Guests – Stephen Mundt, Michael Infanzon, Rachel Keshel

DoD Under New Leadership: A Month of Change

The Department of Defense has entered a new era under Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership. After one month in office, Hegseth has verified that staffers from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency are now working in the Pentagon to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse in the government's largest discretionary budget.

Retired General Stephen Munt notes this represents a significant shift in accountability: "The Department of Defense, I can't recall if they've ever had an audit on how they spend money. It's kind of business as usual. Many who served will tell you they saw waste, money spent on things we didn't need."

Hegseth has already stated he wants an 8% reduction in spending over the next five years. While the exact number may be debated, the potential savings are substantial. As General Munt explains, "Whether it's 40%, 35%, or 20%, when you look at the size of the defense budget, if you can save 10 or 20% off what we're spending, that's real money."

This push for accountability isn't new. In 1993, under President Bill Clinton, the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR) aimed to make the federal government "less expensive, more efficient" and change the culture "away from complacency and entitlement towards initiative and empowerment." However, despite repeated attempts at reform, the federal workforce is currently the largest it's been since World War II.

Secretary Hegseth has released a list of priorities that won't be cut, including securing the southern border, nuclear modernization, Virginia-class submarines, and missile defense. At the same time, he's shifting approximately $50 billion from what he described as "woke Biden-era non-lethal programs" to align with the Trump administration's agenda.

The challenge of cutting waste requires difficult decisions. As General Munt points out, "Traditionally, when building budgets, it's a game. They'll say, 'I'm going to cut this thing and this thing because it has huge implications to many congressional folks, and they're going to get upset and put it back and give me the money.' But you need to cut real fat, get rid of stuff we really don't need."

Hegseth has made it clear: "It's simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical." This focus on the mission extends to restoring order and accountability within the federal workforce.

Border Security: A National Defense Priority

The southern border has become a focal point for national defense, with the recent designation of cartels as terrorist organizations allowing for military involvement. General Munt identifies this as a top priority: "To bring order to this country right now, it is the defense of the southern border to stop the flow."

The challenge extends beyond the border itself. "At some point, it's not just the southern border. It's taking back control of our cities where these criminal organizations have established themselves and are causing chaos," Munt explains. The issue encompasses drug trafficking, human smuggling, human trafficking, and criminals who were released from prisons in other countries.

Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach. The military and law enforcement are likely to work together at unprecedented levels to dismantle these networks. The flow of fentanyl through Mexico, with key ingredients coming from China, exemplifies the complex international nature of the threat.

"If we start tracking those shipments and taking those shipments before they reach Mexico, the cartel's source begins to dry up," notes Munt. "We have to stop the source that's creating the problem and providing it to the people who have a problem."

The cartels have become well-organized criminal enterprises with substantial resources. "The cartels tend to be better organized, better funded, and have better equipment than our law enforcement," highlighting the scale of the challenge. Recent executive orders have targeted those doing business with these terrorist groups, aiming to disrupt their financial networks.

Veterans' Issues in Arizona

Arizona faces a critical challenge with veteran care, ranking first in the country for veteran suicides per capita. When the national average was 22 veterans per day taking their own lives, Arizona's rate exceeded 35 per day.

Michael Fanson, a lobbyist and Marine veteran, shared a troubling story about a veteran suicide prevention pilot program that was defunded: "Probably two years ago, I wrote a bill, and Senator Schoak ran the bill for us. We got it passed and signed by the governor for a suicide prevention pilot program. It was going to be the first one in the country... six months into the program, the ninth floor clawed back the money."

The program aimed to train civilians who interact with veterans to recognize suicide warning signs and triggers, addressing the unique challenges veterans face. The loss of this program is particularly concerning given Arizona's large veteran population - the Prescott area has the largest veteran population per capita nationally, with Pima County ranking second.

Fanson has been working to get more veterans involved in politics through a political action committee. "We started a political action committee out of Arizona veterans to raise money to help veterans get elected to school boards and city councils, trying to build the bench or the farm team." He notes that veterans tend to be fiscally conservative and can "work with less money and do more," making them valuable in public service roles.

Despite the challenges, there is bipartisan support for veterans' issues in the legislature. "Both sides of the aisle at the state capitol have offered really good legislation for veterans this session," Fanson notes, citing Democratic Representative Stacey Travers, an Army veteran, and Republican Representative Walt Blackman as champions for veterans' causes.

Election Integrity Challenges in Arizona

State Representative Rachel Keshel (formerly Jones) has been investigating election integrity issues in Pima County. Despite multiple inquiries to the Pima County Recorder's office, she reports receiving minimal response: "A couple weeks ago, Representative Martinez got a letter from the recorder's office saying they needed more time... our letters have been pretty self-explanatory and just easy asks to verify if they're following the law."

Keshel's inquiries began with questions about election observers and expanded after a concerning case involving a former Arizona voter who had moved to Texas. This voter discovered her ballot was listed as "awaiting signature verification" despite having moved to Texas. When the voter attempted to investigate, she received conflicting information from the recorder's office about what happens to undeliverable ballots.

Additional concerns include felons voting without having their rights properly restored, and 4,000 voters who couldn't request their mail-in ballots because the portal wasn't working. Keshel points out that these issues erode public confidence: "Two-thirds of Americans have zero faith in our elections. These types of things do not help to install that faith."

To address these concerns, the legislature has been working on several bills. Representative Alex Kolodin, an election law attorney, drafted a "Florida-style" bill that would require address verification for mail-in ballots and set earlier deadlines for ballot returns. While Governor Katie Hobbs has already vetoed this bill (HB 2703), a ballot referendum is moving forward.

Keshel is also pursuing a bill to return to precinct-based voting rather than voting centers: "We do have the precinct bill moving again... when you look at precinct voting compared to voting centers, which I believe have been a complete disaster, they started in 2018. It has caused more chaos." Her bill would limit precincts to 1,000 or fewer voters, making them more manageable.

While the bill will likely be vetoed, Keshel notes that polling shows a majority of Arizonans want a return to precinct voting, and this isn't just a Republican issue. "One of my Democrat colleagues, Lydia Hernandez... said her voters want precincts again."

Despite the challenges, Keshel remains hopeful about election reform: "We did increase our majority at the legislature... when we passed the election bill last session, and we look at Justin Heap, our new Maricopa County recorder, and some of what Turning Point is doing with the ballot chasing, we are finding ways to combat the machine."

Cleaning up voter rolls remains a fundamental issue. "If we don't clean up our voter rolls, they can match all these undeliverable ballots that are just floating around to a voter on the voter roll that's not legitimate, whether they moved or they're dead," Keshel explains, noting that she has seen evidence of dead voters in her legislative district.

The path forward requires continued pressure for transparency and accountability, alongside legislative reforms to restore public confidence in the electoral system.