Politico staffers suggest Elon Musk spending crackdown caused late paychecks
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Wednesday that Politico has been receiving funds from the U.S. government that will dry up as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cracks down on spending.
Leavitt was asked about reports that “media outlets” will be impacted by Elon Musk’s plan to cut funding for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Politico received at least $8.2 million from the U.S. government in recent years, with $44,000 of that coming from USAID, according to USAspending.gov.
“Upon coming out here to the briefing room, I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room, and I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to, essentially, subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers dime, will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said.
“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” she continued. “This is a whole government effort to assure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books.”
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Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk’s crackdown on government spending played a role in the late payment.
Musk, the world’s richest man, is in charge of DOGE.
The news from the White House came after a Politico staffer expressed concern that employees receiving their recent bi-weekly direct deposits late could have been tied to Musk’s spending crackdown.
Many Politico employees typically receive direct deposit every other Tuesday, but this week they woke up and noticed the funds didn’t hit their account. An employee told Fox News Digital that management didn’t communicate about the issue until 9 a.m., when they chalked it up as a “technical error.”
According to the employee, many concerns went unaddressed as panicked Politico staffers expressed worry about paying bills and being hit with overdraft fees from their banks. Politico’s management eventually insisted it was a technical error between the bank and payroll providers and that everyone would be paid by the end of the day.
The employees were eventually paid, but it didn’t appear as “pending” until after 5 p.m. ET and didn’t clear until Wednesday morning, according to the impacted staffer. The employee said there is internal concern that the late paychecks and the government cracking down on excess spending were somehow connected.
“Politico screwed a lot of people,” the employee told Fox News Digital.
A Politico spokesperson provided the following statement: “Employees were paid yesterday, there was a technical error that was remedied in a matter of hours.”
Politico did not immediately respond to a series of follow-up questions about whether or not Musk’s crackdown on government spending had anything to do with the delayed payment.
TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man now in charge of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced plans to cut funding for USAID.
While Politico did receive payments from USAID for its costly subscription service, it was hardly the government agency that has given the most money to Politico. The Department of Health and Human Services leads the way, with $1.37 million followed by $1.35 million from the Department of the Interior, according to USAspending.gov.
The Department of Energy has given Politico $1.29 million, the Department of Agriculture has given $552,024 and the Department of Commerce has given $485,572.
Earlier on Wednesday, as staffers were still annoyed about the late payment, Musk responded to a post on X claiming the Department of Health and Human Services spent roughly $500,000 on Politico Pro subscription by writing, “This is odd.”
The Politico staffer said employee concerns quickly shifted from being angry about the late payroll to anxieties over Musk’s post.
Politico did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Musk’s post or comments from the White House.
Social media erupted with claims that the government has been funding Politico, but others pointed out that Politico has an expensive subscription service that is critical for many government employees. Base subscriptions are typically between $12,000 and $15,000 for three users.
While Politico did receive small amounts of cash for subscriptions from government agencies under prior administrations, it appears to have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, according to USAspening.gov.
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The article was updated to include new comments from the White House.
Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
