When customers are walking through the aisles of their local Walmart, they are not just picking up groceries or supplies. They are supporting American businesses and their communities. But what s behind the label? With over two-thirds of the products Walmart buys made, grown, or assembled right here in the U.S., is about strengthening communities.
00:01:27.660All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
00:01:31.220When customers are walking through the aisles of their local Walmart, they are not just picking up groceries or supplies.
00:01:41.880They are supporting American businesses and their communities.
00:01:45.560The real story is what's behind the label.
00:01:47.580With over two-thirds of the products Walmart buys made, grown, or assembled right here in the U.S., buying local is not just stocking shelves.
00:01:58.340Because of that commitment, Walmart invested $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing, helping American companies like Fisher and Weezer Specialty Foods, that's a local Texas business,
00:02:08.540expand their operations in Fredericksburg, Texas, to hire more people and bring their Texas-grown peach jam to a national market.
00:02:15.960Their story is just one example of how Walmart's U.S. manufacturing investment is supporting over 750,000 American jobs.
00:02:24.060Businesses across the country are empowered to sell more, hire more, and help their communities grow.
00:02:29.620From farms to factories to final shopping carts, learn how Walmart is fueling the future of U.S. manufacturing at walmart.com slash americaatwork.
00:02:38.820A federal contracting program intended for, quote, experienced small business owners who are socially and economically disadvantaged,
00:02:49.600including Black, Hispanic, Native, and other groups, now the target of investigations by the Small Business Administration, or SBA,
00:02:58.580the Treasury Department, and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, amid accusations of rampant fraud.
00:03:05.660Historically, about 5% of government contracts were set aside under what is known as the 8A program,
00:03:13.000the Biden administration tripling the goal to 15% of total government contracts.
00:03:19.800In fiscal year 2024, the program handing out $40 billion in awards.
00:03:24.500In June, one government official and three executives pleading guilty to a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 contracts totaling more than $550 million.
00:03:38.520Prosecutors saying the government officials sidestepped the competitive bidding process to steer lucrative contracts under the 8A program to executives who were paying him kickbacks.
00:03:49.140SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler ordering a review of the program to identify similar examples of misconduct.
00:03:56.720In October, investigative journalist James O'Keefe releasing a video further exposing alleged fraud within the program.
00:04:05.080The director of contracts for an 8A company explaining to O'Keefe how businesses in the program are able to win the contracts,
00:04:13.260then pass off the majority of the work through subcontractors.
00:04:16.840And I tell you, pass-throughs are a great thing as well.
00:04:38.000So a lot of our subcontractors bid on contracts that were perfect in their industry, but because they weren't Native American, they wouldn't win it.
00:05:02.660The director telling O'Keefe their company completes about 20% of the work, passing off the remaining 80% to other contractors, in violation of rules regarding subcontracting.
00:05:15.900That company is now under investigation by the SBA.
00:05:19.740O'Keefe's reporting triggering an additional wave of investigations.
00:05:23.580The Treasury Department, in November, announcing its own probe into the program, covering about $9 billion worth of contracts.
00:05:30.980Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, head of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, sending letters to 22 agency heads, including the Department of War, Interior, DOJ, and more, requesting that they pause 8A contracting and conduct internal reviews of those contracts within their agencies.
00:05:52.020Yesterday, Senator Ernst's committee holding a hearing on the matter.
00:05:55.700The senator outlining inherent issues that result from issuing contracts based on skin color rather than merit.
00:06:03.260Unfortunately, the SBA's 8A program has been a magnet for fraudsters since its inception.
00:06:09.360When 8A programs divert government contracts to businesses committing fraud, legitimate small businesses pay the price, losing jobs, revenue, and growth opportunities.
00:06:21.160Government contracting should be based on eligibility and merit, not skin color.
00:06:27.440I promised to make Washington squeal, and it is clear that this pigpen of a swamp needs a thorough mucking out.
00:06:34.800Democrats, led by Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, largely belittling the need for the hearing.
00:06:41.140Today's hearing is called Running Government Like a Small Business, Cut Waste, Crush Fraud.
00:06:48.860A more accurate title, however, would be Running Government Like a Trump Family Business, Cutting Deals with Billionaires and Crushing Small Businesses.
00:06:59.960As we're focusing on waste, fraud, and abuse, you know, there's just so much of that rampant in this regime that I hardly know where to begin.
00:07:06.680The administration's most recent fixation, SBA's 8A program, which is a program that gives small, disadvantaged businesses training, technical assistance, and federal contracting opportunities for nine years.
00:07:22.500Now, those businesses are principally black and brown owned in our country.
00:07:29.960Investigative reporter Luke Rosiak, who has extensively covered fraud within the program, testifying that it no longer serves its original purpose.
00:07:39.280The program was created in 1978, mostly to help black Americans start businesses since they'd been discriminated against by the government.
00:07:47.000But I don't believe any member of this committee would support the program if you see how it works a half century later.
00:07:52.060At least 5% of all federal contracting dollars are diverted through set-asides.
00:07:55.680But these billions don't go to poor minorities in your states.
00:07:59.360They go to insiders in the suburbs of D.C., which are already the wealthiest counties in the country.
00:08:04.960Earlier this week, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler issuing letters requiring all 4,300 8A firms to submit financial records covering the last three years,
00:08:16.780as Senator Ernst has introduced legislation to halt all awards under the program until an audit is complete.
00:08:25.680The Trump administration is preparing to require foreign travelers from more than three dozen countries to submit their last five years of social media history before being allowed into the U.S.
00:08:37.480U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday filing notice of the proposal in the Federal Register, the government's official public notice system.
00:08:45.020The proposal applying to visitors seeking electronic travel authorization, a visa waiver program for certain countries, to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days.
00:08:55.820The current guidelines requiring travelers from countries like Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Qatar, Spain, and the U.K.
00:09:02.780to pay $40 and provide a home address, phone number, email address, and emergency contact.
00:09:09.360The proposal calling for a more thorough vetting, including all of the travelers' personal and business phone numbers from the last five years,
00:09:17.580email addresses from the last 10 years, plus names, birthdays, places of birth, and addresses of family members.
00:09:24.060The rule now subject to a 60-day public comments period where people can weigh in with questions, comments, and concerns before it can officially take effect.
00:09:33.840The new vetting procedure is set to take effect early next year in advance of the World Cup set to begin in June.
00:09:40.72011 U.S. cities set to host matches, with Reuters reporting over a million tourists expected to travel to the States to watch the five-week tournament.
00:09:49.680Foreign students and H-1B visa holders are subject to similar online presence reviews,
00:09:55.660critics of the proposal calling it an attack on free speech,
00:09:59.080though full constitutional protections do not generally apply to foreign travelers seeking entry into the U.S.
00:10:05.920A CBP spokesperson telling AM Update, quote,
00:10:08.940Nothing has changed on this front for those coming to the United States.