Trump regime

Independent, 'UK -   Long lines at airports may soon return as bosses at the Department of Homeland Security warn that they will quickly run out of funds to pay security staff.

“That money is dried up, if I continue down this path, the first week of May, because my payroll at DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks,” newly instated DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox & Friends on Tuesday.

“There is no more emergency fund, so the president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there,” he added.

According to Office of Management and Budget data, as of this week, less than $1.4 billion remains in the DHS’s $10 billion budget.

Long lines at airports could return soon as bosses at the Department of Homeland Security warn that they will soon run out of funding to pay security staff.

The government shutdown affecting the DHS and Transport Security Administration workers has been ongoing since mid-February and is the longest in U.S. history, with approximately 100,000 employees reportedly at risk of not being paid until summer.

The lack of payment has resulted in heavy understaffing, causing huge lines out of airports and other major disruptions. According to Politico, by early March, nearly 500 TSA officers had already resigned.

Alternet America - The man whose job was to make sure America’s nuclear and chemical weapons stayed secret sat down to dinner with a woman he’d just met and told her everything. Andrew Hugg, the U.S. Army’s Chief of Chemical Nuclear Surety, was escorted out of the Pentagon and placed on administrative leave after O’Keefe Media Group released undercover footage of him spilling sensitive national security information to a woman he thought was on a date with him. She was not on a date with him.

Over dinner, Hugg discussed potential U.S. action against Iran’s leadership, described how nuclear launch decisions are made, confirmed that the U.S. still possesses nerve agents, confirmed an army chemist had recently died from exposure to an agent, and acknowledged that U.S. airstrikes had killed children in Iran. He said all of this to a stranger.

At some point during the evening, Hugg looked across the table and said: “You’re not a spy, right? Your eyes have mesmerized me so much… The easiest way to get intelligence… send a pretty girl, talk to the guy.”

Bloomberg - The Trump administration is said to be nearing a rescue package for Spirit Airlines that could give the US government the option to own as much as 90% of the carrier once it emerges from bankruptcy.  It’s the latest unorthodox move by Trump into the kind of state-driven economic policy more commonly seen in places like China. During his second term, Trump has shown an extraordinary willingness to take financial positions in private-sector companies his administration deems essential for the US, such as chipmaker Intel. The strategy has drawn scrutiny from critics who question whether the approach could skew markets and create risks for taxpayers.