Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-heads of DOGE, are working out how to cut the federal government.Javier Milei, the Argentine leader who both men have praised, advised cutting to 'the very limit.'Milei closed nine ministries, firing thousands of officials, and cut spending by an estimated 31%.Argentina's president says Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy should all go "all the way" in cutting US federal spending.Javier Milei made the comments in an episode of the Lex Fridman podcast released on Tuesday."My advice would be for them to go all the way, to push it to the very limit, and do not give up," he said. "Do not let down their guard."Milei has presided over sweeping spending cuts in Argentina, firing tens of thousands of public employees, shutting down half the country's 18 ministries, and cutting state spending by an estimated 31% in his first 10 months in office.The measures have helped bring inflation down from 25.5% when he took office in December 2023 to 2.7% in October.But they have also ignited a recession and mass civil unrest, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets and unions holding regular strikes across the country."Just cut to the chase. Cut to the chase," Milei told Fridman when asked what advice he had for Musk and Ramaswamy.Both Musk and Ramaswamy have repeatedly praised Milei and taken inspiration from him for their Department of Government Efficiency.On Wednesday, Musk said Argentina had made "impressive progress,'" while Ramaswamy said on Monday that the US needed "Milei-style cuts on steroids."On Sunday, Ramaswamy told Fox News that he expected the wholesale closure of some federal agencies a measure that mirrors that taken by Milei in Argentina.Milei and Musk have long spoken admiringly of one another and were together at President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last week.The two men met for the first time in April at Musk's Tesla plant in Austin, where they discussed free markets and their opposition to bureaucracy, according to a statement from Milei's office.In an X post in September, Musk said his companies were "actively" looking for ways to invest in and support Argentina after the two men met on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in New York held at the time.While Milei has achieved most of his sweeping cuts via executive decree, US spending cuts would likely involve working with Congress, where Republicans will hold just a slim majority.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from Project 2025, a 900-page opus of conservative policy recommendations published by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. But he has nominated two of the documents co-authors to Cabinet-level positions, and many others served in his first administration, which suggests the document may be a window into what the next four years could bring. On Monday, Trump nominated Brendan Carr, who wrote Project 2025s chapter on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to head the agency. He has also appointed Tom Homan, a Heritage Foundation fellow named as a contributor to Project 2025, as his so-called border czar. Eighteen of the 40 co-authors and editors of the report served in the first Trump administration. Among them are Ken Cuccinelli, former acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security; Christopher Miller, former acting Defense secretary; and Russell T. Vought, former director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought is reportedly being considered for another top post in the coming administration. During the 2024 campaign, Democrats sought to tie Trump to Project 2025 a policy agenda they decried as dangerous and shockingly radical framing it as a blueprint for his second term that is much more detailed than the GOPs 28-page platform. The document focuses on proposals to expand presidential power, gut the federal bureaucracy, enact the priorities of the religious right, deregulate, and more. Related:The roadmap: Where Project 2025 might take AmericaTrump at one point claimed to have no idea who is behind it and denied any connection with it when asked about it at the September presidential debate: I have nothing to do with Project 2025. I havent read it. I dont want to read it purposely. Im not going to read it.However, since Trumps reelection, some of his allies have suggested that the document was always intended to be the playbook for his second term. Trumps nominations of Carr and Homan seem to support that idea. Neither will require additional Senate confirmation to take on their roles; through them, they will be in a position to advocate for Project 2025s ideas on communications and immigration, respectively. Heres what we know about Carr and Homan and the ideas relevant to their posts outlined in Project 2025. Brendan CarrCarr, a pick approved by Trumps billionaire backer Elon Musk, currently serves as the senior Republican on the FCC and was previously its general counsel. Now, he is set to take the helm, steering the commission toward a hardline stance against Big Tech and what he describes in Project 2025 as its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square. Among his key proposals in Project 2025 is ending legal immunities for internet platforms hosting user-generated content under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That would require stricter content moderation on the part of these platforms or cutbacks to the degree to which users can contribute content, fundamentally changing the way people interact online. At the same time, he wrote in Project 2025 that he wants to ensure that Internet companies no longer have carte blanche to censor protected speech. That echoes some of Trumps other Cabinet picks who are seeking to crack down on wokeness in their respective agencies. Carr also supports efforts to block TikTok in the US, identifying it, along with the Chinese smartphone producer Huawei, as a national security threat. He claims in Project 2025 that TikTok is part of a Chinese foreign influence campaign by determining the news and information that the app feeds to millions of Americans. However, there are reasons to believe that a TikTok ban would, as Vox previously reported, have serious consequences for online expression, which include shutting down what has proved a hub for activism.Carr may have some difficulty enacting his agenda initially, however. The commission will have a 3-2 Democratic majority until next June when Trump will be able to nominate a new member. Tom HomanHoman isnt named as an author of a particular chapter of Project 2025 but as an overall contributor and some of his stated hardline views on immigration and the border are reflected in the report.He started out as a Border Patrol agent in the 1980s and worked his way up through the immigration agencies, becoming the head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcements removal operations arm under former President Barack Obama. There, he presided over the most immigrants ever deported in a single year, exceeding 400,000. Under Trump, Homan served as acting director of ICE but was never confirmed to the position permanently by the Senate.Homans new role as border czar appears to involve far-reaching responsibilities. Those include overseeing the implementation of Trumps mass deportations policy the centerpiece of the former presidents immigration agenda. That means Homans responsibilities will likely intersect with many of the numerous immigration priorities outlined in Project 2025. Here is a non-exhaustive list of whats included:Expanding the use of a legal authority known as expedited removal to quickly deport immigrants who crossed the border without authorization.Deporting immigrants even in currently protected, sensitive zones like churches.Ending large-scale parole programs that the Biden administration has relied upon as a deportation shield for individuals from certain countries, including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Ending programs like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation.Creating a new legal authority akin to the Title 42 policy, which was implemented by Trump and maintained by Biden to rapidly expel immigrants arriving on the US southern border on the dubious public health grounds of stopping the spread of Covid-19. Homan has yet to indicate whether he or Trump fully endorses these policies. But unlike Trump, who claims to have never read Project 2025, Homan put his name to the document, and could draw from it in his new role. Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Measles, mumps, and polio are supposed to be diseases of the past. In the early to mid-20th century, scientists developed vaccines that effectively eliminated the risk of anyone getting sick or dying from illnesses that had killed millions over millennia of human history.Vaccines, alongside sanitized water and antibiotics, have marked the epoch of modern medicine. The US was at the cutting edge of eliminating these diseases, which helped propel life expectancy and economic growth in the postwar era. Montana native Maurice Hilleman, the so-called father of modern vaccines, developed flu shots, hepatitis shots, and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the 1950s and 60s, which became virtually universally adopted among Americans.Smallpox, the most common form of which has a 30 percent fatality rate, has been eradicated. Mitch McConnell, Republican titan of the Senate, may be the last major public figure still afflicted by a childhood case of polio, less than a century after it paralyzed a sitting American president. Measles likely infected millions of people annually in the US in the 1800s, although precise estimates from the era are hard to come by. In the early 1990s, thousands of people died from the disease every year. It was still infecting more than half a million and killing hundreds per year on average in the 1950s and 60s, before the vaccine debuted. Diphtheria, a deadly respiratory infection, killed more than 1,800 people annually between 1936 and 1945 as the vaccine against it was still being rolled out. It has not killed anybody in the United States in decades.The vaccines that made this possible are among the most important achievements in human history. And yet many Americans appear to be losing faith in them, a worrying trend that could accelerate if President-elect Donald Trump succeeds in handing control of the top US health agency into the hands of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the countrys foremost vaccine denier.Kennedy has spent much of his public career pushing the thoroughly debunked theory of a link between autism and childhood vaccines. He has supported an anti-vaccine group in Samoa, where measles vaccination rates have since fallen off; a 2019 outbreak killed 83 people just a few months after Kennedy visited the island and met with anti-vaccine advocates. He has likewise cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of the Covid vaccines, a position that helped nudge the lifelong Democrat toward Trump. After Kennedy dropped his own presidential campaign this year, he became Trumps most influential health adviser and last week was nominated by the president-elect to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).The day after Trumps election, Kennedy insisted he would not take away anybodys vaccines. Instead, he said, he planned to compile vaccine safety information so that people could make their own decisions. But vaccine safety has been extensively studied and the negative effects Kennedy claims remain undetected. (Others in Trumps orbit have stated that Kennedy will nevertheless use whatever information he finds to try to pull vaccines from the market.)Experts fear that his appointment will validate his anti-vaccine attitudes and exacerbate the publics growing ambivalence toward these vital public health measures. As long-accepted, lifesaving public health measures increasingly become politically polarized, routine vaccination rates are rapidly declining in much of the US. In the 20192020 school year, three states had less than 90 percent of K12 students vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella. By the 20232024 school year, 14 states had fallen below that threshold. The number of states with more than 95 percent of schoolchildren vaccinated the preferred level of coverage to prevent outbreaks dropped from 20 to 11 during that same period.It is no surprise then that the number of US measles cases more than quadrupled from 2023 to 2024. Nobody has died of measles in the US since 2015, but if vaccination rates continue to decline, this highly contagious disease (one person can infect more than a dozen other people) will spread with increasing ease, which raises the risk that American kids could die.We know how to prevent that. Weve had remarkably safe, effective shots for decades. We just need to keep using them.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Apple has partnered with two more merchants, ChargePoint and Booking.com, to offer 3% Daily Cash back on purchases made with Apple Card.Apple Card partners with ChargePoint and Booking.comReserving a flight, hotel, car, cruise, or experience through Booking.com will net you 3% Daily Cash back, though you'll want to book through the Booking.com Apple landing page. Be sure to make the purchase on an Apple device using Apple Pay to take advantage of this promotion.Electric vehicle owners can get Daily Cash back when using Apple Card via Apple Pay when charging their EV at a ChargePoint station. Additionally, this promotion can be used when purchasing at-home charging solutions through ChargePoint's online store. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple has issued point releases for its operating systems, including iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1.1, and visionOS 2.1.1.Currently-tested Apple Intelligence featuresThe updates for iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1.1, and visionOS 2.1.1 have been made available on Tuesday.The version number change indicates the updates are not ones with major feature changes. Instead, the smaller version uptick signifies smaller changes, and often includes security fixes and compatibility changes. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Under state laws designed to remedy a housing shortage, the city has to set aside land for the construction of 250,000 more homes than allowed through existing zoning rules. Measures under consideration by a City Council committee are likely to satisfy the state requirements, the UCLA analysis found. But when analyzing the likelihood of what developers would actually build, researchers found the number of new homes would be far lower.The L.A. City Council is expected to vote later this afternoon to approve the rezoning measure. The report's co-author Shane Phillips of theUCLALewis Center for Regional Policy Studies says the city would be better served if its generous slate of incentives was expanded to cover the remaining 72% of neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family houses. Others have labeled this plan as exclusionary for that reason. Planners face a state mandate to find space for at least 250,000 new housing units by mid-February.

The Architectural Review has unveiled its shortlist of 15 residential projects from around the world for the 2024 AR House Awards. Launched in 2010, the competition recognizes originality and excellence in the design of homes.This years judging panel includes Stella Daoutim, co-founder of Architecture Research Athens, who was commended in the 2021 AR House Awards for Weekend House on Salamis Island; Bangkok Project Studio founder Boonserm Premthada, whose home and office was shortlisted in the 2023 AR House Awards; and Mike Tonkin, co-founder of Tonkin Liu.The judges were interested in houses that broke the mold, with emphasis placed on rigorous plans that could offer surprise. Architectural quality was appreciated for distinguishing itself from ordinary surroundings, with extensions and renovations rewarded for retaining the legibility of existing structures. Most importantly, the judges asked Would I like to wake up in this house?The winner and commended projects will be...

Call of Duty fans complained after developer Treyarch removed XP tokens, so the developer added them back in again, proving it's always the squeaky wheel that gets the grease

EA FC 25's latest patch is here, and alongside bug fixes it finally makes big changes to the attacking AI, transfer negotiations, and even the game's ball physics

Reserve your spot now as Facades+ Seattle is coming back to the Hilton Motif Seattle Hotel on December 5th!!Don't miss out on hearing from our esteemed speakers, Richard Green from Green Facades and Luis Martinez from Swinerton, as they discuss "Sourcing, Supply Chain, and Procurement: Lessons from the Field."This is your final opportunity to attend the last Facades+ conference of this year! Earn up to 6 AIA credits and network with top industry professionals. Secure your tickets today athttps://facadesplus.com/seattle/