Politics and views in the United States.

Eric Hovde concedes Wisconsin Senator's race. Proposed Dept. of Government Efficiency looking to slash one-third of federal spending, and the U.S. imposes sanctions on groups supporting West Bank settlements.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Are these actions to deceive and mislead voters strengthening and protecting our democracy?

Any fair-minded person would say no.

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde is conceding he lost to incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin by 1 percent.

He says he's considering a recount because perceived irregularities with Milwaukee's absentee ballots and Democratic support for far-right and libertarian candidates cost him the race.

Educators are watching to see if President-elect Donald Trump will follow Project 2025 and eliminate the Department of Education and its K-12 funding.

The Tennessee legislature is studying what that would mean.

Alexa Barajas-Clark with Education Trust Tennessee says the loss of federal money would be hardest on the students who need it most.

They could not guarantee that they would continue to receive the funding and the necessary support and intervention and the services that they would need to receive an equitable education.

According to the Washington Post, Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense paid a woman in 2017 to silence a charge of sexual assault.

Fox News host Pete Hegseth reportedly paid the woman an undisclosed amount, after which she signed a nondisclosure agreement.

Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss releasing its report on Trump's pick for attorney general.

Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz was investigated for drug use and sex trafficking minors.

Tech CEO Elon Musk and businessman/former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are slated to co-chair a proposed federal Department of Government Efficiency.

The two say they want to cut out a third of federal spending to deal with the deficit.

Previous budget-slashing efforts have failed.

The three biggest items, Social Security, Medicare, and the military, are politically popular and millions depend on them.

One big program that could be easier to cut is Medicaid, which serves low-income families.

Trump's allies in Congress have previously targeted Medicaid's expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Larry Leavitt with KFF says that would force states to raise costs.

"For the ACA, simply letting enhanced financial aid expire after next year would result in big out-of-pocket premium increases, reduced enrollment, and more people uninsured."

Environmental groups say new leadership at the EPA is likely to change state policies.

Sam Carpenter with the Hoosier Environmental Council says Indiana's progress on coal ash and water quality could be undone.

"The EPA had recently come out with guidelines that require those to be cleaned up.

There's similar things with coal-fired power plants where we still rely quite a bit on our coal power generation, which is dirty."

The U.S. is imposing sanctions on groups the administration says support illegal Jewish West Bank settlements and encourage violence against Palestinians.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says the sanctions freeze their assets and block Americans from doing business with them.

"These sanctions have targeted an ever-broadening array of actors, from individuals to organizations, for their roles in the escalating violence and instability.

There is no justification for extremist violence against civilians."

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.