Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Congress zeroes in on small business administration fraud, the Fed votes to cut rates, and foreign travelers to the U.S. may soon have to provide more than just their passports to enter. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. It's Wednesday, December 10th, and this is Evening Wire.
The Senate Small Business Committee held a hearing today on governmental waste and fraud, and Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak testified. Rosiak has spent over a decade reporting on the Small Business Administration's 8A program and has uncovered numerous schemes ranging from pass-through fraud to a $550 million bribery operation. Here's Rosiak in his opening statement.
The most openly abused and shockingly corrupt program in the federal government is so-called set-aside contracting. The program was created in 1978, mostly to help Black Americans start businesses since they'd been discriminated against by the government. But I don't believe any member of this committee would support the program if you see how it works a half century later.
These billions don't go to poor minorities in your states. They go to insiders in the suburbs of D.C., which are already the wealthiest counties in the country.
Lawmakers say abuse of the program exploded under the Biden administration. Now Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and SBA Chief Kelly Loeffler are investigating what some watchdogs warn could be a $100 billion scandal. Committee Chair Joni Ernst says the goal is simple. Stop no-bid fraud, shrink the bureaucracy, and protect taxpayers.
When 8 programs divert government contracts to businesses committing fraud, legitimate small businesses pay the price, losing jobs, revenue, and growth opportunities. Let's clean this up for American taxpayers and put our hardworking small businesses first.
At his rally in Pennsylvania last night, President Trump touted the effects of his immigration and economic policies on the American worker. Speaking to a crowd at Mount Airy Casino Resort, Trump noted that under his watch so far, net new jobs have gone to American citizens, not migrants, as they did under Joe Biden.
Before I entered office, 100 percent of all new net jobs were going to migrant workers.
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Chapter 2: What fraud is Congress investigating in the Small Business Administration?
See that 100 percent of new jobs. But since I took office, 100 percent of all net job creation has gone to American citizens. How about that? before 100% went to people that came into the country illegally again, many of them from prisons, many of them gang members, drug members, Tren de Aragua. More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country.
The president also shared a miraculous update on National Guardsman Andrew Wolf, who was targeted by a gunman in D.C.
Today I got a call that he got up from bed. Do you believe that?
Chapter 3: What are the details of the SBA's 8A program abuse?
He got up. He got up. Now, he didn't speak. He's not ready for that yet. I mean, he got hit in the head. But he got up, and boy, they're so happy. It's amazing.
And President Trump suggested that the appointment of Fed Chair Jerome Powell might not be legitimate because of the use of the infamous Biden auto pen.
I just heard it could be that all four commissioners in the Fed, I hear that the auto pen may have signed those commissions. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but we're going to check. Would you check that, Scott? OK, because I'm hearing that the auto pen could have signed maybe all four, but maybe a couple of them. We'll take two.
Speaking of Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve has approved its third interest rate cut of the year, lowering the benchmark rate by another quarter point. Fed leaders say they're trying to steady a cooling job market, even as inflation remains stubbornly elevated. The vote wasn't unanimous. Two regional Fed presidents pushed to hold rates steady, while one governor called for a deeper cut.
Powell said the Fed is navigating a difficult balance, with inflation risks still tilted upward and employment showing signs of strain. Conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling, and inflation remains somewhat elevated. There's no risk-free path, and I think we're doing the best we can for people.
The suspect accused of shooting a Kentucky State University student and killing another on Tuesday has been identified as an Indiana man not enrolled at the school. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the latest.
Authorities have identified the shooter as a 48-year-old black man. The suspect has been arrested on charges of first-degree assault and murder. Police have yet to reveal a motive for the shooting, and one surviving victim remains in critical condition. Police were called to campus on Tuesday afternoon just after 3 p.m. to reports of shots fired.
Authorities now say there are no more active safety threats on campus. Kentucky State University's president called the shooting a senseless tragedy. Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a motion to condemn socialism. The House passed the resolution last month with broad bipartisan support. 86 Democrats joined Republicans to support it.
GOP Senator Rick Scott spoke in favor of the resolution on the Senate floor yesterday.
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