Springtime is a period of renewal – and that often includes new iterations of all your favorite gadgets. Laptops and phones and even game consoles are all getting a new look on the outside and new specs on the inside this year, and you might be tempted to upgrade. But if you do, that leaves the question of what to do with your old model. If it’s still in good working condition, there’s a pretty good chance someone will give you a few bucks for it — here are the best places to make that happen.

Trade-in sites

Lots of people can make good money selling old stuff online, but it’s usually a full-time job for them. You, on the other hand, probably would like it to be as easy and quick as possible. To get some money in your hand without too much fuss, we recommend an automated trade-in site. You'll select your device from a list, get a quote within minutes and send the device to the company in return for cash in a matter of days.

Decluttr

Decluttr definitely lives up to its name. Not only can you sell phones from a number of manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung and Google, but the site also takes lots of physical media, including CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games and books – and yes, there are plenty of people who still collect these. For devices, you'll be asked to provide a general assessment of its condition before you’re given a quote immediately. Once you complete your order, the site will send you a free shipping label. Decluttr also will accept handsets as old as the iPhone 7, though it'll offer you only $2 for a 32GB model in excellent condition.

Back Market

Back Market has been rising in popularity the past few years, and it’s easy to see why. It offers excellent prices since it sources multiple refurbishers for quotes. You’ll just answer a few questions about your phone, then take your packaged device to a UPS Store and show the clerk a QR code in order to get your prepaid shipping label. Payment is dropped straight into your bank account, so you don’t have to wait for a check (or worry about cashing it). Back Market takes a pretty wide variety of products too, including headphones and speakers.

uSell

uSell operates as a broker, searching other sites for their best offers on a given device and taking care of the rest. Like most buyback sites, it's big on iPhones, but you can still sell off other manufacturers' devices; it really depends on who's buying them at that point. The selection is a bit of a grab bag — newer phones like the Galaxy S22 aren't listed, though you can get a quote for the iPhone 15 ($401 for an unlocked, “flawless” 128GB model). Once you complete your order the site will send you a free shipping kit to send in your device, and you can get paid for the item via PayPal, Venmo or an old-fashioned check.

ecoATM

If you don't want to have to worry about packaging up your old device and mailing it off, or would like to receive your payout right away, there's always ecoATM. It's literally all in the name: the company operates automated machines that you place your device into to get it examined, and it pays you out on the spot. It accepts the biggest brands (i.e., Apple, Google and Samsung), along with devices from a wide variety of manufacturers, including LG, Motorola and ZTE. If the machine determines that your device isn't worth anything at all, you can still use ecoATM to responsibly recycle your old gadget. You'll find ecoATM kiosks in Walmart, Dollar General and Kroger locations, as well as malls and check-cashing stores across the country.

Amazon

While browsing Amazon listings, it’s likely you’ve come across products marked as “refurbished.” Well, if you’ve ever wondered where those come from, a lot of them likely hail from Amazon’s trade-in program. The company will put its own products, like Kindle ereaders and Fire tablets front and center, but you can also send in phones and gaming products in for an Amazon gift card as well. It’s not great if you want cash, but if you’re looking to upgrade an Amazon device, this option is your best bet, as trading in an older one also nets you a 20 percent discount in addition to the store credit. You’ll need to print out a shipping label, or you can drop off your electronics at select Amazon Locker, Whole Foods or uBreakiFix locations.

Apple

This is a good option if you’re looking to upgrade to a newer Apple device. You can trade in iPhones, iPads, Macs and even Apple Watches. That’s notable as wearables are a category you don’t often see on trade-in sites. Apple will even take your old Android phone if you were thinking of making the switch. The trade-in values are on par with other sites (though occasionally Apple will offer extra credit on certain categories), but you can get a smaller payout in the form of a gift card instead if you’d rather wait before making a new purchase, want to put it toward media purchases or even just use it in an Apple Store. The latter, by the way, also accepts trade-ins in case you’re not comfortable shipping your old but still expensive device.

Target

Target used to do in-store trade-ins only, but now it’s entirely a mail-in operation. You select your product from a pretty extensive list of eligible products, including smart speakers and media players (like Zune!). As usual, you’ll answer a few questions about its condition to get a quote. Then you’ll get a prepaid shipping label to attach to any box that you’ll drop off at your nearest USPS location. Payment is only offered via an electronic gift card, which is still pretty good given that you can buy all sorts of things at Target besides electronics like groceries, clothing and furniture.

It'sWorthMore

The nice thing about It’sWorthMore is that its on-site forms handle a larger variety of gadgets than other sites, including cameras, drones and even graphics cards. It also handles products from a larger variety of companies such as LG, AMD and even GoPro in addition to standards like Apple, Samsung and Google. You’ll answer a few standard questions about your device’s condition and whether you still have the original box — obviously, the more you’ve kept from the original packaging, the better. You’ll then get a ballpark estimate of its worth and a prepaid shipping label to print out. Once your device has been received, you’ll generally get the assessment and payment via direct deposit, check, PayPal, Zelle or a gift card in under 10 days.

BuyBackWorld

The appeal of BuyBackWorld is that device assessment is a streamlined process: Instead of having to answer a barrage of detailed questions about the condition of your device you simply give it a general assessment and let the site handle the rest. Just like with It’sWorthMore, BuyBackWorld will provide a printable shipping label in your confirmation email but, if you don’t have a printer or boxes to pack your device up, you can always have the site send you a free shipping kit, which can handle everything the site takes except desktop computers. Don’t worry if you do have a larger item, though – BuyBackWorld will still cover free shipping via FedEx, you just need to provide your own packaging.

GadgetGone

If you’ve read through the other site descriptions, GadgetGone’s modus operandi should be familiar: To sell a product, you’ll have to answer a few questions about what type of device you have and what condition it’s in, after which the site will generate a prepaid shipping label. At least here you can find brands like OnePlus included among the options, and you can also sell MacBooks and Mac minis here. You can get paid a number of ways, too, including PayPal, virtual VISA card, Amazon and Target gift cards or just good, old-fashioned bank transfer.

Store trade-ins

Whether it’s because you don’t want to wait for your money, or because you’re not entirely comfortable dropping expensive electronics into a mailbox and hoping they make it to their destination, you might prefer taking your items to a retail location. Fortunately there are still plenty of brick-and-mortar locations to do just that. Even wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have gotten in on the trade-in game.

Best Buy

Best Buy also offers trade-ins both by mail and in-store — with more than 1,000 locations, this might be extremely convenient for you. You fill out the form online and bring that to customer service. It's easy, but there's one big downside: You can get your payout only via a Best Buy gift card. This is great if you spend a lot of money with them anyway, but not ideal if you need cash.

GameStop

GameStop is infamous for buying games back at ridiculously low prices and flipping them at near retail, but don't let that stop you from making some easy cash when you need to quickly clear your closet of old electronics and games. And yes, I said cash: GameStop offers store credit, a prepaid Mastercard or actual money if you want to take your bounty elsewhere. For example, you can trade in Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Switch and get $25 in store credit or $17.50 cash, which isn't bad when new copies are going for $50 on Amazon. GameStop also accepts phones, tablets and Apple Watches, though the prices aren't going to match what you'd get from an online trade-in site. You can even sell your Amiibo collection if you just want it gone and don’t care about recouping its full value.

Consumer to consumer

Sometimes you prefer to cut out the middleman and get a bit more personal — a transaction where you're selling your device directly to another person instead of letting a faceless site flip it for you as a "refurbished" unit. In those cases, you want a site that's more user-to-user, though a few will still automate certain bits to make your sale as smooth and secure as possible.

Swappa

Swappa is a marketplace site, which means sellers can set their own price. So if you're getting rid of a newer phone, this is probably the best way to go — the iPhone 16 fetches around $400, for example. That's a huge improvement over what you'd get selling through a site like Decluttr, which is offering only $162 for a 128GB unit.

Amazon

When shopping on Amazon, you've probably been tempted by some of those marketplace deals in the past and, chances are, if you list an item on there, someone will give your old device a look. Since almost everyone on earth seems to have an Amazon account, your potential customer base is huge, and it costs only $0.99, plus a percentage based on category, to sell an item through the site. The downsides are that Amazon isn't really optimized for individual sales; you'll be competing with wholesale companies and even bots that will tweak the price of a product automatically in response to the competition.

eBay

eBay is sort of the Wild West of sales sites, but the biggest advantage is that you can sell anything there and hopefully find a buyer, regardless of how old a product is. Even so, the site has come a long way in the past decade or so, with a dedicated tech section in the top menu and a hub page highlighting current deals.

In the end, it still works as it always did: You list a product and set an end date for the listing with a minimum price, or just set a "Buy It Now" price if you don't want to wait to see how an auction turns out. Chances are you already have an eBay account with a feedback score, so there's no extra setup required on your part. Your first 250 listings are free every month, and you'll pay up to 15 percent of the purchase price (plus a small flat fee of $0.30 or $0.40) if an item sells. The biggest downside is that you're competing with a lot more sellers, and chances are there's always someone willing to undercut you on price.

Cash-back comparison

Ultimately, the site you go with should be whatever's most useful and convenient, but if you just care about how much money you'll get, we've priced out the iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S22 just to give you an idea of what each site will pay out.

iPhone 15 (unlocked, 128GB, good condition)

• Amazon: N/A

• Apple: $400 (trade-in credit), $390 (gift card)

• AT&T: $190 (bill credit or promotional card)

• BackMarket: $396 (cash)

• Best Buy: $325 (gift card)

• BuyBackWorld: $340 (cash)

• Decluttr: $162 (cash)

• eBay: $315 (cash)

• ecoATM: $251 (cash)

• GadgetGone: $417 (cash)

• GameStop: $230 (cash), $256 (store credit)

• It’sWorthMore: $421 (cash)

• Swappa: $463 (cash)

• Target: $290 (gift card)

• T-Mobile $290 (bill credit)

• uSell: $371 (cash)

• Verizon: N/A

Samsung Galaxy S23 (unlocked, 128GB, good condition)

• Amazon: N/A

• Apple: $195 (trade-in credit or gift card)

• AT&T: $290 (bill credit or promotional card)

• Back Market: $203 (cash)

• Best Buy: $150 (gift card)

• BuyBackWorld: $180 (cash)

• Decluttr: $135 (cash)

• eBay: $225 (cash)

• ecoATM: $133 (cash)

• GadgetGone: $232 (cash)

• GameStop: $131 (cash), $146 (store credit)

• It’sWorthMore: $236 (cash)

• Swappa: $308 (cash)

• Target: $190

• T-Mobile: $155 (bill credit)

• uSell: N/A

• Verizon: N/A

Once you've picked a site and listed your item, there are a few important things to remember before you ship off your device. At the top of the list is to do a full factory reset before disposing of a phone or laptop (or any other device) containing personal data. That also means turning off "Find My iPhone" and the activation lock on iOS devices. See if you can unlock the phone, too; you'll actually get more money selling it carrier-free. And finally, make sure you've backed up any important data you may have, like contact info, game saves and, of course, photos. Cash is great, but it won't save your memories.

Images: Mike Blake / Reuters (ecoATM); Alamy (Gamestop); Getty Images for eBay (eBay)

Every new gadget you buy comes at a cost to your wallet, but there’s a hefty environmental price to pay as well. Every phone and laptop out there is a non-compostable mass of metal and plastic, and every new generation of them means more rare earth metals pulled out of the ground. Then there’s the human labor required to put them together, and the water and fuel used in manufacturing and shipping. It all adds up, but you can help bring that cost down a bit by recycling your old devices.

Fortunately, companies and governments alike have made it possible to dispose of your old devices responsibly. You can take your items to a recycling center, drop them off at a store, or even mail them in. Here’s how to find places that will take your old gadgets.

National chains

There is no national electronics recycling law at this time, so you won't find any federal programs to assist you with getting rid of old devices. The USPS does run a program for federal agencies and their employees, but it's not available to the general public. Instead, the rest of us have to rely on nationwide retailers to toss out our old stuff.

Best Buy

With more than 1,000 locations in the United States, there may be a Best Buy close to you, in which case, you can go to a location to drop off items to be recycled. You just need to take it to the customer service counter. They'll issue you a receipt, but keep in mind that you can't claim the drop-off as a deduction on your taxes because Best Buy isn't a charity.

As of 2025, Best Buy also has a mail-in option. You can purchase a small- ($23, up to 6 pounds) or medium-sized ($30, up to 15 pounds) box from the retailer, fill it up with as many approved gadgets as you can (while staying under the weight limit) and ship it back to Best Buy to be recycled. You can either drop off your boxes at a UPS drop-off point or schedule a UPS pickup (do not drop the boxes off at a Best Buy store).

You can even recycle televisions and monitors, though in most places you'll be charged a fee of $30 per item to cover the higher costs of transporting and disassembling them. Best Buy’s in-house TV brands, Insignia and Dynex, will always be accepted for free, though, as long as they’re smaller than 50 inches. (Consumers in California are not charged the $30 fee, while locations in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan charge the fee but offer a $30 gift card as reimbursement. Connecticut locations will only accept Insignia and Dynex sets for recycling.) If you're turning in any desktops, laptops or PC gaming accessories, you’ll get a voucher for 20 percent off toward the purchase of a new Logitech mouse, keyboard, webcam or headset. Just be aware that Best Buy limits you to three items per household per day, including up to two televisions or monitors.

Staples

Recycling your stuff at Staples is similar to Best Buy — just bring your products to the checkout counter and an associate will help you out. But you can only bring in seven items a day, and the store won’t accept televisions at all (monitors are allowed). Staples Easy Rewards members also receive points for bringing in goods to be recycled or shredded; the points can be redeemed at checkout for discounts on purchases (200 points = $1 off).

If you can’t make it to a store, Staples also offers a mail-in program. You’ll need to purchase a recycling box first, which starts at $14 for a small box and goes up to several hundred for a full pallet (only available for commercial locations). You can put as much as you want into a box as long as it fits inside and doesn’t exceed the weight limit (a large box can accept up to 70 pounds). A “serialized” option is also available for an additional charge, which includes an inventory list for everything you send back. The boxes are shipped to you and then back to Staples at no extra cost; just drop off the sealed packages at your local UPS drop-off point or call for a pickup.

Office Depot / OfficeMax

Office Depot and OfficeMax have almost 1,000 locations around the United States but, unlike Staples and Best Buy, the company won't recycle your old gadgets for free. If you're only getting rid of a few phones, batteries or ink and toner cartridges, those can be turned in at any Office Depot or OfficeMax store for no charge.

For everything else, you must purchase a Tech Recycling Box ($8.39 for small, $18.29 for medium, and $28 for large) even if you’re already at the store. Once you have the box, you can fill it with as many items as you can fit inside, including smaller televisions, as long as it doesn’t exceed the weight limit. So it's a great deal if you have a lot of stuff you want to dispose of. These must be turned in at an Office Depot or OfficeMax store; an associate will check to make sure all the items are acceptable and prepare the box for shipping (you’ll be asked to fill out a form).

You can also return used ink and toner cartridges and get $2 each, up to 10 a month, if you’re a rewards member and spend at least $10 in-store on products within the same month.

Home Depot and Lowes

You can dispose of old rechargeable batteries, old phones and CFL bulbs in the dropoff boxes at any of 2,300 Home Depot or 1,700 Lowe’s locations. The bins are usually located in the front of the store, and Home Depot has an 11-pound limit on individual items, while batteries must be under 300Wh.

Target

Target locations have drop-off bins for recyclables located near the entrance; in addition to bins for paper and plastics, there is a specially-designated bin for e-waste like cellphones and used ink cartridges.

Manufacturers

If you can't make it to a retail location, especially when you need to get rid of only one or two items, many companies offer recycling programs for their own products. They'll even pay for shipping. Some run their own programs while others use outside organizations. We've outlined policies from a handful of manufacturers below.

Amazon

Amazon would love for you to use its trade-in program and, if you’re looking to recycle Amazon-branded products like Kindles, Fire TVs and even Ring doorbells, you absolutely should. Amazon will send you a gift card as well as promotional discount to use on a future Amazon device purchase, even if the returned product is non-functional.

For products from other manufacturers that can’t be resold, Amazon offers mail-in recycling through its partner Re-Teck. You can send in your busted phones and tablets, as well as select peripherals like keyboards and mice. You'll just need to fill out some forms online and generate a shipping label, which you can slap on any box. Drop it off at a UPS location, and you're good to go; Amazon will cover all the costs.

Apple

Apple

If your iPhone or MacBook is still in good shape, you should consider selling it, but if it's too old or beat up you can still score a gift card by using Apple's trade-in program. For iPhones (as well as select handsets from Samsung and Google) and iPads, you'll be asked to fill out a form attesting to the product's condition and given a trade-in quote (at the time of writing this, a working iPhone 8 snags you a $40 gift card and an iPhone 12 scores you $170). For Macs and Apple Watches, you'll be asked to provide a serial number as well. Though Apple won't give you cash for anything it deems too old, broken or otherwise unacceptable, you can still mail it in or bring it to any Apple Store so it can be responsibly disposed of.

Dell

Dell offers drop-off recycling via a partnership with Goodwill. Not every location participates, but there are more than 2,000 that do. And, because it's a charity, you may even be able to deduct it as a donation on your taxes. Dell also has a mail-back program on its site where you can generate and print out a shipping label and drop the package off at a FedEx location instead.

Epson

You can ship old products back to Epson by simply creating a shipping label on its site and dropping it off at a FedEx location. If you’re located in New York, you can even get free packaging sent to you by calling 866-922-8252. Epson also recommends getting in touch with a local charity via Digitunity, where your old equipment may be refurbished for use by people in need.

HP

If you can, HP recommends taking its products to the nearest Best Buy. HP does have a trade-in program, but it’s geared toward business customers looking to upgrade equipment that still has market value and individual consumers will be redirected to other recycling methods.

Ink and toner cartridges can be returned by mail; the company will mail you an envelope that can hold between three and eight ink cartridges and can be dropped off in a mailbox or at the post office. For toner and large quantities of ink cartridges, you can print out a label and use your own box, or request a box be sent directly to you, which you’ll fill with items and drop off at a UPS location.

Other manufacturers

Many other companies use outside recyclers to dispose of their products, and you'll often see the same names popping up again and again across different manufacturers. This should simplify things in some cases — you should be able to send in products from multiple sources in one package. You just need to fill in the make and model to generate a prepaid shipping label. However, different states have different rules on what you can return, so the drop-downs for selecting your product may vary by area.

Two major recycling companies you'll notice a lot are RLG, which covers Acer, Google, Intel, Lenovo, and Microsoft; and MRM, which recycles products for Brother, Hisense, Hitachi, HTC, Logitech, Panasonic, TCL and Wacom.

States

There may not be a national law dictating that you must recycle your electronics, but at least 26 states have passed rules that vary widely on what they demand of manufacturers and consumers. Almost all states that do collect products for recycling provide this service free, with the bill footed by the companies in some way. Most provide some local programs to help you get rid of your stuff, regardless of whether recycling your gadgets is required or optional.

States where you can no longer dispose of electronics in the regular trash and must recycle them include: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

The following states have laws requiring manufacturers to pay for recycling, but you, the consumer, are not actually required to recycle your electronics: Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

The following states have some special circumstances worth noting:

Connecticut

Does not allow recycling centers to charge you a fee for turning in electronics, so many organizations and retailers that would usually charge for recycling televisions and monitors do not accept them. Because you cannot dispose of them curbside, you can take them to a municipal transfer station for free.

New York

New York State has a law making it illegal to charge a fee at recycling centers, so this is your best bet for disposing of old televisions (retailers can still charge for the service). If you live in a New York City apartment building with 10 or more units, contact your landlord about getting an ecycleNYC drop-off box installed in your building. It’s super convenient and free.

Pennsylvania

Does not allow retailers to charge you a fee to recycle, so places like Best Buy and Staples will not accept most televisions or monitors. Many recycling centers have also closed as a result of underfunding, so check the list of open locations first. Some nonprofit recyclers may still accept the items, and you should check to see if your local government is hosting any drop-off events. Lancaster and Dauphin Counties also still run civic recycling programs.

Virginia

This state does not have a dedicated statewide recycling program, but some localities run their own programs including Fairfax, Loudoun and Rockbridge counties, and cities like Arlington. Check each municipality’s site for details.

Cell phones

Cell phones are the easiest gadget to recycle — if you haven't already decided to sell yours off on eBay or via sites like Decluttr and ecoATM. But, if these options don’t appeal to you, you can send it to:

Call2Recycle, which has drop-off centers all over the country in many chain stores, including Lowes, Home Depot and Staples. It will also accept rechargeable batteries.

Cell Phones for Soldiers accepts phones in any condition and sells them to refurbishers or recyclers. The proceeds go toward purchasing phone cards for troops so they can call their friends and family back home. To be clear, the phones are not given directly to the soldiers. You can donate via mail: If you’re sending less than 10 devices, you’ll need to pay for shipping. More than 10 devices, and Cell Phones for Soldiers will give you a prepaid mailing label. You can also just drop it off at one of more than 3,000 locations.

The three major US carriers — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — all offer free recycling. You can trade in your old device in-store or send it in for a credit toward a new phone, or let them straight up recycle it. AT&T also participates in Cell Phones for Soldiers.

If you do decide to try your luck with ecoATM to see if your old phone is still worth a few bucks and it turns out it's worth nothing, you can at least rest easy knowing that the company will also recycle your phone responsibly.

Failed Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is facing condemnation from conservatives after she appeared on MSNBC to defend a $2 billion initiative under the Biden administration's EPA to purchase green energy appliances for Americans. 

"Stacey Abrams linked Power Forward Communities received $2 billion in tax dollars in 2024 after reporting just $100 in revenue the year before. They were so unqualified that the grant agreement required the NGO to complete ‘How to Develop a Budget’ training within 90 days," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in comment provided to Fox Digital on Sunday. 

"$2 billion in hard earned tax dollars should not have been doled out to this organization for many reasons, especially if they don’t even know how to put together a budget. The Biden EPA ‘gold bars’ scheme is riddled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unnecessary middlemen, unqualified recipients, and massively reduced government oversight. The funds are currently frozen, and the DOJ and FBI are investigating."

Zeldin's response followed Abrams joining MSNBC on Friday to defend the Biden administration granting $2 billion last year to a group called Power Forward Communities. 

BIDEN SENT $2 BILLION TO STACEY ABRAMS-LINKED GROUP IN GREEN ENERGY 'SCHEME,' EPA SAYS

The group is a consortium of housing nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity International, United Way Worldwide and Rewiring America. Abrams reportedly "played a pivotal role" in establishing the group, according to a LinkedIn post by Ian Magruder, who works at one of the coalition's partners, Rewiring America, Fox Digital previously reported.

Abrams worked with Rewiring America to bring energy efficient appliances to a Georgia community in 2023 and 2024, she said on MSNBC while defending the billions in funds provided to Power Forward Communities. 

"What is this organization? What is your relation to to it? And what does it do," MSNBC's Chris Hayes asked Abrams during the program. 

‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’: DOGE'S TOP FIVE MOST SHOCKING REVELATIONS

"In 2023 and 2024, I led a program called Vitalizing De Soto. We worked in a tiny town in south Georgia to demonstrate that by replacing energy-inefficient appliances with efficient appliances, you can lower your cost. And in fact, we accomplished that for 75% of the community. They got appliances that are lowering their bills," Abrams said, explaining one woman in the Georgia town saw her energy costs slashed by half due to the project. 

Abrams continued that the project was so beneficial to Americans, that a coalition of organizations joined forces to call on the EPA under the Biden administration to copy the program and deliver the same results nationwide. 

"Based on that program, a coalition of organizations – famous organizations – came together and said to the EPA, 'If we can do this here, we can do this for millions more Americans. Let us invest the money of America in lowering the cost for Americans.’ And the EPA said, ‘OK, great, go for it.’ And they then granted those dollars to this coalition of organizations who came together, bringing 250 years and $100 billion worth of experience to doing this project," she said. 

The $2 billion was used for the "decarbonization of homes" in low-income communities and paid for new household appliances, such as water heaters, induction stoves, solar panels, EV chargers, and weatherization, according to an April 2024 press release from Power Forward Communities.

LEE ZELDIN LIKENS BIDEN ENERGY 'SCHEME' CONNECTED TO STACEY ABRAMS TO 'THROWING GOLD BARS OFF THE TITANIC'

Power Forward Communities CEO Tim Mayopoulos told Politico last month that Abrams did not receive funds from the EPA grant. 

"Stacey Abrams has not received a penny of this EPA grant," he said last month. "It was never the plan for her to receive any money from this grant. Power Forward Communities has no relationship with Ms. Abrams, other than the fact that she’s one of the people who have advised one of our coalition members in the past." 

Conservatives on social media slammed Abrams over the media interview, as critics asked why the EPA didn't provide rebates to Americans who purchased energy-efficient appliances, while others remarked the initiative was intended to "buy votes" in Georgia, which was a battleground state during the 2024 election cycle. 

Fox Digital reached out to the PR firm representing Abrams for comment on the matter on Sunday afternoon, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Abrams argued in the MSNBC interview that conservatives, such as Zeldin and President Donald Trump, are "angry" over the funds provided to the group because Democrats "know how to serve the American people and lower their prices."

"What they are angry about is that it's going to work, because we know it can work. And in fact, the hypocrisy is that just today, the EPA quietly released funds for one portion of this program, $7 billion, where $100 million of that will go to West Virginia for solar projects. Another $60 million will go to Alaska for solar projects. They know this works. They know it will reduce cost. They are angry about the fact that it is Democrats who know how to serve the American people and lower their prices," she said. 

The interview followed Trump calling Abrams out during his speech to a joint session of Congress last Tuesday. 

"$1.9 billion to recently created decarbonization of homes committee, headed up – and we know she’s involved – just at the last moment, the money was passed over — by a woman named Stacey Abrams. Have you ever heard of her?" Trump said during his speech, with some booing Abrams' name as Trump spoke. 

LEE ZELDIN EXPOSES STACEY ABRAMS’ CLIMATE GROUP FUNDING

The Washington Post ran a fact-check on the remark, giving Trump four "pinocchios" for the comment, arguing Abrams "does not head the consortium; she did not even head one member of the consortium. She was only an adviser. Moreover, the money was delivered nine months before President Joe Biden left office, not at the last moment."

Abrams notably did not distance herself from the project during her interview on MSNBC, instead celebrating her work on Vitalizing De Soto, which she explained led to the creation of Power Forward Communities. 

The EPA hit back in its own fact check following the WaPo story that it "is no surprise that the Washington Post continues to toe the line for the radical left and are quick to defend apparent cronyism instead of actually doing the work to investigate on behalf of the American public."

Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. 

• Rep. Al Green heckled Trump's joint address on Tuesday night.
• The Texas Democrat was eventually booted on the orders of Speaker Mike Johnson.
• Green later told reporters it was "worth it."

For the first time in recent memory, a lawmaker was thrown out of the House chamber during a president's address to a joint session of Congress.

It began mere minutes into President Donald Trump's speech on Tuesday night, when the president spoke about the "mandate" that he'd earned by virtue of his victory in the 2024 election.

Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat known for making theatrical gestures, stood up and began heckling Trump, telling him that he had "no mandate" to make cuts to Medicaid.

Democrats have accused Trump and Republicans of pushing for cuts to the program, which serves lower-income Americans, by virtue of a budget resolution that passed the House last week.

Green's heckling was immediately met with shouting from the Republican side of the aisle, with GOP lawmakers telling the Texas Democrat to sit down and shut up. But Green persisted, eventually leading House Speaker Mike Johnson to direct the House Sergeant at Arms to escort the congressman out of the chamber.

"It's worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up" to Trump, Green told reporters outside the chamber. He added that he was unsure if he'd face any formal punishment.

The Texas Democrat announced last month that he would introduce articles of impeachment against Trump, despite a lack of support from the recent of his caucus.

He made a similar move during the president's first term in office, even forcing three different votes on his impeachment resolution in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Republican lawmakers such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado frequently heckled former President Joe Biden's State of the Union addresses, but they were never removed from the chamber.

Global investing in fintech startups is starting to see an uptick. Just this week, KPMG issued its Pulse of Fintech report for the second half of 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2024, investment climbed to $25.9 billion from $18 billion in the third quarter, according to KPMG. Granted, this is not the enthusiasm of […]

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Windows 11 made our recent roundup of our least favorite "enshittified" products, which will come as no surprise to those of you who have followed our coverage of it over the years. What began as a more visually cohesive coat of paint for Windows 10 has given way to a user experience that has gradually coasted downhill even as it has picked up new features—a "clean install" of the operating system is pretty annoying, at a baseline, even before you consider extra software irritations from your PC, motherboard maker, or Microsoft's all-encompassing push into generative AI.

We'll never stop asking Microsoft to put out a consumer version of Windows that acts more like the Enterprise versions it gives to businesses, with no extra unasked-for apps and less pushiness about Microsoft's other products and services. But given that most of us are saddled with the current consumer-facing versions of Windows—Home and Pro, which treat their users basically the same way despite the difference in cost and branding—we're updating our guide to cleaning up a "clean install" to account for Windows 11 24H2 and any other changes Microsoft has made in the last year.

As before, this is not a guide about creating an extremely stripped-down, telemetry-free version of Windows; we stick to the things that Microsoft officially supports turning off and removing. There are plenty of experimental hacks that take it a few steps farther—NTDev's Tiny11 project is one—but removing built-in Windows components can cause unexpected compatibility and security problems, and Tiny11 has historically had issues with basic table-stakes stuff like "installing security updates."

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Hackers are increasingly abusing bugs in popular enterprise software to target big companies in mass-hacking campaigns

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The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on TikTok. Before the app goes dark on Sunday, you’re probably wondering how to back up the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of videos you may have on the platform.  Whether you want to save your favorite videos or videos you posted yourself, here’s how to do it. And […]

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TikTok has warned of a looming shutdown in just six days, as the Supreme Court is currently weighing the law that would ban the app. So we thought it’s time to take a look at other platforms that may be able to fill the TikTok-shaped hole in our lives.  The law gives TikTok parent company […]

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U.S. intelligence says these China-backed hackers are among those laying the groundwork for future conflict with the United States.

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There are many iPad apps to help you organize recipes; sync tasks across devices; be more productive; and manage your notes.

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This glossary includes the most common terms and expressions TechCrunch uses in our security reporting, and explanations of how — and why — we use them.

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