The latest U.S. Treasury report revealed that in February 2026, the federal government paid $79 billion just in net interest on the national debt, which is approaching a staggering $39 trillion.

“We’re $39 trillion in the hole. We just paid $79 billion last month for just service of the debt. Let me ask you … is your life getting better?” asks Glenn Beck sardonically.

Of all the areas where government money is supposedly spent to improve our quality of life — roads, bridges, hospitals, public education, and airports, among others — Glenn admits the only one that’s actually gotten better is the military.

“I see it in the military. And that’s it. … So where’s the money actually going?” he asks.

Some of it appears to be disappearing into fraudulent schemes.

A recent CBS News investigation exposed widespread indicators of fraud in Los Angeles County’s hospice industry, where “over 700 of the roughly 1,800” licensed hospice providers revealed numerous red flags — i.e., shell companies, empty offices, piled-up mail, dead phone lines, and suspicious concentrations of “businesses” in single locations.

On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn dives into L.A.’s hospice scandal, warning that the broader implications should stop us dead in our tracks.

“Final chapter of life, families gather, pain is eased, dignity is preserved, and you’re stealing from that?” Glenn asks in disgust. “Wow. Medicare pays for that. No, let me rephrase that — you pay for that, your tax dollars.”

He expresses shock that “hundreds of hospice companies suddenly appeared almost overnight and nobody noticed” despite numerous glaring signs.

“Many of these [hospice companies] are run out of small little offices and storefronts and residential homes — like 30 of these companies in one little office. And they were enrolling patients who were not dying. In fact, they existed, but they didn’t know they were enrolling in this,” Glenn exclaims, noting that “tens of thousands of dollars” go to every single hospice patient.

“The dying turn into billing codes. The elderly turned into profit centers,” he scoffs.

While some may argue that this is “victimless crime,” Glenn sets the record straight: “Hospice fraud means that real care is denied. Pain medication is withheld. Proper treatment is delayed. Families misled.”

“And it’s not theft of just money. It is the theft of dignity at the end of human life,” he emphasizes.

But hospice fraud is just the beginning of L.A’.s woes.

The city is also funding the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to the tune of $106 million+ to help tenants fight evictions. Except LAFLA and its lawyers also sue the city to block clearing homeless encampments, which create unsafe, disorderly conditions, hurt businesses, and violate city codes.

“The system is a joke. It’s a loop,” Glenn ridicules. “Government tries to do its job. Government then funds the lawyers who want to stop it from doing its job. Lawyers sue the government. Government pays the settlement. Crisis continues.”

Add our “trillion dollar deficit in five months” to L.A.’s hospice fraud and the “legal warfare that perpetuates [its] urban collapse,” and you arrive at a sinister question, he says: “What if Los Angeles is not the exception? What if it is actually the rule?”

“We spend roughly $6.5 trillion every year. … If just 10% of that is lost to fraud, waste, and corruption, that’s $650 billion. If it’s 20%, that’s $1.3 trillion. That’s the entire deficit,” Glenn exclaims, calling it “deeply unsettling.”

“If what we’re seeing in places like Los Angeles reflects the broader system, then 20%, maybe one-third, of the federal deficit every single year may simply be because of corruption,” he continues.

If this “quiet siphoning of money from [taxpayers] through programs that are meant to be compassionate, noble, [and] necessary” is allowed to continue, Glenn warns that the consequences will be catastrophic.

Not only will it result in “financial bankruptcy” but also “moral bankruptcy.”

“If hospice fraud can flourish in the shadows, if taxpayer money can fund legal warfare against you with your money, if billions can move through programs with no accountability, then the deficit we see on paper is only part of the story,” he cautions.

“The real deficit is something harder to repair — a deficit of courage, a deficit of attention, a deficit of moral clarity. And unless we rediscover those things really soon, gang, the most dangerous line in the federal budget will not be the interest payments. It will be that silent line item that’s been growing for decades: the cost of looking the other way.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis and commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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President Donald Trump demanded over the weekend that NATO members, Pacific region allies, and even China help the United States clear the Strait of Hormuz — through which maritime traffic has ground to a halt due to the ongoing threat of Iranian missile and drone strikes — and “make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

Trump noted that “this should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.”

‘Not a simple task.’

The response was less enthusiastic than Trump had apparently hoped, with some nations rebuffing the invitation and others kicking their decisions down the road.

“There are some countries that greatly disappointed me,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House on Monday. “What does surprise me is that they’re not eager to help.”

Fewer than 24 hours later, Trump unpacked his disappointment on Truth Social, noting that “the United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” continued the president.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Vessel attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on March 11. Photo by Handout / ROYAL THAI NAVY / AFP via Getty Images.

After noting that Iran’s leadership and key defenses “are gone,” Trump said, “We no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”

‘You will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella.’

Trump’s latest criticism of NATO comes just weeks after the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, told his European colleagues, “If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t. We need each other.”

Rutte said that without the U.S., European nations would need to each beef up their defense spending to 10% and build out their nuclear capability.

“In that scenario, you will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So hey, good luck,” added the NATO secretary general.

Despite Rutte’s reminder about Europe’s reliance on America and Trump’s threat on Sunday that NATO would face a “very bad future” if members didn’t assist, numerous NATO members and U.S. allies farther afield declined Trump’s invitation to commit forces in the Persian Gulf.

Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told reporters on Monday that officials want to maintain their focus on Ukraine and that where Iran is concerned, their “focus is de-escalation and also freedom of navigation.”

While acknowledging the impact of the conflict and Iran’s ballistic blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas stressed, “This is not Europe’s war — this situation in the region.”

Kallas noted further that the EU has Operation Aspides underway in the Red Sea — a military operation aimed at safeguarding merchant and commercial vessels — but that it won’t cover the strait as “there was no appetite from the Member states to do that.”

Stefan Kornelius, a spokesman for the German government, stated, “The government will not participate in this war,” reported Deutsche Welle. “This war has nothing to do with NATO; it is not NATO’s war.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius echoed this sentiment on Monday, stating, “It is not our war; we did not start it. We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end, but additional warships in the region will likely not contribute to that.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an address on Monday that “we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability” but that it “is not a simple task.”

Emphasizing that the U.K. will “not be drawn into the wider war,” he noted that Britain is working with European allies on a “viable, collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible.”

While reluctant to send warships, the U.K. is reportedly planning to send mine-hunting drones to help reopen the strait.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, “We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context,” reported Reuters.

‘We won’t be dragged into any war of choice.’

“We are convinced that once the situation has calmed down — and I deliberately ⁠use this term broadly — once the situation has calmed down, that is to say, once the main bombing ⁠has ceased, we are ready, along with other nations, to assume responsibility for the escort system,” added Macron.

RELATED: ‘Die in your rage’: Islamist attacks and murder plots are quickly adding up

Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reportedly indicated that the conflict was none of Warsaw’s business, stating his government “does not plan any expedition to Iran, and this does not raise any doubts on the part of our allies.”

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Euronews that “NATO is indeed a defensive alliance, and we won’t be dragged into any war of choice.”

“We of course have a collective interest — and I should say not only within NATO — but as the world, to have the oil flowing, to de-escalate, and that is certainly something we are calling for,” added Valtonen.

Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said that Iran’s blockade was unlawful but also backed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim that the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes appear to violate international law.

Anand said further that there’s been no formal discussion among NATO members about Trump’s request, stating, “To our knowledge a request has not been made to NATO for the type of assistance that is being requested,” reported the Globe and Mail.

Some allies outside of NATO similarly poured cold water on the prospect of a coalition of the willing.

Australian Transport Minister Catherine King, for instance, said her country “won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz.”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly told lawmakers on Monday that her nation had no plans to send warships to the Persian Gulf.

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A public fistfight in a ritzy Washington, D.C., neighborhood led to a former Biden staffer raging against the failures of Democrat-controlled cities on social media.

Yemisi Egbewole worked as the chief of staff to former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, but she has since become critical of many Democratic policies.

‘Tolerating this behavior is unfair to the residents who live here and unfair to the kids themselves. We need to enforce consequences.’

On Sunday, she posted a video on social media showing a large group of what appeared to be teenagers beating down and stomping a victim at the D.C. Navy Yard.

“Blue cities need to wake up. Tolerating this behavior is unfair to the residents who live here and unfair to the kids themselves. We need to enforce consequences,” Egbewole wrote.

She went on to post another video of the unruly young people running through D.C. and criticized Councilmember Janeese Lewis George for voting against curfews that could have curtailed the fighting.

“[George] believes compassion for these children is the pathway to rehabilitation. But at this point, that kind of ‘compassion’ is just abject neglect,” Egbewole added.

“Imagine paying $3,500 a month to live in a box in the city, working all week to afford it, and when the weekend comes you can’t even enjoy it because kids are bare-knuckle beating each other outside your window,” she continued. “The city you pay taxes to does nothing. Incredible.”

She also rejected commenters who argued that the kids were acting out because of a lack of “third spaces” like skating rinks and arcades, a concept popularized by urbanist activists.

“Is this a joke? So the solution is creating more ‘third spaces’ for them to fight each other in? This is a problem that starts at home. It’s a moral and values issue. A skating rink isn’t going to fix that,” Egbewole responded.

RELATED: Former Biden aides unload on Karine Jean-Pierre after she leaves Democratic Party: ‘As breathtaking as it is desperate’

Egbewole addressed the same issue in an op-ed for Fox News, where she warned that Democrats were wrong to avoid the crime issue.

“Refusing to address crime doesn’t protect communities of color; it leaves them more vulnerable,” she wrote in August. “The kids causing chaos aren’t the only ones who live in these neighborhoods. There are other young people who want to learn, want to grow and are watching bad behavior go unchecked.”

Two firearms were recovered in the Navy Yard altercation, and two juveniles were arrested.

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi Tuesday over her handling of the Epstein files.

The committee voted to approve the subpoena requiring Bondi to appear for a deposition over the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation and in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In the subpoena, Comer said Bondi’s deposition could “inform legislative solutions” to improve the government’s response to sex trafficking and to “reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements” related to sex crimes.

‘This subpoena is completely unnecessary.’

Although the subpoena refrained from harshly criticizing Bondi, it was ultimately greenlit on March 4 by committee Republicans who have expressed concerns about Bondi’s leadership.

Every committee Democrat voted in favor of the subpoena, as well as Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The DOJ called the subpoena “completely unnecessary,” arguing that Bondi has “made herself available” to lawmakers with respect to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“This subpoena is completely unnecessary,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. “Lawmakers have been invited to view the unredacted files for themselves at the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General has always made herself available to speak directly with members of Congress.”

RELATED: Watch: Bill Clinton defends Trump in Epstein deposition video

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

“She continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the Department offered to brief the committee tomorrow,” the spokesperson added. “As always, we look forward to continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”

Bondi is now called on to appear before the committee on April 14.

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​Donald trump, Pam bondi, Epstein files, James comer, Epstein files transparency act, House oversight committee, Department of justice, Subpoena, Nancy mace, Tim burchett, Scott perry, Lauren boebert, Michael cloud, Doj, Politics 

Dave Bonhoff is a retired police officer from Baltimore County, Pennsylvania — and until recently also was a bus driver serving the Littlestown Area School District, WHP-TV reported.

You see, Bonhoff was in the practice of donning his well-worn Make America Great Again hat while driving his route in Littlestown — a small borough just a mile or so north of the Maryland border.

‘I want to be able to express myself. I don’t want somebody to tell me, ”Well, my feelings are hurt. You got to take the hat off.”’

But one of his students complained about Bonhoff’s MAGA hat, the station said, after which his boss at Krise Transportation called him on the morning of Feb. 18.

“She contacts me and says, ‘Hey, listen, I’m going to buy you a hat, an American flag hat, because the school district has deemed that they don’t want you to wear that Make America Great Again hat,'” Bonhoff recounted to WHP.

Well, Bonhoff — also known as “Mr. Dave from Bus #73” — decided to walk away from his bus driver gig that very day, just before the afternoon drop-off, the station said.

“If that wasn’t a condition of my employment, I’d be back to work tomorrow,” Bonhoff told WHP. “I miss the kids. Those kids and I had a great relationship.”

He added to the station that “there’s nothing in this hat that says anything about partisanship. I think that saying that this hat is political is absurd. It’s patriotic.”

When a WHP reporter asked Bonhoff how he would respond to those who argue that MAGA hats are synonymous with a political figure — President Donald Trump — Bonhoff replied that they’re off base.

“I would say that making America great is what we should all strive to be,” he noted to the station. “Anybody who doesn’t want America to prosper, I take issue with them.”

Bonhoff added to WHP that Republican and Democrat presidents during their time in office — including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — have used the phrase Make America Great Again.

Alas, clear explanations from higher-ups regarding exactly who said what to Bonhoff appear to be in short supply.

Al Moyer, the Littlestown Area School District’s acting superintendent, told WHP that “districts need to be neutral on sensitive issues” and that Krise Transportation employed Bonhoff, not the school district.

As for Krise Transportation, it denied giving Bonhoff any ultimatums about his MAGA hat but noted a dress code policy in a section of the company handbook, the station said: “Any item of apparel with text or graphics deemed inappropriate by management (including but not limited to alcoholic beverages, drugs, tobacco/vaping, suggestive sexual images or remarks, political sentiments, or offensive statements) are prohibited.”

Bonhoff remained resolute, telling WHP that “I want to be able to express myself. I don’t want somebody to tell me, ‘Well, my feelings are hurt. You got to take the hat off.'”

RELATED: Girl says she fought ‘old,’ ‘racist’ man with MAGA hat at ICE protest — and excuses fellow teen brawlers

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) addressed Bonhoff’s MAGA hat controversy in a statement Friday, noting that political correctness has become a “tool of intimidation,” the station said in a follow-up story:

Mr. Bonhoff is a retired police officer who continued serving his community by safely transporting children to school. Yet he was effectively forced out of his job because he wore a hat that read “Make America Great Again.” Whether someone agrees with that message is completely irrelevant. In America, citizens do not lose their First Amendment rights simply because someone else claims to be offended.

What happened here is not about “sensitivity” or “respect.” It is about the suffocating culture of political correctness that is spreading through our institutions — a culture that demands conformity, punishes dissent, and attempts to silence anyone who refuses to bow to its ideology. Political correctness has become a tool of intimidation. It is used to shame, threaten, and drive ordinary Americans out of their jobs and public life simply for expressing views that do not align with the approved narrative. That is not tolerance. That is coercion.

Mastriano added to WHP that Bonhoff was brave in holding fast to his beliefs: “Dave Bonhoff showed more courage in standing by his principles than many institutions have shown in defending the rights they claim to value. No American should ever be forced to choose between their livelihood and their constitutional freedoms.”

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​Maga hat, Make america great again hat, Donald trump, School bus driver, Pennsylvania, Littlestown, Baltimore county, Dave bonhoff, Littlestown area school district, Pennsylvania state senator doug mastriano, First amendment, Politics 

President Donald Trump and his allies have come out in full force following Joe Kent’s resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday.

Kent announced his unexpected resignation in a letter to Trump, citing concerns about the United States’ military operation in Iran. Kent argued that Iran posed “no imminent threat” and that the United States was forced into the conflict on behalf of Israel, prompting backlash from the administration.

‘He had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack.’

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives,” Kent said in the letter.

Kent’s resignation sent shock waves through the already fracturing MAGA world. Despite the outpouring of support from anti-war commentators, Kent was met with firm disapproval from Trump.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Very weak on security. I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a much stronger statement, debunking many of Kent’s statements she said were false.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt said, pushing back on Kent’s claim that Iran didn’t pose an imminent threat. “This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”

RELATED: Trump’s hilarious response after intel reportedly tells him Iran’s new supreme leader might be gay

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Leavitt went on to list Iran’s offenses against the American people, citing its sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear ambitions. Leavitt also addressed Kent’s claim that Israel forced the United States’ hand in the conflict, calling the assertion “insulting and laughable.”

“And finally, the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable,” Leavitt said. “President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon.”

“As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period. America First,” she concluded.

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A Florida man entered a plea at the beginning of the month following a particularly disturbing case involving monkeys investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Francisco Javier Ravelo, 36, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty on March 2 to distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys. Ravelo was charged in October 2025.

‘It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse.’

The Department of Justice’s press release, citing court documents, explains that Ravelo, a U.S. citizen, “created some and administered some online chat groups dedicated to the distribution and discussion of sexual and violent videos depicting monkeys being mutilated and burned, including baby and adult monkeys.”

The DOJ said Ravelo personally distributed “more than 40 of these obscene crush videos.”

RELATED: ‘Staged armed robberies’: 11 Indian nationals catch visa fraud charge amid conspiracy allegations

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. law defines “animal crushing” as “actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.”

“In his first term, President Donald J. Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law to end animal crushing,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “If you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you.”

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said: “Deliberate cruelty to animals is one of the clearest red flags. It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse. The defendant didn’t merely view this material. He created and administered online groups devoted to it and distributed dozens of obscene animal torture videos. That conduct fuels a market built on brutality.”

HSI New Orleans, HSI Pensacola, the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division investigated the case that led to Ravelo’s guilty plea, according to an ICE press release.

Ravelo faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

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