🔵 No DOGE Cuts

Author

Citizen Frank
March 03, 2025

Good morning. It’s Monday, March 3.

 

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on March 2 that he prefers passing a clean government funding extension to prevent a government shutdown through September before working towards including cuts recommended by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in fiscal year 2026 legislation.

Johnson’s plan may help reduce the chance of a government shutdown looming ahead of a March 14 funding deadline. Republicans previously sought to incorporate the DOGE cuts immediately in an appropriations bill, which likely would have been opposed by Democrats.

“We’re looking to pass a clean [continuing resolution] to freeze funding at current levels to make sure that the government can stay open while we begin to incorporate all these savings that we’re finding through the DOGE effort and these other sources of revenue,” Johnson during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

President Donald Trump lashed out on Monday at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following the latter’s assessment that a deal to end the war with Russia “is still very, very far away.”

“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. “It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing, and Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.—Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”​.

Trump’s Monday reaction comes amid increasing tensions between the two leaders after their contentious meeting at the White House on Friday where they were expected to sign a rare earth mineral deal and discuss ongoing military support for Ukraine.

A suspect is in custody after ramming their car into a crowded market in Mannheim, Germany, on Monday.

No information about the suspect has been released so far, but eyewitnesses told the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper that the suspect drove from a water tower near the market to the parade ground, ramming into multiple people.

“As part of the search measures that were immediately initiated, a suspect was identified and arrested. No further, reliable information can currently be released beyond the information published so far,” Mannheim Police said, according to NBC News.

A stabbing attack left one person dead and four others wounded in Haifa, Israel, on Monday.

Police said they were treating the stabbing, which took place in a central transit hub, as a militant attack. A security guard and a civilian killed the attacker, who police said was an Arab citizen of Israel who had recently returned to Israel after some time abroad.

“My wife Sara and I extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim of the horrific terrorist attack in Haifa, and we send our wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that he had signed a declaration to expedite delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel, in what he cast as US President Donald Trump’s rejection of restrictions placed by predecessor Joe Biden.

The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement, adding that it “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”

Rubio said he had used emergency authority to expedite the delivery of military assistance to Israel as it prepares for the possible return to war in Gaza amid a fragile ceasefire with Hamas.

Pope Francis suffered two episodes of “acute respiratory failure” on Monday, the Vatican said.

The episodes were caused by a “significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican’s press office said in a brief statement.

Two bronchoscopies were performed on the pontiff, with “the need to aspirate abundant secretions.”

Mia Love, the first black female GOP congresswoman, is struggling with a worsening case of brain cancer, her daughter Abigale announced Saturday on social media.

“Many of you are aware that Mom has been fighting GBM brain cancer. Sadly her cancer is no longer responding to treatment and the cancer is progressing,” she wrote.

“We have a shifted our focus from treatment to enjoying our remaining time with her. I am building an archive of special memories with Mia. Please send your pictures, videos and memories to me at [email protected],” she added.

Honda has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in Indiana, starting May 2028, to avoid potential U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods, according to Reuters.

The decision marks a shift from Honda’s initial plan to manufacture the Civic in Guanajuato, Mexico, beginning November 2027. This move is a response to the proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada by the Trump administration, which has prompted manufacturers to reconsider their production strategies.

Those tariffs are expected to go into effect Tuesday.

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