Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would eliminate the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency as part of his plan to balance the budget. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Trump says he'd eliminate 'Department of Environment Protection'
DETROIT — Republican front-runner Donald Trump would eliminate the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency as part of his plan to balance the budget, despite Fox News moderators pointing out to him it won't be enough.
During Thursday's debate, Trump reiterated his claim that he would eliminate the Education Department and "the Department of Environment Protection," his term for the EPA.
"We're going to have little tidbits left but we're going to get most of it out," Trump said.
After Trump gave his answer, Chris Wallace from Fox News, one of the moderators, called up a graphic showing how much each department is worth.
In 2015, there was a $544 billion budget deficit. The Department of Education had a budget of $78 billion and the EPA had a budget of $8 billion in that same year. Wallace asked Trump how his plan would work when it wouldn't come close to filling the deficit.
Trump answered by saying he would negotiate better.
"Please learn something because of the fact that the pharmaceutical companies are not mandated to bid properly they have hundreds of billions of dollars in waste," Trump replied. "We don't bid properly."
Fox News again put up a graphic showing that Trump believes he could save $300 billion on Medicare drug costs, which is far more than the $78 billion that is actual spent on Medicare drug costs.
House GOP to probe Pentagon veterans bonus clawbacks
House Republican leadership is pursuing a probe into a report that nearly 10,000 veterans are being forced to repay bonuses that were offered for their service.
"It is disgraceful that the men and women who answered their country's call to duty following September 11 are now facing forced repayments of bonuses offered to them," said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a statement Sunday.
McCarthy called on the Department of Defense to waive the repayments and asked that the Army and National Guard provide a briefing on the matter.
The anger centers on the California National Guard a decade ago offering thousands of soldiers bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and fight in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Trump reiterated his point and the debate moved on.
Podesta on NYT Clinton emails story: 'Liar, liar, pants on fire'
Podesta said the New York Times was saving up an "all smoke no substance piece."