Free Republic

With so much going on these days — on multiple fronts — it's difficult to keep up with it all. On Tuesday alone, there were multiple cabinet secretaries testifying before Congress, President Donald Trump made multiple appearances, commenting on everything from trade to FIFA, the Houthis cried "Uncle!", and India and Pakistan appear primed to bust out into an all-out war. All of which is to say: I didn't have an opportunity to watch Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's testimony before the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee oversight hearing live. But looking back over some of the key...

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has canceled the lease for the Barack Obama Presidential Library. The decision is not expected to significantly impact the center, as the lease was set to expire in 2025. As is customary for a former president, the building housed memorabilia of historic and cultural significance collected during the Obama administration. According to the Chicago Tribune, the current site, owned by Hoffman Estates Medical LLC, was a 73,000-square-foot former furniture store. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) paid $1.4 million annually to rent the space. NARA is responsible for archiving and cataloging thousands...

The Treasury Department announced March 2 that it will no longer enforce the Corporate Transparency Act or the associated Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements. Furthermore, the agency announced that, “Not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either.” The Treasury Department said it will further be issuing a proposed rule that will narrow the scope of the...

DOGE: David Lebryk controlled the computerized payment system responsible for $6 trillion in Treasury payments before he refused to give Trump's DOGE team access to the system. His manager was a Nigerian immigrant appointed by Biden. He quit two weeks ago. ... Obama hired him ... Adeyemo was an Obama insider. He was Director of the National Economic Council under Obama AND he was a Sr Advisor at BlackRock - Very Convenient for them. We’re going to find out how MUCH the Treasury Department stole from the American taxpayers now. People are going to prison. ... Biden really did try...

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions on two companies for allegedly violating a price cap on Russian oil agreed last year by Western countries. Vessels owned by companies based in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey were cited as having violated a price cap set in December by the countries in the Group of Seven leading economies... The coalition set the price cap at $60 per barrel for Russian crude to restrict income for Russian oil that could then be used to fund its invasion of Ukraine. A vessel owned by U.A.E.-based Lumber Marine was found to have violated...

The United States and Qatar have reached an understanding not to allow Iran to access the $6 billion funds reserved for humanitarian assistance. U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Democrats behind closed doors on Thursday that the U.S. and Qatar had reached a “quiet understanding” not to move the money, a person familiar with his comments told Semafor. The news comes as U.S. officials probe whether Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend. Adeyemo told the lawmakers the funds would not be moving anytime soon, the person said.

While speaking with Bloomberg on Thursday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo discussed the July CPI report where inflation and core grew by 0.2% in the month, the same rate as the month before and the annual rate increased from 3.0% to 3.2% while annual core inflation dropped from 4.8% in June to 4.7% and said that we’ve seen “prices come down,” and “inflation keeps coming down” from the 9% headline numbers we had a year ago.

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that the Biden administration thinks gas prices “should continue coming down,” and there have been “historic spreads between the cost of crude oil and the cost that’s being paid at the pump. So, we’re calling on those who own those gas stations to bring down the price.” Host Andrea Mitchell asked, “Bottom line, can you do anything to bring down gas prices between now and the election a month from now?” Adeyemo responded, “So, Andrea, we think that gas prices should continue coming down, because we’ve...

During an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo stated that the economy is in transition, “and as part of that transition, we are seeing high prices for some of the things that people have to buy.” And “the only way we’re going to get to a place where we work through this transition is if everyone in America and everyone around the world gets vaccinated.” Adeyemo said, “Today, we face an economy that’s in transition, and as part of that transition, we are seeing high prices for some of the things that people have to...

Neera Tanden, President-elect Joe Biden's choice to run the Office of Management and Budget, has fired off tweets and emails that have agitated her party's liberal wing – along with conservatives and the Senate's most prominent centrist. The missives could pose a threat to her nomination if Republicans gain control of the Senate – or perhaps even if Democrats secure the narrowest of majorities. One immediate strain to emerge is with the Democratic Party's progressive left, in particular those loyal to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020.

This is just too rich. Seriously. From the insufferable Iran deal… to the appeasement “Russian Reset”… to the Libya fiasco… to the rise of ISIS… to installing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt… to the explosion of terrorism in Yemen… to civil war in Syria… to the crisis in Ukraine… to the 2010 State Department apology tour (WikiLeaks cables scandal)… to their inability to stop North Korean nuclear ambitions and the rise of China as an influential power… there were/are zero foreign policy successes in eight years of the Obama administration. There was not a single Obama foreign policy initiative that...