AOC takes victory lap as Trump-Elon nuclear breakup confirms everything she and Bernie Sanders warned
'I mean, it was a long time coming,' said the progressive firebrand, who is better known to many Americans simply by her initials, AOC.
The self-described democratic socialist congresswoman has spent much of the last few months traveling with Sanders, an independent socialist from Vermont by way of Brooklyn. The two have spent much of the first few months of Trump's second presidency traveling the country as part of their 'Fighting Oligarchy Tour.'
'I don't think that the whole state of the country should be with two should be concentrated in two guys with massive egos that are fighting with each other,' she said.
On Thursday, Musk, who enthusiastically endorsed Trump and bankrolled his campaign in 2024, went ballistic on the president, ultimately saying that Trump was ' in the Epstein files,' which explained why they had not been released. Musk then ramped up the rhetoric even more by supporting his impeachment.
This came after Musk credited himself with Trump's victory.
'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk posted on X. 'Such ingratitude.'
The feud kicked off in earnest on Tuesday, when Musk called the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' which the House of Representatives passed last month, an ' outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination.'
Musk's words caused a headache for Republicans in the Senate, who hope to pass their own version of the legislation, which seeks to extend the tax cuts Trump signed in his first presidency, would ramp up spending on the US-Mexico border for immigration enforcement and slash spending for social services.
Other Democrats like Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware called the feud the 'big, beautiful breakup.' The fight between the world's richest man and the most powerful leader in the world flooded the internet with memes.
The intra-personal feud between the two is a sharp turn from when the Tesla CEO and X owner billed himself as the 'First Buddy' who led the Department of Government Efficiency and regularly made the trek across Pennsylvania Avenue to meet with lawmakers whenever they feared services their constituents used would be subjected to his ' Chainsaw of Bureaucracy.'
In recent months, Ocasio-Cortez has become a major player in the House Democratic caucus. Despite losing her bid to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, she joined the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, which not only handles energy policies like health care.
One recent poll showed Ocasio-Cortez to be more popular than either the president or Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee for president. Others have suggested that she either stage a primary challenge or succeed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Noem defends FEMA response to Texas floods amid scrutiny
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday defended FEMA's response to deadly floods in Texas last week, saying her agency acted swiftly and that Texas officials had praised the administration's actions. During an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Noem denied that a memo she issued in June requiring her to approve FEMA expenditures over $100,000 had caused the agency to move more slowly. "Those claims are absolutely false," Noem said. "Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there." President Donald Trump suggested after taking office in January that his administration would abolish FEMA, formally called the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Republican president said the agency had bungled past disasters and that federal aid could go directly to states. But in the midst of U.S. hurricane season and the aftermath of the Texas floods, Trump and his top officials have taken a softer tone, indicating the agency could be rebranded. "I think he wants it to be remade," Noem said on Sunday. Flash floods swept through parts of Texas Hill Country on July 4, killing at least 120 people and leaving another 160 still missing. The disaster put a renewed focus on Trump administration moves to deemphasize FEMA. As of mid-May, the agency had lost 2,000 full-time employees - a third of its staff - due to terminations and buyouts. Noem issued a memo on June 11 that called for U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies, including FEMA, to submit for her review any contract for more than $100,000. The memo, reviewed by Reuters, said agencies should allow at least five days for her office to review the funding requests. Reuters spoke with several current and former FEMA officials who worried the spending cap could slow down the agency's response to disasters. The deployment of national search and rescue teams managed by FEMA did not appear in the agency's daily briefing until July 8 and four current and former officials said the spending cap had slowed it down. Following the Texas floods, one former FEMA official said Noem needed to approve resources that previously would have been deployed more quickly, including law enforcement officers used for security and crews with saws to clear debris from roads. 'FEMA's never been quick," the former official said. "This is slowing down the speed which they had before." Noem on Sunday denied a New York Times report, opens new tab that thousands of calls to FEMA from victims of the Texas floods went unanswered because Noem had not renewed the contracts. "Those contracts were in place, no employees were off of work," Noem said. "Every one of them was answering calls." An internal FEMA briefing document reviewed by Reuters said Noem had approved contracts for call center support as of July 10, but did not provide further details. New flash flood warnings were in place on Sunday across central Texas, including in Texas Hill Country, a FEMA bulletin said. U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales, a Republican whose district included flood-hit areas, warned on CNN's 'State of the Union' that the region could face a lengthy recovery. "We're not out of the woods yet," he said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Hassett says White House probing Fed renovation costs, authority to fire Powell
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cause if evidence supports that, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday, adding that the Fed "has a lot to answer for" on renovation cost overruns at its Washington headquarters. Hassett told ABC's "This Week" program that any decision by Trump to try to fire Powell over what the Trump administration calls a $700 million cost overrun "is going to depend a lot on the answers that we get to the questions that Russ Vought sent to the Fed." Vought, the White House budget director, last week slammed Powell over an "ostentatious overhaul" of the Fed's buildings and answers to a series of questions about the $2.5 billion project. In a posting on X, he compared the project to France's Palace of Versailles, with rooftop gardens, water features and "premium marble." Hassett's comments confirm that the Trump administration is actively exploring the renovation costs and Powell's testimony about the project as a possible avenue to try to fire the Fed chief well before his term as chair ends in May 2026. Trump has repeatedly called for Powell's resignation for failing to lower interest rates since Trump returned to office in January. Asked if Trump had the authority to fire Powell, Hassett, whose name has emerged as a potential candidate take over the Fed chair job, said: "That's a thing that's being looked into, but certainly if there's cause, he does." Republican Representative French Hill, who chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, said Trump did not have the authority to fire the Fed chair, but Congress would continue to provide strong oversight of the central bank. "Just because Congress created the Fed and that we believe that it should be independent in the setting of monetary policy, it doesn't mean that it's immune from criticism," Hill told CBS' Face the Nation. "Every president since World War Two has had choice words for the Fed chair when they've not been in sync with the direction of the president." Powell in June denied that the Fed was spending money excessively on renovations, telling senators that the almost 90-year-old headquarters "was not really safe, and it was not waterproof" while acknowledging cost overruns. The Fed has said that the project, which includes upgrades to an adjacent building, will consolidate staff into a single campus and reduce off-site lease costs. However, a Fed Inspector General report, opens new tabacknowledged in February that costs had risen to $2.4 billion from an estimate of $1.9 billion two years earlier. "There are no new water features, there's no beehives, and there's no roof terrace gardens," Powell said in response to allegations from Republican senators. Separately on Sunday, Kevin Warsh, a former Fed Board of Governors member who is considered a potential candidate to replace Powell, said the U.S. central bank needs "regime change" that goes beyond the chair position. "The Fed has lost its way. It's lost its way in supervision, it's lost its way in monetary policy," Warsh said in a Sunday interview on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures program. Asked whether he would accept a position on the Board of Governors when an expected vacancy opens in January, Warsh said "it's a great job" and that the institution needs major reform. "We need regime change at the Fed, and that's not just about the chairman. It's about a whole range of people, it's about changing their mindset and their models, and frankly it's about breaking some heads, because the way they've been doing business is not working."
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump wants to ‘remake' Fema, not eliminate it, Kristi Noem says
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said on Sunday that Donald Trump wants to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) 'remade' instead of eradicated entirely. In a new interview on Sunday with NBC, Noem defended the Trump administration's response to the deadly Texas floods that have killed at least 120 people, saying: 'I think the president recognizes that Fema should not exist the way that it always has been. It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that's what we did during this response.' Noem added: 'I think he wants it to be remade so that it's an agency that is new in how it deploys and supports states.' Her comments follow widespread criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the Texas floods as reports emerged of thousands of calls from flood survivors being left unanswered by Fema's call centers due to unextended contracts. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Fema did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line. The outlet also reported that Noem, who implemented a new policy that she personally signs off on contracts over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until five days after they expired in the middle of the floods. Noem decried the reports as 'fake news', saying: 'That report needs to be validified. I'm not certain it's accurate, and I'm not sure where it came from, and the individuals who are giving you information out of Fema, I'd love to have them put their names behind it because the anonymous attacks to politicize the situation is completely wrong.' Noem went on to acknowledge her policy of personally signing off on contracts worth more than $100,000, saying: 'It's not extra red tape, it's making sure everything is getting to my level, and that it's immediately responded to.' She also praised Fema's response as the 'best response' in years to the Texas floods, saying: 'This response was by far the best response we've seen out of Fema, the best response we've seen out of the federal government in many, many years, and certainly much better than what we saw under Joe Biden.' Despite Noem's defense of the agency and the Trump administration's handling of the crisis, many have criticized Fema as the downsized agency has seen approximately 2,000 resignations and retirements since Trump's inauguration. Speaking to the Guardian, Michael Coen, Fema's former chief of staff, said: 'I'm concerned that Fema is going to be at a disadvantage because they don't have the resources to respond to the disasters we know could happen, which could be two or three concurrent disasters at the same time. 'Fema has eroded capacity since President Trump became president. Staff have departed. There have been cuts to grant programs and they are going to be running into a financial challenge with the disaster relief fund, because the president hasn't requested supplemental funding from Congress.' Since taking office, Trump has routinely threatened to disband the agency which was set up by Jimmy Carter in 1979 following states' struggle to handle major disasters. In June, Trump said that he planned to start 'phasing out' Fema after hurricane season and that states would receive federal aid to respond to natural disasters. 'We're going to give out less money,' Trump said. Last month, Noem also said that Fema 'fundamentally needs to go away as it exists', adding that states should have more responsibility when handling natural disasters. However, since the Texas floods, which mark Trump's first major natural disaster since taking office in January, his administration's rhetoric on eliminating Fema has appeared to shift. Earlier this week, upon being asked whether he still plans to phase out the agency, Trump said it was a matter 'we can talk about later'. Similarly, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters that the federal government's response to natural disasters was a 'policy discussion that will continue'.
