News Brief: US and Russia Meet in Saudi Arabia; DOGE Says Nearly $5 Trillion in Treasury Payments Missing ID Codes

TOPSHOT - (L to R) US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, the Russian president's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting together at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on February 18, 2025. Top US and Russian diplomats were meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks on resetting their countries' fractured relations and making a tentative start on trying to end the Ukraine war. Both sides played down the chances that the first high-level meeting between the countries since US President Donald Trump took office would result in a breakthrough. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein / POOL / AFP) Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some riveting stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening nationally and around the world.

The United States and Russia take a significant step toward ending the deadly war in Ukraine, our government’s efficiency team discovers trillions of dollars in untraceable payments made at a vital federal agency, and President Donald Trump replaces the head of the Social Security Administration following a stunning revelation regarding recipients between the ages of 100 and 249 years old.

Also, a federal judge weighs in on the controversial decision to drop corruption charges against the mayor of New York, and big changes could be on the way for our nation’s food stamp program regarding what people can and can’t buy with their benefits.

We have a number of time-sensitive issues to share with you today and we begin here: In a concerted effort to bring to an end a brutal war in Eastern Europe, U.S. and Russian officials will begin high-level negotiations, and more now on what we know.

US and Russia Meet in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Ending War in Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff just met in Saudi Arabia with a Russian delegation, which was led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The State Department says that both countries have just agreed to form senior teams that will handle negotiations to end the chaotic and deadly Russia–Ukraine war. Rubio says that the U.S. team will help “work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that’s enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged” in the war.

However, you should know that no Ukrainian representatives were present at yesterday’s meeting, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that since his team was not part of the discussion, his country will not accept any outcome from the talks.

Additionally, following the conference, the Ukrainian leader postponed his planned trip to Saudi Arabia, which had been previously scheduled to take place today.

By the way, another key takeaway from yesterday’s meeting is Rubio making clear that both Russia and the United States need to expand our diplomatic missions in each other’s countries, in order to better facilitate these ongoing discussions.

In related news, Russia’s state pipeline operator says that a highly destructive attack by Ukrainian drones on a crucial pipeline in the former Soviet state of Kazakhstan could significantly disrupt the global flow of crude oil for a number of months. They say that oil exports from that region could be cut by up to 30 percent due to damage from that strike.

A move now to a story regarding big dollars that’s not making sense. A critical branch of the federal government has reportedly made several trillion dollars in payments, but nobody’s quite sure what the money was spent on and uncovering the puzzling money trail won’t be easy. More now on what we’ve learned.

DOGE Says Nearly $5 Trillion in Treasury Payments Missing ID Codes

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) says that a total of $4.7 trillion worth of payments from the U.S. Treasury Department are almost impossible to trace because they are missing what are called account identification codes.

DOGE says the Treasury Department has its own set of special codes which it uses as part of a common bookkeeping practice that’s designed to note which account a Treasury payment is linked to.

However, the department says that those codes were not assigned for trillions of dollars’ worth of payments because in the federal government, that specific entry field was considered optional, and that those entries were often left blank.

DOGE went on to say that moving forward, all federal workers are required to enter codes into that specific field in order to provide a full and accurate accounting of where the government’s money is actually going.

Additionally, in a further effort to trim expenses, DOGE is proposing to eliminate all paper checks at the Treasury Department, which, according to one estimate, could save our nation nearly $750 million annually.

So far, DOGE says that through its efforts, it’s already found a projected total savings of nearly $55 billion. It says these savings stem from fraud detection, contract and lease cancellations, workforce reductions, and the elimination of certain federal grants.

By the way, in order to conduct its ongoing audits, DOGE has been granted access to a large number of federal systems. Its activities are sparking legal challenges from some Democratic lawmakers as well as labor unions who argue that the agency’s access to those systems is unconstitutional.

We’ll stay on topic with DOGE and due to recent findings from that organization, some big changes are happening right now at the government agency charged with our nation’s retirement program. The reasons for the changes are startling, and here’s how the numbers all add up.

Trump Replaces Head of Social Security Administration

The White House says that the president has just replaced the acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA). White House spokesman Harrison Fields told The Epoch Times that moving forward, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert; however, he did not name the individual who has been chosen for the temporary position.

Also, the White House refrained from saying whether the previous acting commissioner resigned or was fired. By the way, Trump’s choice to be the agency’s next commissioner is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate in the coming weeks.

The fallout arrives after tech billionaire Elon Musk recently revealed that DOGE had found more than 12 million people over the age of 120 still listed in the agency’s database as eligible for Social Security benefits.

He goes on to say that more than 1,000 people are listed as being between the ages of 220 and 229, and that the oldest person in the system is listed as older than the United States itself at more than 360 years old.

The data also shows that nearly 400 million people are eligible for Social Security, which is over 50 million more than the entire current U.S. population.

By the way, in 2023, the agency’s inspector general reportedly found nearly 19 million people aged 100 or older who were still listed in the database, despite a Census Bureau estimate that only 86,000 individuals in that age range live in the United States. At that time, the inspector general made a number of recommendations to improve the system; however, the agency disagreed with those recommendations.

We move along now to New York City, where federal prosecutors say they’re dropping corruption charges against the city’s Democratic mayor; a number of people, including the governor, are outraged and a federal judge has just ordered everyone involved in the case to show up in court. More now on this developing story.

Judge Orders Government Officials, NYC Mayor to Appear in Court

The judge says that officials with the Trump administration and lawyers for New York City Mayor Eric Adams must appear in court later today as they all seek to dismiss those criminal charges, which include accepting illegal campaign contributions.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials recently told the judge they were moving for dismissal because of the appearance of impropriety, the risk of interfering with the city’s upcoming 2025 mayoral election, and due to their impact on the mayor’s ongoing duties.

The judge says that federal rules allow the government to dismiss the charges, but only with the court’s approval under a rule that’s intended as a “power to check power.” He also says that a court that is considering a dismissal request “must exercise sound judicial discretion” and also “must have sufficient factual information.”

By the way, a number of federal prosecutors have resigned over the Justice Department’s move to dismiss the case against Adams. Additionally, earlier this week, four New York City deputy mayors stepped down from their positions.

Adams has also faced backlash over his cooperation with Trump’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration. For his part, border czar Tom Homan has dismissed the accusation of a quid pro quo in exchange for the mayor’s cooperation with immigration enforcement efforts.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she is planning to meet with city leaders regarding a path forward and that she is considering removing Adams from office. She says that the alleged recent conduct at City Hall is troubling and cannot be ignored, and that her goal is to ensure the stability of the City of New York.

Finally today, federal officials are considering substantial changes with regard to what people can purchase using food stamps, which are funded by your tax dollars, and certain items are being very carefully scrutinized. More now on a decision that could affect millions of people nationwide.

USDA Might Ban Purchase of Sugary Drinks With Food Stamps

Our nation’s new Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says that more than 40 million Americans who rely on our nation’s food stamp program could soon be barred completely from using their benefits to purchase sugary drinks and certain foods.

However, she did not elaborate further on what specific types of drinks or foods could be impacted if the Department of Agriculture decides to make those changes to the program.

Rollins says that the so-called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, grew by nearly 30 percent under the Biden administration, and that it’s time to look at where the money to fund the program is going and what it’s being spent on. However, she also says that the United States will never take food out of a hungry child’s mouth.

She went on to say that she looks forward to working with our nation’s newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to determine whether or not SNAP recipients, especially children, are being offered the healthiest choices regarding their nutrition.

By the way, recent data from the Department of Agriculture shows that during fiscal year 2023, food or nutrition assistance through SNAP benefits cost the U.S. government nearly $113 billion.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

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Finally, as we do each day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Newt Gingrich, who said:

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”

Gingrich is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.