Raw Story

CNN's chief fact-checker had his work cut out for him Friday following President Donald Trump's visit to North Carolina and California as he tours areas devastated by natural disasters.

In the Los Angeles area, fires have scorched about 45 square miles. At least 28 people have died. Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene's damage in North Carolina has been estimated at $59.6 billion. At least 104 people died.

On Friday, Trump said he planned to sign an executive order to "begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA — or maybe getting rid of FEMA."

Trump criticized the disaster agency for being too slow and bureaucratic. He has floated letting states handle disasters.

After his speech, CNN's Daniel Dale acknowledged Trump is "totally entitled" to criticize FEMA, and even conceded he's delivered "accurate criticism" of FEMA.

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"But he's also said a lot of things about FEMA and the general federal response to Helene that are just wrong," said Dale.

Dale took particular issue with Trump's claims that he said could "dissuade" Americans in need of federal disaster assistance from applying.

"For instance, Trump said this month FEMA is out of money. If you're thinking of applying for FEMA aid, please know that is not even close to true," he said.

FEMA had $27 billion in its disaster relief coffers as of Jan. 8, Dale noted.

"Similarly, the president has said FEMA has no money for North Carolina because it took all that money and gave it to illegal immigrants," said Dale. "That did not happen."

Congress gave FEMA tens of billions of dollars last year for disaster relief. Separately, it gave a "much smaller amount" — $650 million — to help state and local governments shelter undocumented migrants.

"It didn't divert money to shelter migrants — those are two separate pots of funds," said Dale.

Trump has also claimed that hurricane victims can only get $750 in federal aid. But that figure was only an initial emergency assistance for food water and other pressing needs.

"They can also apply for tens of thousands in additional federal assistance, including up to $42,500 each for home repairs," said Dale. "And Jake, I think this political claim is important as the president muses as you say about abolishing FEMA."

Trump has said FEMA hasn't helped North Carolina at all and has been completely absent. While it's true some mountain communities didn't see federal help for days and have faced slow housing assistance or inadequate, FEMA has "certainly been on the ground in the state," Dale said.

FEMA has doled out more than $316 million in cash in addition to another $300 million given to governments for infrastructure repairs and debris cleanup.

"I'm not up here saying FEMA or the Biden administration was perfect responding to this storm or anything else, and some of what President Trump claimed did prove to have a valid basis," said Dale, calling out Trump's claim the agency has political bias. "It later emerged at least one Florida FEMA employee had directed relief teams not to approach homes with pro-Trump signs, and then told CNN that skipping those homes is part of FEMA's avoidance and de-escalation guidance."

Regardless, Dale concluded, despite that valid claim, "he's gotten a lot of other stuff wrong on the subject of FEMA and federal assistance."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Edward Martin, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, is asking a federal judge to eliminate all restrictions on the previously incarcerated leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers paramilitary from visiting the capital.

Stewart Rhodes and several other Oath Keepers leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States for their role in the Jan. 6 attack. After Trump commuted their sentences in his sweeping Jan. 6 pardon order, a federal judge issued an amended supervised release order, which limits them from visiting D.C. in general without court permission.

Martin, appointed the same day Trump was sworn in as president, argues that the court doesn't have authority to do this.

"As the terms of supervised release and probation are included in the 'sentences' of the defendants, the Court may not modify the terms of supervised release; the term is no longer active by effect of the Executive Order."

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According to CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, Martin further included a whataboutist complaint regarding pre-emptive pardons former President Joe Biden issued for members of his family and other officials likely to be subject to prosecutorial harassment by the Trump administration.

“If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden to visit America’s capital — even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President — I believe most Americans would object," said Martin. "The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted — period, end of sentence.” Notably, none of the people Martin is referring to were ever charged or convicted of any offense related to an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Rhodes has said he doesn't regret joining in with the Jan. 6 attackers, noted The Hill, but he does say he regrets the violence that occurred.

“I didn’t go into the Capitol. I didn’t tell anybody else to go inside ... I regret that my guys went in. They blundered in along with everybody else. It doesn’t make them criminals. It just makes me kind of stupid.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday blasted Russ Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee to again lead the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, over his involvement in Project 2025 and called on their colleagues to reject his nomination.

Vought wrote the chapter on the executive office of the president in the Heritage Foundation’s nearly 900-page conservative blueprint, which seeks to dramatically reshape the federal government and drew much attention throughout Trump’s presidential campaign as Democrats sought to tie the document to him.

Though Trump has repeatedly disavowed Project 2025, he asked several people who were part of the conservative agenda to serve in his second administration.

Vought was the OMB director during Trump’s first administration after serving as deputy director and acting director of the office responsible for administering the federal budget and overseeing the performance of departments throughout the federal government.

During a Thursday press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Vought is “at the levers of power to implement these dangerous, dangerous proposals” outlined in Project 2025, dubbing the nominee its “chief cook and bottle washer.”

The New York Democrat said that while a “good number” of Trump’s Cabinet nominees are “very, very troubling,” Vought is “probably at the very top of the list in terms of how dangerous he is to working people and to America.”

Schumer highlighted how the OMB director “holds one of the most critical positions in the federal government,” adding that “it affects every federal agency, every local economy, every town, city, every American family — so someone in this position has to understand what working families in America need.”

Programs ‘on the chopping block’

Multiple Democrats on the Senate Committee on the Budget — including ranking member Jeff Merkley of Oregon as well as Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico — also lambasted Vought and his involvement in Project 2025.

Murray, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, said Vought “has made very clear that as Trump’s budget director, he will put everything … on the chopping block, from programs that people rely on, to the checks and balances that our democracy is actually founded on.”

“Given his extremism and his clear disdain for the rule of law, we should not hand Vought power that he has made clear he will abuse to help billionaires get ahead at working people’s expense,” she added.

Impoundment belief

Vought sat Wednesday for a confirmation hearing in the Senate Budget Committee.

Last week, he appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to be vetted for the post.

During that hearing, Vought expressed his and Trump’s beliefs that the president has the sole authority to withhold funding Congress has approved through impoundment.

Impoundment refers to when the president withholds funds Congress has already approved. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the president “has no unilateral authority to impound funds.”

In a November announcement of the nomination, Trump said that during his first White House term, Vought “did an excellent job” serving as the OMB director.

He described Vought as an “aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies.”

Donald Trump made the economy a major focus of his 2024 campaign, repeatedly blaming then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris for inflation. And that messaging worked: — Trump defeated Democratic nominee Harris and returned to the White House.

The price of eggs was often mentioned during the 2024 race, and a recurring message from Trump was that he was "going to get the prices down" for "groceries, cars, everything."

But according to The New Republic's Edith Olmsted, the price of eggs has not decreased since Trump's inauguration. In fact, Olmsted — citing Consumer Price Index data — notes that egg prices hit an all-time high on the third day of Trump's second presidency.

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Egg prices in the United States, Olmsted warns in an article published on Thursday, could become even higher if the Trump administration drops the ball with the bird flu.

"Donald Trump's decision to press pause on communications from health organizations amid an escalating bird flu breakout could take America's soaring egg prices and make them even worse," Olmsted wrote.

"The consumer price index found that egg prices have increased 36.8 percent from this time last year, and experts believe the increase in price is the result of avian influenza, which is rapidly depleting the supply of chickens."

The New Republic reporter adds, "If one bird is infected, farms are required by law to cull the entire flock."

In an Axios article published on January 21, reporters Nathan Bomey and Kelly Tyko report that the "escalating bird flu crisis is ravaging the nation's supply of eggs, leading to increased prices and presenting an immediate challenge for the Trump Administration.

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According to Bomey and Tyko, "Some retailers are limiting how many eggs consumers can purchase while others are having a hard time keeping shelves stocked."

Jason Hart, CEO of grocery chain Aldi, told Axios, "It's really a crazy situation and an unfortunate situation for consumers because the supply situation is what it is due to the bird flu."

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The highest-ranking attorney at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) quit on Thursday while snubbing Elon Musk, the agency's chairman.

The Wall Street Journal reported Bill McGinley was first named to DOGE in December by President Donald Trump. The attorney said he intended to return to the private sector.

While McGinley praised Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, he failed to mention Musk.

"I support President Trump, Vice President Vance, and the great teams in the White House and across the administration one hundred percent," he told the Journal in a statement.

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"I am in discussions regarding a number of private sector opportunities and will have something to announce in the next couple of weeks," McGinley said.

The resignation comes after co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy also quit DOGE this week.

President Donald Trump responded on Thursday to reporters asking him about the federal judge who blocked his executive order gutting birthright citizenship — taking a jab at the judge and confirming he'll fight the decision.

"A U.S. judge temporarily blocks the birthright citizenship order. Do you have any reaction?" one reporter asked.

"No," said Trump. "Obviously, we'll appeal it. They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess. Right. And there's no surprises with that judge."

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Trump appeared to imply the decision was biased against him because it came from a judge in a liberal, West Coast city. The judge in question, Senior U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

Trump's order seeks to redefine the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to all people born in the United States and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," by declaring that children without citizen or permanent resident parents are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States — even though legal experts broadly agree that is not what "jurisdiction" means.

Under Trump's directive, children of undocumented immigrants, or even certain non-citizens in the country legally, could not be issued passports or other federal documents affirming their U.S. citizenship.

Over a dozen states almost immediately sued to block this order from taking effect.