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Another Voice: People who rely on aid will be hurt most by Diocese settlement
Elon Musk, the world's richest person and one of Donald Trump's closest allies, met with US lawmakers Thursday on his plans for overseeing radical government spending cuts under the incoming administration. President-elect Trump rewarded the Tesla, X and SpaceX chief for his support during the White House campaign by naming him head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, along with another wealthy ally, Vivek Ramaswamy. Although the office, dubbed DOGE, has a purely advisory role, Musk's star power and intense influence in Trump's inner circle bring political clout. As Musk and Ramaswamy strode into the Capitol for meetings with lawmakers, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson touted "a new day in America." "There's an enormous amount of waste, fraud and abuse," he told reporters. "Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does almost nothing well." Musk and Ramaswamy have said they can identify billions of dollars of cuts in spending, sparking questions about whether Republicans will even try to slash politically popular social security programs. Writing in the Wall Street Journal last month, the two businessmen laid out plans for the White House to cut staff, trim government programs and reduce federal regulations, even if it means bypassing Congress, which holds budgetary power. "The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote. "We're doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. During Trump's election campaign, Musk vowed to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion. This would represent cutting total US spending by a third, almost certainly meaning devastation of social support programs -- something that has never garnered strong political backing. Musk's emphasis on firing large numbers of government employees, however, echoes Republican talking points about the need to take on an overbearing state and may garner more support. Musk says he is seeking "mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy." Musk suggested banning government employees from working at home as an opening tactic. "Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome." Cuts will also target subsidies to public broadcasters and groups such as Planned Parenthood, which campaigns for abortion access and offers an array of reproductive health services. But DOGE is unlikely, at least initially, to go after welfare programs such as Social Security or health insurance for the poor and seniors, Ramaswamy said in an interview with Axios on Wednesday. Such cuts should be "a policy decision that belongs to the voters" and their representatives in Congress, Ramaswamy said. A reduction in military spending, which climbed to $820 billion in 2023, is also unlikely to be on the table. Musk's new role raises the question of potential conflicts of interest, since he could be issuing policy recommendations that impact directly on his own business empire. Underlining the close connection to DOGE, Musk's favorite cryptocurrency is called Dogecoin. rle/ev/md/sms/md
As the college football regular season winds down, the intrigue in some of the Week 13 matchups turns way up. WATCH: Stream most of this week’s top college football games live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). In the Big Ten, undefeated Indiana tries to keep rolling toward a berth in the Big Ten championship game when the fifth-ranked Hoosiers visit No. 2 Ohio State. The one-loss Buckeyes are 11-point favorites. Meanwhile, No. 4 Penn State, which also remains alive in the chase to face top-ranked Oregon in the conference title game, faces a potentially tough road game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Nittany Lions are favored by 11.5 points. In the Pac-12, Oregon State will look to end its losing streak when the Beavers play host to Washington State . The Beavers have lost five in a row and are 11.5-point underdogs, but can they put a complete game together against the Cougars? Check out this week’s college football odds and score predictions for all the Big Ten and Pac-12 games from the CFB coverage team at The Oregonian/OregonLive. Purdue (1-9, 0-7) at Michigan State (4-6, 2-5) Game details: 5 p.m. PT Friday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan TV channel and live stream: Fox and Fox Sports Live Latest line: Michigan State by 13.5 Over/under: 47.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Michigan State 31, Purdue 17 James Crepea: Michigan State 28, Purdue 14 Nick Daschel: Michigan State 31, Purdue 27 Aaron Fentress: Michigan State 31, Purdue 20 Joe Freeman: Michigan State 30, Purdue 15 Sean Meagher: Michigan State 34, Purdue 17 Joel Odom: Michigan State 31, Purdue 10 Bill Oram: Michigan State 28, Purdue 13 Washington State (8-2) at Oregon State (4-6) Game details: 4 p.m. PT Saturday at Reser Stadium in Corvallis TV channel and live stream: The CW Latest line: Washington State by 11.5 Over/under: 57.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Washington State 30, Oregon State 7 James Crepea: Washington State 35, Oregon State 14 Nick Daschel: Washington State 38, Oregon State 17 Aaron Fentress: Washington State 27, Oregon State 17 Joe Freeman: Washington State 32, Oregon State 17 Sean Meagher: Washington State 42, Oregon State 21 Joel Odom: Washington State 38, Oregon State 14 Bill Oram: Washington State 38, Oregon State 23 No. 5 Indiana (10-0, 7-0) at No. 2 Ohio State (9-1, 6-1) Game details: 9 a.m. PT Saturday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus TV channel and live stream: Fox and Fox Sports Live Latest line: Ohio State by 11 Over/under: 52.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Ohio State 37, Indiana 34 James Crepea: Ohio State 42, Indiana 35 Nick Daschel: Ohio State 31, Indiana 29 Aaron Fentress: Ohio State 38, Indiana 25 Joe Freeman: Ohio State 28, Indiana 27 Sean Meagher: Indiana 38, Ohio State 35 Joel Odom: Ohio State 31, Indiana 21 Bill Oram: Ohio State 26, Indiana 24 No. 25 Illinois (7-3, 4-3) at Rutgers (6-4, 3-4) Game details: 9 a.m. PT Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey TV channel and live stream: Peacock Latest line: Rutgers by 1 Over/under: 47.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Illinois 22, Rutgers 14 James Crepea: Illinois 28, Rutgers 14 Nick Daschel: Illinois 24, Rutgers 20 Aaron Fentress: Illinois 23, Rutgers 20 Joe Freeman: Rutgers 24, Illinois 23 Sean Meagher: Illinois 28, Rutgers 24 Joel Odom: Illinois 27, Rutgers 17 Bill Oram: Illinois 28, Rutgers 14 Iowa (6-4, 4-3) at Maryland (4-6, 1-6) Game details: 9 a.m. PT Saturday at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland TV channel and live stream: Big Ten Network and Fox Sports Live Latest line: Iowa by 3.5 Over/under: 43.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Iowa 28, Maryland 20 James Crepea: Iowa 28, Maryland 21 Nick Daschel: Iowa 20, Maryland 14 Aaron Fentress: Iowa 33, Maryland 18 Joe Freeman: Iowa 27, Maryland 20 Sean Meagher: Iowa 21, Maryland 17 Joel Odom: Iowa 34, Maryland 13 Bill Oram: Maryland 35, Iowa 21 No. 4 Penn State (9-1, 6-1) at Minnesota (6-4, 4-3) Game details: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis TV channel and live stream: CBS and cbssports.com Latest line: Penn State by 11.5 Over/under: 44.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Minnesota 27, Penn State 24 James Crepea: Penn State 35, Minnesota 21 Nick Daschel: Penn State 24, Minnesota 23 Aaron Fentress: Penn State 31, Minnesota 17 Joe Freeman: Penn State 31, Minnesota 21 Sean Meagher: Penn State 30, Minnesota 24 Joel Odom: Penn State 28, Minnesota 16 Bill Oram: Minnesota 28, Penn State 18 Wisconsin (5-5, 3-4) at Nebraska (5-5, 2-5) Game details: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska TV channel and live stream: Big Ten Network and Fox Sports Live Latest line: Nebraska by 1 Over/under: 41.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Nebraska 24, Wisconsin 7 James Crepea: Nebraska 24, Wisconsin 17 Nick Daschel: Nebraska 20, Wisconsin 14 Aaron Fentress: Wisconsin 24, Nebraska 23 Joe Freeman: Wisconsin 23, Nebraska 20 Sean Meagher: Wisconsin 28, Nebraska 27 Joel Odom: Wisconsin 20, Nebraska 17 Bill Oram: Nebraska 21, Wisconsin 14 Northwestern (4-6, 2-5) at Michigan (5-5, 3-4) Game details: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor TV channel and live stream: FS1 and Fox Sports Live Latest line: Michigan by 10.5 Over/under: 36.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: Michigan 31, Northwestern 10 James Crepea: Michigan 17, Northwestern 10 Nick Daschel: Northwestern 21, Michigan 20 Aaron Fentress: Michigan 29, Northwestern 10 Joe Freeman: Michigan 24, Northwestern 10 Sean Meagher: Michigan 21, Northwestern 14 Joel Odom: Michigan 16, Northwestern 13 Bill Oram: Michigan 33, Northwestern 17 USC (5-5, 3-5) at UCLA (4-6, 3-5) Game details: 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California TV channel and live stream: NBC and Peacock Latest line: USC by 5 Over/under: 51.5 Predictions Ryan Clarke: UCLA 38, USC 31 James Crepea: USC 35, UCLA 28 Nick Daschel: UCLA 28, USC 27 Aaron Fentress: USC 31, UCLA 26 Joe Freeman: USC 30, UCLA 24 Sean Meagher: UCLA 33, USC 28 Joel Odom: USC 36, UCLA 30 Bill Oram: UCLA 49, USC 47SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — After three straight losses, including back-to-back blowouts , the San Francisco 49ers needed a get-right game. The Chicago Bears helped provide just that. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.
Musk heads to US Congress to discuss slashing government costs