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Top DOGE senator demands answers on plan to exhaust CHIPs Act funds before Trump arrives

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Top DOGE senator demands answers on plan to exhaust CHIPs Act funds before Trump arrives

EXCLUSIVE: A top U.S. senator is expected to demand that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo explain her reported plans to exhaust the remainder of the CHIPs and Science Act’s multibillion-dollar appropriations before President-elect Trump takes office.

“Your recent mandate to the Department of Commerce staff to work overtime — including weekends — spending billions of dollars in funding provided by the CHIPs and Science Act as quickly as possible before President-elect Trump takes office in January is extremely concerning,” Senate DOGE Caucus leader Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, writes in a letter that is to be given to Raimondo on Wednesday.

Ernst called on Raimondo, the previous Rhode Island governor, to immediately halt all last-minute spending plans.

Raimondo recently told Politico she’d “like to have really almost all of the money obligated” from what is one of President Biden’s major government spending initiatives “by the time we leave.”

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. (Reuters/Nathan Howard/File)

The CHIPs Act, sponsored by then-Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, sought to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, research, development and other related endeavors.

In her letter, Ernst said microchips and other “essential goods” strengthen the U.S. economy and supply chain.

She said that the success of the CHIPs Act hinges on careful planning and execution, which, according to her interpretation, are not reflected in Raimondo’s remarks regarding the upcoming final rounds of spending.

“[B]inge buying shopping sprees by bureaucrats shoveling billions out the door before your term expires” are unwise, Ernst said.

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“This is not a time to let the CHIPs fall where they may,” she said, pointing to reports that nearly $280 billion in COVID-19 response funding was wasted or subject to fraud.

RAMASWAMY OUTLINES DOGE’S VISION

“Shoveling out heaps of taxpayer dollars as fast as possible, with little to no oversight, is part of the reason the United States government is nearly $36 trillion in debt today,” Ernst wrote.

In exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, Ernst quipped that while “Black Friday might have come-and-gone, the Biden administration is on a spending spree, convinced every tax dollar must go.”

“We’ve never seen bureaucrats work this hard, and you can be sure they made a list and aren’t checking it twice to find out who is naughty and nice. This is backwards and underscores the need for DOGE to shake up Washington and bring some much-needed Iowa common sense to the capital,” she said.

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In her letter, Ernst wrote that with $25 billion of $53 billion in available appropriations already earmarked, it is difficult to believe the same level of oversight will be given to the last-minute expenditures as there likely was for the first two years’ worth.

In addition to her criticisms and demands that the spending be halted, Ernst asked Raimondo to inform her on several related fronts before the day the new Congress is seated next year.

Ernst is requesting the total number of ongoing negotiations between Commerce and CHIPs Act fund applicants, the duration of planned CHIPs projects and the amount of money spent via the CHIPs Act both prior to and after Trump’s election win.

She will also ask Raimondo how her team is coordinating with the Trump transition on this matter.

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Trump has chosen Cantor-Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to succeed Raimondo on Jan. 20.

Fox News Digital reached out to Raimondo on the general subject of her remarks to Politico. A Raimondo representative directed Fox News Digital to a portion of her interview: “You know, there’s a deadline, there’s a clear deadline with a change of administration. So, certainly, a deadline focuses the mind. But this was the plan we were on all along to complete this mission. I don’t worry terribly about any of the CHIPs money being rolled back, as you say. I mean, the Commerce Department is somewhat unique in so far as everything we’ve done and are doing is bipartisan,” Raimondo said.

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for March 4, 2026

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The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing

07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Lotto America numbers from March 4 drawing

33-38-39-47-51, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Dakota Cash numbers from March 4 drawing

02-18-22-30-32

Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing

12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03

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Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

  • Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
  • Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
  • Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Wisconsin

Carrington scores 18 points to lead Wisconsin’s 78-45 throttling of Maryland

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MADISON (AP) — Reserve Braeden Carrington scored 18 points, John Blackwell scored 14 points and Wisconsin poured it on in the second half to dismantle Maryland 78-45 on Wednesday night.

Nick Boyd scored 13 points and reserve Austin Rapp scored 11 points for Wisconsin (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten), which had 11 players enter the scoring column.

The Badgers’ Andrew Rohde passed out six of Wisconsin’s 15 assists and didn’t commit a turnover. Wisconsin turned it over only three times.

Andre Mills scored 14 points and Elijah Saunders scored 11 points for Maryland.

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Wisconsin turned an already commanding 34-21 first-half stranglehold into a 21-point lead 5 1/2 minutes into the second half. The Badgers shot 48% (27 of 56) and made 42% (13 of 31) from 3-point range. The Badgers scored 44 second-half points.

It was the fewest point Maryland (11-19, 4-15) has ever posted against Wisconsin in the shot-clock era. It was also Maryland’s lowest point total of the season.

Wisconsin has won five of its last seven. Maryland has lost five of its last six.

Up next

Maryland wraps up the regular season hosting 11th-ranked Illinois on Saturday.

Wisconsin ends the regular season at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday.

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Midwest

Gun rights expert says Minnesota Dems tried to block her testimony on firearm bills to ‘avoid’ policy debate

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Gun rights expert says Minnesota Dems tried to block her testimony on firearm bills to ‘avoid’ policy debate

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A Second Amendment expert is accusing Minnesota Democrats of attempting to sideline policy advocates as they push for passage of a pair of gun control bills, arguing the lawmakers are leaning on emotional appeals instead of debating the measures’ real-world impact.

Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom who specializes in gun policy, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Democratic members of a Minnesota House panel appeared to arbitrarily reject her written testimony ahead of a key hearing on the bills and resisted allowing her to testify in person. Swearer was ultimately able to testify for about two minutes.

“I think really at the core of it, that’s what they wanted to avoid, to the extent that they could keep this focused on the Annunciation shooting, and to prevent people like myself from coming in and saying, well, first of all, these policies would not have prevented a single death,” Swearer said.

Displays of rifles at the gun show held Sunday at the Stillwater armory. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

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Democratic offices of the committee did not respond to multiple requests for comments since Friday.

The hearing included heavy moments during which parents of victims and victims themselves of last year’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis testified in support of the bills. The shooter, who later died by suicide, killed two young children and injured more than two dozen others.

“Parents in our community don’t sleep all the way through the night anymore,” Jackie Flavin, who lost her 10-year-old daughter Harper in the shooting, testified. “Because when we send our children out into the world, we know that there are weapons out there capable of turning an ordinary morning into something unthinkable in seconds.”

In reaction to the mass shooting in Minneapolis at Annunciation Church, students rally at the capitol demanding state and federal lawmakers pass bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The two bills, as they are currently written, are stalled in committee after receiving a 10-10 tie vote along party lines at the close of the contentious hearing.

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Swearer said the committee rejected her written testimony, which included an analysis of multi-victim shootings in the state, because it contained hyperlinks, which was against committee rules. She accused Democrats on the committee of selectively enforcing that rule against her but not against others.

“I want to be clear, that was very emotional. It was difficult. These were grieving people, and understandably so, but that I think very clearly is what the Democrats wanted to focus on, the emotion of it,” Swearer said. “They did not want this to turn into a battle of actual experts on policy.”

The bills were part of a sweeping gun control package introduced by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in response to the church shooting.

One of the bills would broadly ban future sales of many “semiautomatic military-style assault weapons” by redefining the firearms under state law and would impose new restrictions on current owners of such guns. The other would prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, which the bill defines as those with more than ten rounds.

Swearer, who was invited to the hearing by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said the bills were unconstitutional.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“They’re problematic from start to finish,” she said, adding that the first bill was “one of the most restrictive gun bans I have ever seen in terms of the definition.”

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The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus’s director of governor relations, Anna Leamy, also testified against the bills during the hearing and noted that Swearer and other “national experts and everyday Minnesotans” were limited from participating, which Swearer said “goaded” Democrats into allowing her to speak for two minutes.

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The National Foundation for Gun Rights said its executive director, Hannah Hill, was also told she could not testify. Committee chairs typically limit witness participation at hearings for time purposes, but those restrictions can spur accusations of selectively suppressing certain voices.

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Federal appeals court rules California ammunition background checks unconstitutional

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