive process, The free market is going to find creative ways to get that money to where it would otherwise have gone, which unfortunately often means big companies.
Now, across town, also in Washington, there were some developments on the economy, something that will affect a lot of our listeners. What's the latest with the interest rate?
So on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board voted again to cut interest rates by a quarter point to the 3.5 to 3.75% range. That means the rates have now come down by almost 2% over the last year and a half. They're now at their lowest point in more than three years. So typically rates are raised when inflation is high and then lowered when the labor market is cool.
But ultimately, the Fed board, led by Chair Jerome Powell, viewed the labor market as a more pressing matter. And they said that these cuts would help get hiring going again and lower unemployment. Here's Powell explaining their decision and talking about those conflicting issues between the labor market and inflation.
In the near term, risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside. A challenging situation. There is no risk free path for policy as we navigate this tension between our employment and inflation goals.
Now, speaking of Jerome Powell, President Trump has not been secretive at all about his displeasure with him. Powell's term is coming up this spring. President Trump is going to be replacing him. How does that how's that search going?
Yeah, kids across America right now are counting down the days till Christmas. Donald Trump is counting down the days until May 15th, 2026. That is when Jerome Powell's four-year term expires, and he'll get to pick his successor. The shortlist right now includes two current Fed governors, a BlackRock executive...
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Chapter 6: What actions are being taken to investigate Minnesota's fraud issues?
And his current National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, who is presumed to be the frontrunner. Trump has hinted that he already knows who he's going to pick. He should make that announcement shortly. And we'll see who Trump has under the Christmas tree this spring. Sorry, that was bad. I'm a dad. It's a dad joke.
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As New York City braces for a seismic shift in leadership with Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani taking the helm as mayor next month, a wave of controversy is erupting over his early moves.
Joining us now with the latest is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. So Megan, a lot of political pundits, particularly those on the right, warned that Mamdani would endanger public safety with his undermining of law enforcement. And now they say there's some strong evidence that those claims are vindicated. What's the latest?
Yeah, so one of his most controversial moves, Georgia, is that he just put out this video addressed to immigrants in which he told them that they have a right to resist ICE. So this is what he said.
We can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights. If you encounter ICE, these are the things that every New Yorker should know. First, ICE cannot enter into private spaces like your home, school, or a private area of your workplace without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. That looks like this.
If ICE does not have a judicial warrant signed by a judge, you have the right to say, I do not consent to entry, and the right to keep your door closed.
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Chapter 7: How does the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision affect the economy?
So Mamdani has pledged to end this longstanding practice of clearing out homeless encampments across the city under outgoing Mayor Eric Adams. These kinds of sweeps and cleanups were very common, a central part of maintaining what Adams called quality of life and public safety enforcement. But Mamdani said that unless the city can deliver stable, permanent housing for
Forcing people off the streets will not accomplish anything. Instead, he plans to shift to what he called a housing-first approach. That includes things like providing housing through rental units, possibly housing vouchers to the homeless. But Adams, who we need to remember is a Democrat himself, has warned that this is, quote, idealism colliding with realism.
He and other critics are warning that Mamdani's policies could very well lead to sprawling encampments, deteriorating public spaces, and overall a loss of public safety and quality of life.
Well, he's going to learn just like Los Angeles learned about what happens when you don't clean up your homeless. Megan, thanks for reporting. Yeah, my pleasure. The sweeping fraud allegations coming out of Minnesota have sparked demands for more investigations and further action from political leaders in D.C.
to protect against billions more in taxpayer dollars getting funneled into the hands of fraudsters.
Joining us now to discuss is House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. So first of all, Congressman, thank you so much for coming on.
Good to be with you.
So we have this massive fraud scandal continuing to unravel this week. What do you believe were the most critical oversight failures within the Wall's administration? And how should Minnesota restructure its safeguards to prevent this from happening again?
Well, the first thing you do is you got to get rid of Tim Walz and Keith Ellison and Ilhan Omar. I mean, there's your biggest structural problem right there. Let me put some context around this for your viewers, your listeners. The facts are this. Today, there are roughly, by some estimates, about 80,000 Somali immigrants that are living in Minnesota.
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