Bill Ackman says Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) owns about 10% of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and sees 10x potential in the stocks.
Ackman calls a release "a political imperative" and says a president can do it by executive order, even if midterms go against the President.
Taxpayers get paid first: Treasury's senior preferred stake carries a $238 billion liquidation preference, and warrants cover 80% of common stock.
Read More: Learn 7 ways to generate income with a $1,000,000+ portfolio (sponsor)
Bill Ackman says the White House has a historic trade within reach. "It will be the greatest real estate deal of all time," the founder of Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) said of releasing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship. The Motley Fool's report of Pershing Square's third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Nov. 3 noted he estimated the move would create half a trillion dollars of value, 80% of it held by taxpayers. He called that estimate conservative.

#taxpayers #learn

Retirees may see property taxes climb even after the mortgage is gone, but the federal tax treatment is not always intuitive. Whether those payments actually reduce a tax bill can depend on how they fit with the rest of a return — and on several 2026 deduction rules.
Here's how to think through which way to deduct these taxes.
Find Out: Worried about market swings? See why investors are moving to gold and silver IRAs
Grow Rich: FREE 2026 Investor Guide + Up to $25,000 in Silver with Qualifying Purchases
Property taxes on a personal residence are an itemized deduction, not an amount taxpayers can simply add to the standard deduction, according to Jim Swiech, a certified public accountant (CPA) and founder at Go Beyond Tax. Retirees should compare their complete itemized totals with their standard deductions, then take whichever is larger.

#retirees #silver #worried

President Donald Trump's portfolio managers bought as much as $30 million in Meta stock and ******* eX debt in August as purchases made in his name continue to be highly active.
A newly released financial disclosure shows more than 500 securities transactions in August, including up to $25 million in Meta stock and $5 million in ******* eX debt. His portfolio also invested in AT&T, Netflix and Chevron. In contrast, he sold shares of Advanced Micro Devices, T-Mobile, Dell Technologies and Nvidia.
Democrats have criticized moves made by the president's portfolio managers in the past. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Robert Garcia sent a lengthy letter to Trump in August, saying they want to know who are the money managers in charge of his investments.
"One ******* ysis estimates that you reported more than 14,000 stock trades, worth up to $1.06 billion during your first year in office. The total is likely higher as these reports don't even include transactions worth less than one thousand dollars," reads a passage of the letter.
"The sheer volume of this trading activity and the timing of a number of transactions, raise questions about whether you are using your knowledge of government activities, your official authority, or the vast megaphone provided by the Presidency to make investments or move markets to your personal benefit—and about whether you have been making decisions that boost your portfolio at the expense of taxpayers, the economy, and national security," it adds.

#million #Stock

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The Internal Revenue Service is issuing notices to taxpayers stating that they may qualify for the Saver's Match, a government-funded $1,000 retirement account contribution, beginning in 2027. The program replaces the Saver's Credit, which ends on Dec. 31, 2026.
Taxpayers who previously filed for that credit are receiving a notification about the new program, which will provide a matching contribution of up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers in the 2027 tax year.
Here's the latest on who is eligible.
Read more: Retirement planning by age: The complete guide for your 20s-70s

#credit #internal #revenue

An expert believes Meghan Markle and Prince Harry should fund their own everyday security in the UK. According to a royal expert, British taxpayers should not cover the Sussexes' day-to-day protection. Her comments followed a security scare at their children's school.
A royal expert explains how the school scare affects Prince Harry's security argument. The Duke and **** ss of Sussex spoke out after photographers were seen looking into the grounds of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's school.
A spokesperson for the couple called the photographers "extraordinarily reckless." They also described the incident as an unacceptable intrusion into children's privacy.
Reports claim that two paparazzi were at the scene and appeared to work together. Lynn Carratt told The Express US that the incident strengthens Harry's case that his family faces genuine security and privacy concerns. She said photographers allegedly walking around the school perimeter and monitoring children makes the couple's need for proper security obvious.
However, Carratt does not believe that automatically means British taxpayers should fund the couple's day-to-day protection. She noted Harry and Meghan chose to step back as working royals and later chose to return to live in the UK.

#security #prince #carratt #fund

The House Ways and Means Committee will consider legislation Wednesday that would exempt some crypto transaction fees from capital-gains calculations and apply new federal tax rules to stablecoins, staking, mining and digital ***** et trading.
Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., introduced the 114-page Digital ***** et Tax Certainty Act, or H.R. 10357. The committee has scheduled its markup for 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 16.
During a markup, committee members debate a bill, propose amendments, and decide whether to advance it to the full House.
The legislation would create a "de minimis" exemption for qualifying network or transaction fees of $10 or less. De minimis refers to an amount considered too small to require standard tax treatment.
Paying a blockchain fee with crypto can create a taxable event because the IRS treats digital ***** ets as property. The exemption would allow taxpayers to disregard gains or losses on eligible fees.

#committee #digital #asset

Kansas City, Missouri — Vice President JD Vance announced Monday the Trump administration will suspend roughly 870,000 people suspected of defrauding pandemic-era small business programs from receiving future federal loans.
The vice president contended that borrowers who stole taxpayer money should no longer be eligible to receive loans from government-backed programs.
"If you screwed the American taxpayer, the federal government is now going to say you're cut off, no more," Vance told reporters. "You shouldn't be applying anymore, and if you do apply, you're no longer able to get those benefits."
His remarks came as the Justice Department announced a slew of cases in a nationwide crackdown on fraud involving the COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program.
The department's enforcement push, which ran from June 12 through Sept. 1 and was dubbed "Heartland fraud surge," resulted in actions involving more than 160 defendants and approximately $245 million in intended losses to taxpayers. The operation was put into action more than five years after the government pushed emergency loans to businesses nationwide that were struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

#president #pandemic #federal

By Nate Raymond
Sept 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld an injunction blocking an Internal Revenue Service policy that allowed it to share thousands of taxpayers' ‌addresses with immigration authorities, saying the Trump administration's practice violated federal law.
A three-judge panel of ‌the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the IRS last year disclosed roughly 47,000 taxpayer addresses to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a procedure adopted as part of the administration's efforts to expand immigration enforcement.
The IRS and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to requests for comment.
Under an agreement between the agencies, the IRS in July 2025 began processing ICE ‌requests for the last known addresses ⁠of as many as 1.28 million people suspected of unlawfully residing in the United States.

#immigration #addresses #court #last

"It's going to be $1," Josefina Aguirre said to a customer, pausing an interview with Fox News Digital inside her family's Spanish Harlem meat market.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I got a couple of customers. Let's start over," Aguirre, a first-generation American, said. "This is me," she added with a laugh from behind the counter where she has worked for the past 30 years.
Aguirre is among the neighborhood grocers suing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan to open city-backed grocery stores across all five boroughs. He says the plan will offer shoppers prices roughly 30% lower than comparable retailers. Local business owners argue it will force small local-run stores to shutter.
Experts Scorch Mamdani's Grocery Plan As An 'Illusion' That Will Have Taxpayers Footing The Bill
"When we heard Mamdani was opening a grocery store where people are gonna save 30%, it scares us because we don't have the money to compete," Aguirre said.

#aguirre #mamdani #city

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Switzerland wants UBS to be safer after Credit Suisse blew up. UBS says too much safety could make it less competitive. Now lawmakers are trying to mix a regulatory **** tail that protects taxpayers without turning the country's last megabank into a padded cell with a banking license.
Swiss lawmakers are expected to send a softened banking reform proposal to the upper house of parliament, as the country tries to settle one of the biggest questions left by the Credit Suisse collapse: how much capital should UBS be forced to hold?
The Swiss government originally wanted UBS to hold about $20 billion in additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital. CET1 is the hard stuff: high-quality equity capital that absorbs losses first and gives regulators comfort when a bank gets into trouble.
The proposed requirement followed UBS's emergency takeover of Credit Suisse in 2023. That deal stopped one crisis, but created another problem. Switzerland now has one giant globally important bank, and regulators want to make sure taxpayers are not dragged back into another rescue.

#make

Social Security's 2034 trust fund depletion could slash monthly payments to 78%, making early claiming at 62 a compelling strategy for 1964-born Boomers.
$ARCC yields nearly 10% and $MO has raised dividends 57 consecutive years, both carrying Buy ratings from top Wall Street ****** ysts.
Reinvesting dividends from these 6%+ yielding stocks can more than offset the 30% reduction early Social Security claimants accept versus waiting until 67.
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Numerous studies indicate that the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund is projected to run out of reserves in late 2032; while the program is not expected to go bankrupt or disappear, current taxpayers will still fund a large portion of the payments. Some project that payments could fall to 78% of a recipient's current payment. That means every $1,000 in payments could be cut to $780 if Congress does not intervene. The Social Security Administration says that if combined with the Disability Insurance trust fund, the depletion date is extended to 2034, when 83% of benefits would remain payable. The bottom line is that Congress will likely wait until the bitter end to fix things, as it has in the past.

#trust #early

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new proposed rule for H-1B visas on Monday that would charge a $103,265 fee for all workers seeking to gain employment in the U.S. who are subject to the annual statutory cap.
Notice of the proposed rule says the fee would be used for the federal government's costs of administering the lawful immigration system, including activities carried out by the DHS and the departments of Justice, State and Labor.
"The proposed H‑1B fee is intended to recover the costs incurred across the federal government to adjudicate, vet, and support lawful immigration programs that otherwise must be funded by taxpayers," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a release.
The move follows a federal judge's decision in June to strike down the Trump administration's previously proposed $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that it was unlawful to implement a tax on visa applications, as Congress is the only legislative body with the authority to set immigration policy and taxes.

#rule #costs #Visa #department

Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar is facing heat from her Republican opponent and critics on social media for campaigning on addressing the massive fraud scandal in her state despite not mentioning it a single time in any press release since the crisis emerged.
A Fox News Digital review found that Klobuchar's Senate office repeatedly issued press releases addressing other forms of fraud between 2022 and 2025, but a review of 1,000 of her official press-release archive found no release directly addressing or offering solutions to fix Minnesota's sprawling social-services fraud scandal or Feeding Our Future.
The $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, that has ballooned into an overall social services scandal that prosecutors say could total over $9 billion, broke in late January of 2022. In more than 1,000 press releases from Klobuchar's office from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025, the Feeding our Future scandal was not mentioned in Klobuchar's releases, nor were the terms "Minnesota fraud," "social services fraud," "Medicaid fraud," "autism fraud," "Housing Stabilization Services," "child nutrition fraud," "DHS fraud," or "nonprofit fraud."
"As Feeding Our Future was breaking and all of the fraud that was being talked about, the absent voice that I was noticing was Senator Klobuchar," Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth told Fox News Digital in an interview on Friday.
Final Walz Fraud Report Rips 'Culture Of Tolerance' As Minnesota Taxpayers Face Billions In Alleged Losses

#minnesota #feeding #press #addressing

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 200 activists in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement are criticizing President Donald Trump's promotion of coal to fuel the rise of artificial intelligence data centers, according to a letter sent Friday.
The letter, signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign, marks the first major MAHA movement mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest in a series of rifts between the diverse group of activists and the Trump administration over environmental policy.
The letter to Trump, Kennedy and various other Cabinet officials, first obtained by The ******* ociated Press, laments a 2025 executive order that aimed to boost coal to power data centers over pollution concerns and asks the administration to consider renewable options, including solar and geothermal energy.
"We understand the importance of American leadership in artificial intelligence, national security, innovation, and economic growth," the letter reads. "But American AI leadership should not come at the cost of a more toxic burden for American children."
In response, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers noted that greenhouse gas emissions dropped to a 30-year low during Trump's first term and said Trump "was given a mandate to roll back the radical climate policies that are burning a hole through taxpayers' wallets."

#kennedy #coal #intelligence

Prince Harry and Meghan's planned return to Britain is already raising questions, with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham weighing in on the couple's security arrangements.
Asked whether the government would cover their security, Burnham described the issue as a "private matter."
At the same time, news of Harry and Meghan's imminent relocation to the U.K. has left internet users shocked and full of questions about what prompted the sudden change.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's reported return to Britain is already drawing questions at the highest level of government.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham was asked Thursday whether taxpayers would fund security for the Duke and ****** ss of Sussex as they prepare to relocate their family from California.

#britain #prime

Meghan Markle's return to the UK with Prince Harry is reportedly linked to a surprising career move. The news comes as the Sussexes prepare to relocate from Montecito to Britain this month. King Charles has reportedly been briefed on the plans and welcomed the prospect of having his youngest son and family closer.
A brand-new professional role for Meghan Markle could be driving the couple's reported return to the UK. Sources suggest that the As Ever founder has landed a major part in a British production. This is reportedly a key factor behind their move back to Britain.
In response, per the Daily Express, News.com.au's Bronte Coy noted: "What they want to do, their style of modelling moving forward, is to do the commercial things so that that then funds the other side, so obviously this is not going to be a burden on taxpayers."
Coy further explained, "People close to Harry said that he was very keen to continue this style of tour. Now that obviously was going to encompass the UK."
The 45-year-old ******* ss is best known for playing Rachel Zane in "Suits." She appeared in more than 100 episodes of the show before stepping away from acting to begin royal life. When she stepped away from acting, Markle said, "I don't see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change. It's a new challenge."

#obviously

The Indian Government has launched a one-time tax disclosure scheme allowing small taxpayers to report certain undisclosed foreign ***** ets and income by 31 December 2026.
The Foreign ***** ets of Small Taxpayers–Disclosure Scheme (FAST-DS) was announced in the 2026–27 Union Budget.
The Income Tax Department said the move seeks to bring eligible overseas ***** ets and earnings into the tax net, while providing relief from additional penalties and prosecution.
According to a Reuters report, the scheme applies to taxpayers with undisclosed foreign income of up to Rs10m ($104,614).
For this category, the tax rate is 30%, along with an additional amount equal to the tax, resulting in a 60% effective levy on the disclosed sum.

#scheme

A U.S. judge on Monday blocked plans to move the FBI's headquarters to a federal office building in Washington, finding that President Donald Trump's administration illegally tossed out a previously approved plan to build a new facility nearby in Maryland.
The ruling is the latest development in a yearslong battle over where to house the main office for the nation's premier law enforcement agency. A site in Greenbelt, Maryland, was picked during former President Joe Biden's administration, but Trump appointees sought to reverse that decision last year in favor of repurposing the Ronald Reagan Building, a federal office complex a few blocks from the FBI's existing headquarters.
U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled that the move was " not in accordance with law," and blocked the Trump administration from moving the FBI to the Reagan building, renovating it for the FBI or repurposing funds.
"This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers," the FBI said in a statement. "The court has chosen to impermissibly intervene for political reasons. This FBI is mission focused and will continue the best course of action to meet the needs of law enforcement."
The suit was brought by the state of Maryland and Prince George's County.

#administration #maryland #reagan #blocked

The City of New York handles nearly 3 million tons of municipal waste every year. The majority of that gets shipped to landfills outside the city, costing taxpayers around $500 million every year. But the Sanitation Department wants to modernize New York's outdated trash system — can they? To find out, we asked an expert in environmental policy.

#department

PARIS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - French taxpayers' data, both individuals and professionals, ‌were stolen in a cyberattack, ‌the French Finance Ministry said late on Thursday.
• A "malicious actor" claimed on Wednesday he broke into the tax agency, General Direction of Public Finances, in ‌late June, ⁠the ministry said in a statement.
• Investigations confirmed the ⁠cyberattack, which led to the consulting and extraction of taxpayers' data, the statement said.
• Further probes are ongoing to ‌determine which specific data and the exact number of taxpayers affected, the ministry said, adding further findings will be disclosed.
• "Users concerned will receive ‌individual information specifying the data that may have been consulted or extracted and, ‌where applicable, the precautionary measures to be adopted," the statement said.

#ministry #french #further #late

A former grocer is joining the chorus of criticism against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan for government-run grocery stores, arguing it would harm hundreds of small businesses forced to compete with them.
"That supermarket will just bleed red the entire time it's open, from the first time you turn the key until it closes," Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. "And I would bet the farm there's no way these grocery stores last more than five years — they might not even last a year."
Rulli grew up with his family's Ohio-based grocery store chain, Rulli Brothers, which is now run by his brothers.
Experts Scorch Mamdani's Grocery Plan As An 'Illusion' That Will Have Taxpayers Footing The Bill
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds up bananas as he speaks at a food distribution center on July 27, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

#city

Glasgow might have saved the Commonwealth Games, but don't expect to see them back on these shores for a generation.
Four of the last seven editions have been staged in Great Britain, and it's clear that Commonwealth Sport realises it needs to cut ties to the mother country for its future relevance.
Scotland gets its eternal thanks for stepping in at just 18 months' notice when Australia said it couldn't afford to host. Australian taxpayers ended up paying Glasgow £100m in compensation to stage the Games on their behalf and then duly topped the medal table with 70 golds.
"Glasgow has acted as a bridge to the future of the Commonwealth Games movement," said Commonwealth Sport president Dr Donald Rukare.
"Every host writes its own chapter, and Glasgow's has been one of bravery, courage, friendship and, above all, outstanding innovation."

#glasgow #sport #host

The number of wealthy non-dom taxpayers shrank by 1,200 last year amid warnings that Labour's tax rises could push even more rich people offshore.
New figures from HMRC reveal that 9,000 non-doms – foreign investors living in Britain – left the country or changed their tax status in the financial year ending April 2025.
Meanwhile, the number of non-doms arriving in the country dropped 14pc to 8,600. A further 800 "deemed-domicile" taxpayers – former non-doms who have since become British tax residents – also quit the UK, for an overall net reduction of 1,200.
Leslie MacLeod-Miller, the chief executive of Foreign Investors for Britain, a pressure group, warned that government inaction could push more investors and entrepreneurs to leave, reducing their £13.6bn annual tax contribution to the public finances.
"Britain is losing internationally mobile wealth at an accelerating pace," he said. "The exodus of wealth will only get worse if the Government does not introduce a competitive tax regime to restore Britain's place in the world."

#investors #government

(NewsNation) — Canadian taxpayers are furious they had to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect Prince Harry while he was wooing Meghan Markle and during his time promoting Invictus.
Even worse, they also found out they spent more to cover the ginger prince over five years than any other internationally protected person over the same period.
According to a document obtained by CBC News (which it received under Canada's access to information law), "the RCMP spent at least $539,575 to provide security between 2014/15 and 2019/20 when Prince Harry travelled to Canada for events like the Invictus Games and to date his future wife, Meghan Markle."
Rosie O'Donnell avoided weight loss drug side effects by taking it slowly
These costs were much higher than the $334,337 initially revealed by the RCMP in 2021, which "accounted for around 10% of the over $5.2 million spent during that period to provide security to more than 100 internationally protected persons who visited Canada."

#prince

The Internal Revenue Service is making it a bit less onerous for some people who are late paying their taxes.
The IRS will automatically waive fines tied to late filing or payment of taxes for taxpayers who have a history of being on time. The policy, called the Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP), streamlines the process of penalty relief.
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP
Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going

#making #wealth

Republican Sen. Deb Fischer (Neb.) on Wednesday objected to a request from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) for unanimous consent to prohibit President Trump from using taxpayer money to further retrofit a luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the president from Qatar.
The GOP senator blocked Schumer's request to pass his Presidential Airlift Security Act, which would stop the Pentagon from spending more taxpayer money to modify Trump's new jet.
Schumer said Trump's decision to accept the jet to serve as the new Air Force One was another example of what he called "corruption" in the administration.
"Now he wants the taxpayers to fund his palace in the sky as well. Trump's $400 million foreign jet, the biggest gift a president has received from a foreign government ever, is anything but free. Taxpayers will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to outfit Trump's luxury jet with the security upgrades it needs to serve as Air Force One," Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Fischer rose to object and pointed out that that Schumer's proposal had already been considered and voted down by the Senate earlier this year.

#president #fischer

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese company that formerly owned British Steel demanded Sunday compensation from the U.K. government for investment losses following the nationalization of the manufacturer last week.
The British government took operational control of the company last year after Jingye Group said that it was considering closing the blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in northern England, the last in the United Kingdom to make "virgin steel" from raw materials.
Jingye Group said in a WeChat statement that the nationalization move tarnished the credibility of the British government, spooked international investors and caused great losses to the company's operation and British taxpayers' funds. It also demanded that the U.K. government stop "trampling on international investment rules."
The Chinese company announced it had initiated negotiation procedures under relevant bilateral investment agreements, reserving all rights, including to international arbitration. Jingye said it will also represent British taxpayers seeking to hold the U.K. government and British Steel's management legally liable. However, it did not specify how it would handle the case.
"The U.K. disregarded Jingye's continuous investment and significant contribution and was only willing to provide almost zero compensation," it said.

President Donald Trump's brazenly corrupt "settlement" of his lawsuit against the IRS included a jaw-dropping order in which Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche purported to shield him and his family from liability for tax violations and any other federal offenses they may have committed prior to May 19. During his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Blanche, who is seeking Senate approval of his nomination as attorney general, repeatedly misrepresented the scope and nature of that sweeping immunity deal.
In response to questions from Sen. Richard Durbin (D–Ill.), Blanche preposterously claimed his promise of protection was "typical" of settlements between the IRS and taxpayers. "This type of settlement is done regularly," he said. "When we enter into settlements like that, we do it with all kinds of people. It's not just President Trump. It doesn't make any of those individuals above the law."
Blanche was referring to settlements of tax disputes. That comparison is inapt for several reasons.
First, Trump's lawsuit, which was joined by two of his sons and the Trump Organization, did not involve a dispute about tax liability. It alleged damages caused by an IRS contractor's illegal disclosure of the plaintiffs' tax returns, an issue that has nothing to do with the question of whether they owe the IRS money.
Second, even in cases that do involve alleged tax violations, it is not "typical" for settlements to include a promise that the IRS will never pursue any other claims based on past returns. After Blanche revealed his order, former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told the **** ociated Press he was not aware of any previous cases in which the IRS had agreed to "permanently forgo examination of previously filed tax returns for a specific person or business."

TRENTON, New Jersey — Gov. Mikie Sherrill built her political brand around her time piloting helicopters for the Navy.
As New Jersey's governor, she isn't in the ****** pit anymore. But she's a frequent flier.
Sherrill flew aboard a State Police helicopter eight times over roughly three months, according to records obtained by POLITICO. In one instance, the records show, Sherrill used a State Police helicopter to fly from New Jersey to Maryland to attend a "black-tie" alumni event at the Naval Academy, her alma mater.
Access to the helicopter is one of the perks of being New Jersey governor, albeit an expensive one. As of 2021, it cost taxpayers approximately $2,500 an hour for the governor to use the State Police helicopter, according to press reports.
Prior New Jersey governors have faced scrutiny over use of the state chopper, especially when it is not explicitly for state business. Democratic former Gov. Jim McGreevey used it for personal trips, which resulted in the New Jersey Democratic State Committee agreeing to reimburse the state $18,200. Republican former Gov. Chris Christie was ensnared in "choppergate" in 2011 when he arrived at his son's high school baseball game in a State Police helicopter. He and the New Jersey Republican Party reimbursed the state $3,300 days later, but the flights raised questions around his image as a fiscal hawk.

"I'm guessing I'll be in line," former FBI Director James Comey quipped after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a "settlement agreement" between President Donald Trump and the IRS that included $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for targets of "lawfare and weaponization." Comey's joke encompasses two reasons why the Senate should not confirm Blanche as attorney general: a flagrantly unconstitutional prosecution and a brazenly corrupt arrangement that delivered huge favors to Trump, his family, and his followers at taxpayers' expense.
Blanche's participation in both of those scams demonstrated his eagerness to please his boss, which explains why Trump nominated him to replace Pam Bondi. But that same tendency should alarm anyone who thinks the attorney general should pursue justice rather than the president's personal agenda.
In a scathing ruling on Monday, a federal judge described Trump's lawsuit against the IRS as a pretext for "a 'settlement' that had no viable basis in law or fact." Kathleen Williams, who oversaw the case in the Southern District of Florida, concluded that it never involved a genuine controversy between adverse parties, since both sides were controlled by the president.
Trump's lawsuit, which was joined by two of his sons and the Trump Organization, preposterously alleged that an IRS contractor's illegal disclosure of their tax returns had caused "at least" $10 billion in damages. In addition to offering an improbable estimate of the injury he had suffered, Trump filed the lawsuit more than two years after learning about the leak, exceeding the time limit set by the statute he invoked.
That law covers unauthorized disclosures by "any officer or employee of the United States." So even if Trump had filed his lawsuit on time, he would have faced the challenge of arguing that a contractor employed by a consulting business fit into that category—a point that the Justice Department has disputed in other cases involving similar claims.