Federal Newscast

Six Democrats in the Senators are asking the Government Accountability Office to further investigate whether the Commerce Department broke the law when it dismantled the Minority Business Development Agency or MBDA. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ben Ray Luján and others say they are concerned that Commerce defied federal court orders when political leaders terminated the funding for at least nine MBDA business centers and sent Reduction in Force (RIF) notices to terminate the last 24 employees still working at the agency. The lawmakers already had asked GAO to look into Commerce's initial actions to shutdown MBDA over the summer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.