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Rani Molla

Living the meme: They’re really gonna call it DOGE

During the heat of the campaign trail it can be hard to discern between a genuine promise and an empty one. That’s especially true when the people campaigning are Donald Trump and Elon Musk — men known for extreme exaggerations and outright falsehoods. For the latest presidential campaign, Trump said he would appoint Musk to a “secretary of cost-cutting” position and Musk said it would be part of the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, a nod to the meme coin, dogecoin.

Trump Truth social post
Source: Truth Social

That appears to actually be happening. On a statement posted on Trump’s social-media platform Truth Social last night, Trump confirmed that the “Great Elon Musk” would help run DOGE, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. The extragovernmental organization will help “drive out massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending.” Musk has previously said he could identify “at least $2 trillion,” about a third of the US budget, for the chopping block.

Trump taps Musk to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” with Ramaswamy

Trump taps Musk to lead a 'Department of Government Efficiency' with Ramaswamy
Trump Truth social post
Source: Truth Social

That appears to actually be happening. On a statement posted on Trump’s social-media platform Truth Social last night, Trump confirmed that the “Great Elon Musk” would help run DOGE, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. The extragovernmental organization will help “drive out massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending.” Musk has previously said he could identify “at least $2 trillion,” about a third of the US budget, for the chopping block.

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Claire Yubin Oh

OK, so when was the longest shutdown in US history?

The US government officially shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday after senators failed to agree on a last-minute funding bill. Though initially shrugging off the threat of a shutdown during yesterday’s session, stocks were mildly in the red on Wednesday as investors reacted to what is now the 11th shutdown in the government’s history.

Until this latest shutdown, there had been 20 government funding gaps experienced since 1976 — though not all ended in a full shutdown, with full closure averted in half of those cases.

Indeed, prior to the 1980s, funding gaps didn’t typically have major effects on government operations, with agencies continuing to operate on the basis that the funding would come eventually. However, a more stringent interpretation of the rules led to a stricter appropriations process from the early 1980s onward, with many subsequent funding gaps resulting in a shutdown of affected agencies (unless the gaps were quickly fixed or occurred over a weekend).

Obviously, the duration of the latest shutdown is still unclear, but it will continue until Congress passes a funding bill — most likely via a “continuing resolution,” which has ended every shutdown since 1990. Data analyzed by USAFacts suggest that it might not be a one- or two-day affair, as funding gaps have lengthened in recent years.

Government shutdown patterns
Sherwood News

Indeed, the last shutdown, which began in December 2018, ended up becoming the longest in history, at a whopping 34 days. By the time the government reopened in January 2019, about $3 billion (in 2019 dollars) had been wiped from the GDP in Q4, per data from the Congressional Budget Office, with approximately $18 billion in “federal discretionary spending” delayed over the roughly five-week stretch.

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Max Knoblauch

GM climbs following upgrade, report that Trump administration seeks stake in its lithium mine partner

Shares of General Motors rose more than 2% in premarket trading Wednesday following an upgrade of the stock by UBS from “neutral” to “buy.” The firm also hiked its price target for GM by 45% to $81.

Also likely elevating GM was a Reuters report that the Trump administration is exploring taking a 10% stake in Lithium Americas, the automaker’s partner in a yet to open Thacker Pass lithium mine. Shares of Lithium Americas surged 68% in the premarket.

GM, which invested $625 million into the lithium mine last year, holds a 38% stake in the joint venture. The mine is expected to become the Western Hemisphere’s primary lithium source in 2028, when it’s slated to open, producing enough of the metal to make 800,000 electric vehicle batteries.

Prior to its plans for Lithium Americas, the Trump administration last month said it would take a 10% stake in Intel. In July, it announced a 15% stake in rare earths miner MP Materials.

News Reporter 1970s

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension highlights Nexstar and Sinclair’s vast control over US airwaves

Nexstar and Sinclair control large swaths of US television stations. Nexstar’s planned merger could make their influence even greater.

Max Knoblauch9/18/25
Jon Keegan
9/17/25
Senator Mark Kelly wants AI companies to pay into a fund to offset AI’s negative impacts

The proposal would use money from top frontier AI companies to create an “AI Horizon Fund” to help retrain workers and pay for infrastructure upgrades in a “public / private partnership.”

Senator Mark Kelly
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Max Knoblauch

Delta dips as the Trump administration orders the end of its joint venture with Aeromexico

Shares of Delta Air Lines ticked down on Tuesday morning following the Trump administration’s order that the airline dissolve its approximately 9-year-old joint venture with Aeromexcio by January 1, 2026.

Delta said it was disappointed in the decision, adding that the termination will “cause significant harm to U.S. jobs, communities and consumers traveling between the U.S. and Mexico.” CEO Ed Bastian previously said that the administration’s regulatory stance could be a “breath of fresh air” for the aviation industry.

The Biden administration tentatively decided last year to not renew the antitrust immunity agreement covering the joint venture. At the time, Delta said “$800 million in annual consumer benefits would evaporate” if the partnership were terminated.

Collaboration isn’t over between the two airlines: the Department of Transportation said Delta can maintain its 20% stake in the Mexican airline and the partnership can continue through “arms-length activities such as codesharing, marketing, and frequent flyer cooperation.”

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