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Tag: DOGE

White House: Democrat rhetoric toward DOGE is ‘unacceptable’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Democrats Wednesday for their criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it “unacceptable” and “incredibly alarming.”

“Some elected Democrats are so steamed about DOGE – Congresswoman LaMonica McIver says we are at war. Ilhan Omar says we might actually see somebody get killed. And Chris Van Hollen says we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets. So what now?” Leavitt was asked by Fox News’ senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy.

“It’s unacceptable, the comments that have been made by these Democrat leaders, and frankly, they don’t even know what they’re talking about, because President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to make this government more efficient,” Leavitt responded.

“He campaigned across this country with Elon Musk vowing that Elon was going to head up the Department of Government Efficiency and the two of them with a great team around them were going to look at the receipts of this federal government and ensure it’s accountable to American taxpayers. That’s all that is happening here,” Leavitt continued. “And for Democrat officials to incite violence and encourage Americans to take to the streets, is incredibly alarming, and they should be held accountable for that rhetoric.”

DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS FACE BACKLASH FOR INVOKING ‘UNHINGED’ VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST MUSK

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, surrounded by other members of Congress, speaks during a rally against Elon Musk outside the Treasury Department in Washington, on Tuesday, Feb. 4. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

Leavitt also said during her daily White House press briefing, “If you heard that type of violent, enticing rhetoric from our side of the aisle, from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, I think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said, “What we are witnessing here is the biggest heist in American history.”

“This is the most corrupt bargain we’ve ever seen in American history: Elon Musk gives $250 million to elect Donald Trump, and Donald Trump turns over the keys to United States government to Elon Musk and his billionaire friends and his cronies,” Van Hollen said during a protest outside the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

“Are we going to let that stand? Hell no, we are not going to let that stand,” Van Hollen added, later vowing, “We have to fight this in the courts, we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets. We need to fight this all over America.”

USAID EMPLOYEE SAYS STAFFERS HID PRIDE FLAGS, ‘INCRIMINATING’ BOOKS WHEN DOGE ARRIVED

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a viewing of the launch of a SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“Shut down the city! We are at war!” Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., shouted into a microphone.

On Monday morning, hundreds of employees for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday.

The agency’s fate is hanging in the balance as DOGE is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency.

“The level of disrespect actually is criminal because there are crisis response teams that are around the world that really rely on having access to their emails – having access to apps that they can utilize if there’s danger to them,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told MSNBC, according to The Hill. “All of those accesses are cut off.”

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters at the White House, on Wednesday, Feb. 5. (AP/Evan Vucci)

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“So we might actually see somebody get killed. An American who works for the American government might be harmed in some of those countries that they’re operating in,” she reportedly added.

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 5, 2025
USAID has ‘demonstrated pattern of obstructionism,’ claims top DOGE Republican in letter to Rubio

FIRST ON FOX: The Senate chair of the DOGE Caucus is exposing a “demonstrated pattern of obstructionism” at the U.S.’ top aid agency in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, outlined how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been “stonewalling” her office for years as she sought documents to ensure taxpayer dollars weren’t wasted at the agency, which is now under the microscope of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“USAID’s spending shows a blatant disregard for the wishes of American taxpayers, and it is time to disrupt the system,” Ernst told Fox News Digital. “The agency has been wasting millions of tax dollars on things like tourism in Lebanon, Sesame Street in Iraq, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week and so much more.”

In one instance, the Iowa Republican claims USAID misled her staff to believe that details about funds going to businesses in Ukraine were classified, funds that in some instances were used for travel to fashion shows and film festivals.

‘VIPER’S NEST’: USAID ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT LONG BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN TOOK AIM

Ernst is chairwoman of the DOGE caucus. (Reuters)

In 2024, after months of delays, USAID finally agreed to offer Ernst’s staff a review of recipients of taxpayer-funded assistance to businesses in Ukraine, according to the letter.

But the agency insisted the documents be reviewed in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), suggesting the records would be classified.

“These requirements were all presented to my staff under the false pretense that this data was classified,” Ernst wrote to Rubio. “Only after demanding to speak to your USAID Office of Security, my staff uncovered that this data was, in fact, unclassified.”

Ernst said that based on her staff’s review, it appears that over 5,000 Ukrainian businesses received U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance, with awards of up to $2 million each.

WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS?

That trade assistance was in some instances used to bankroll business owners attending glamorous film festivals and fashion shows in cities like Berlin, Paris and Las Vegas.

She also accused the agency of “misleading” her office on the costs of indirect aid. Negotiated indirect cost agreements (NICRA) allowed contractors to use more than 25 percent of the total award on costs like “rent for a partner’s corporate headquarters, advocacy costs, and other miscellaneous expenses.”

READ ERNST’S LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

Ernst said her staff reached out in November 2022 asking USAID for information on NICRAs with grant recipients. The agency responded, “USAID does not have a system to track or report on this data, as it is not possible to compare indirect costs between for-profit and nonprofit organizations,” according to Ernst.

In February 2023, Ernst followed up with a link to a publicly reported NICRA database that USAID confirmed does exist.

The agency then said that it “protects the confidential business information of its implementing partners, including NICRAs… outside the scope of a formal oversight request by a committee of jurisdiction.”

USAID is the top U.S. international aid agency, but Republicans argue its funds have been misappropriated. (AP Photo/Desmond Tiro)

Then, Ernst partnered with former House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul to give USAID the request from a “committee of jurisdiction.”

“Even then, USAID refused to permit my staff to acquire the documents or take substantive notes on the NICRA rates. The lack of transparency was alarming because the NICRA rates far exceeded staff’s expected range of indirect costs allowed.”

USAID CLOSES HQ TO STAFFERS MONDAY AS MUSK SAYS TRUMP SUPPORTS SHUTTING AGENCY DOWN

Billionaire Elon Musk, the chair of DOGE, has been leading an investigation into USAID’s spending practices as the agency comes to a standstill. (Getty Images)

Ernst said: “In the wake of this series of significant misjudgments and oversight obstruction by USAID, it is of the utmost importance to conduct a full and independent analysis of the recipients of USAID assistance.”

She also pointed to Chemonics, a government contractor that USAID’s inspector general found over-billed the U.S. government by $270 million through fiscal year 2019. Chemonics led a $9.5 billion USAID project to improve global health supply chains that, “led to 41 arrests and 31 indictments related to illicit resale of USAID funded commodities on the black market, and fueled ongoing allegations that Chemonics falsely portrays its projects’ outcomes to secure future contracts with USAID,” Ernst wrote.

“No more stonewalling,” said Ernst. “We need to scrutinize every last dollar being spent by this rogue agency.”

In a notice posted on its website Tuesday night, USAID announced that all direct hire staff would be placed on leave globally, except for designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.

The Trump administration is now exploring merging the agency with the State Department and Rubio has been appointed its acting director.

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Rubio told reporters in El Salvador the “functions of USAID” must align with foreign policy and called it a “a completely unresponsive agency.”

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, staged a protest outside the USAID headquarters on Tuesday, arguing that the agency is essential for flexing U.S. soft power throughout the world, preventing and monitoring disease outbreaks, and safeguarding U.S. national security.

“USAID is the backbone of America’s soft power, helping to stabilize fragile regions and protect U.S. interests abroad,” said Reps. Greg Meeks, top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs,Calif., top Democrat on the Africa subcommittee.

“Weakening it will fuel global crises, endanger American security, embolden other nations like China and Russia, and leave the Trump Administration solely responsible for the fallout.”

February 5, 2025
DOGE targets Medicare agency, looking for fraud

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and has gained access to payment and contracting systems in search for potential fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Trump’s DOGE has already gutted USAID, but Musk argued on X that Medicare and Medicaid are where the “big money fraud” is happening.

CMS oversees Medicare, the health coverage program for older and disabled Americans, and Medicaid, for lower-income enrollees, which provides insurance for over 140 million U.S. citizens.

The CMS regularly deals with improper payments that represent fraud or abuse but might also be due to a state, contractor, or provider missing an administrative step.

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

WSJ reported, citing one of the people familiar with DOGE’s work at CMS, that Musk’s allies have not been given access to databases that include identifiable personal health information of Medicare or Medicaid enrollees.

The new campaign comes just days after DOGE targeted USAID, leading to the firing of 50 top officials and the organization being folded into the State Department.

AFTER RAUCOUS FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, DONALD TRUMP TO KEEP HIS FOOT ON THE GAS

Signs were also removed from USAID’s headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., and the DOGE team took over the computer systems, sources said. USAID is responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid and development assistance to countries around the globe.

Elon Musk, the chair of DOGE, has been leading an investigation into USAID’s spending practices as the agency comes to a standstill. (Getty Images)

Musk referred to the organization as a “viper’s nest.” The agency managed approximately $40 billion in appropriations last year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS MORE PLANES TO CARRY OUT DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.

Employees and supporters gather to protest outside of USAID headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can’t make payroll.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Chris Pandolfo, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 5, 2025
Palantir CEO touts Elon Musk’s DOGE, ability to hold ‘sacred cows of the deep state’ accountable

‘Making Money’ host Charles Payne discusses the current state of global trade and The Fitz-Gerald Group principal Keith Fitz-Gerald analyzes Palantir on ‘Making Money.’

When asked whether the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would serve as roadblocks to their business, Palantir’s CEO and chief technology officer were overwhelmingly optimistic about the check-and-balance foundation that DOGE is laying.

“Palantir’s real competition is a lack of accountability in government, these forever software projects that cost an insane amount that don’t actually deliver results. They’re sacred cows of the deep state,” CTO Shyam Sankar said in the fourth-quarter earnings webcast on Tuesday.

“And I think DOGE is going to bring meritocracy and transparency to government. And that’s exactly what our commercial business is,” he continued. “The commercial market is meritocratic and transparent, and you see the results that we have in that sort of environment. And that’s the basis of our optimism around this.”

The artificial intelligence-enabled data analytics firm reached its own milestone this week, as investors reacted positively to Palantir’s Q4 earnings and caused shares to surge as high as 28% before settling at a 24% gain by market close.

WHAT IS U.S.A.I.D. AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS?

Forbes reported that Palantir’s market capitalization jumped up to $240 billion, a company record, making it more valuable than popular names like McDonald’s, American Express and Disney.

Top Palantir executives reportedly have no fears about risks DOGE could pose to its government contract-led business. (Getty Images)

More than half of Palantir’s business comes from government contracts. During an appearance on FOX Business in December, its CEO Alex Karp shared his wholehearted support for DOGE, adding that there’s no “better person” than Musk to lead it.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp opens up about the company’s success and weighs in on DOGE on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

“We love disruption, and whatever is good for America will be good for Americans and very good for Palantir,” Karp said on Tuesday’s webcast. “Disruption, [at] the end of the day, exposes things that aren’t working. There’ll be ups and downs. There’s a revolution. Some people can get their heads cut off.”

“We’re expecting to see really unexpected things and to win, basically, that’s what we’re going to do,” he expanded. “And we’re pretty optimistic about the U.S. environment.”

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Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar warns that if the United States entered a war with a near-peer adversary, our weapons stockpile would last weeks — not years — on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

“The work that we’ve done in government, it’s deeply operational, deeply valuable, and we’re pretty excited about exceptional engineers getting in there under the hood and being able to see that for a change,” Sankar also said.

As of Wednesday’s opening bell, Palantir stock was down slightly from its all-time Tuesday high of $105.79.

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February 5, 2025
Joy Villa wears DOGE coin dress to 67th Grammy Awards

Singer and songwriter Joy Villa, well-known for her contentious attire at Grammy Award shows, strutted the red carpet once again on Sunday in a gown that served up a strong message.

Villa was spotted at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in a gold dress and necklace dispersed with images of the DOGE Shiba Inu dog meme, a necklace featuring his face and a red hat that read “The hat stays on.”

“I was kind of a walking meme,” Villa told Fox News Digital. “Obviously, I’m a MAGA girl and MAGA and crypto are starting to bridge the gap.”

JOY VILLA TURNS HEADS WITH PRO-LIFE OUTFIT AT THE GRAMMYS

Award-winning singer/songwriter Joy Villa wore a DOGE coin dress and a red hat with the message “The hat stays on” to the 67th Grammy Awards. (Joy Villa)

“Cryptocurrency represents freedom,” she added. “We can disengage from the big banks. As artists, we can dictate our own financial independence.”

The dress was tailored by atelier dress designer Andre Soriano, who also curated the controversial “Make America Great Again” dress Villa first wore to the 2017 Grammys.

“I’ve had people try to snatch my MAGA hats off,” Villa said.

Villa said that among the vicious rhetoric she has received since expressing her support for President Donald Trump and his policies eight years ago are threats of sexual assault and death in addition to racial slurs. Despite having experienced vocal and physical backlash, Villa said the hat sends a message of her courage, resilience and vibrancy.

‘MAGA’ DRESS DESIGNER FORCED TO REMOVE TRUMP SIGNS FROM BUSINESS, RESIDENCE WHEN ‘KAREN’ CALLED POLICE

“I don’t worship Trump, but I worship Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, and I know that God gave me a voice to speak in Hollywood as an artist, as an actress, as a musician,” Villa told Fox News Digital. “The red carpet is my battlefield.”

A focal point of Villa’s conservative messaging at high-profile events is her religious devotion.

“I shared Jesus Christ with every single person I interviewed and none of them posted that,” she said.

“America needs to bless God because the fight is not over yet,” she added. “We got to stop aborting babies. We got to put prayer back in schools. Nobody needs to have their religion demonized and, for some reason, you can say every other name at the Grammys or the red carpet awards except for Jesus Christ.”

SINGER JOY VILLA MAKES A POLITICAL FASHION STATEMENT AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD

While Villa’s remarks about religion were passed over by the media, her message in support of the deportations of illegal immigrants in the U.S. was publicized.

“I’m a proud Afro-Latina,” she said. “I know being in the Latina community, being a woman of color, I know how much illegal immigration hurts us, and people won’t talk about that.”

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has acted on his promise of mass deportations and cracked down on illegal immigration. This has included ending deportation protection for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and deporting thousands of illegal immigrants to Mexico.

“It is a crime to come here illegally,” Villa said. “I’ve traveled to 39 countries and in every single one of them I had to get the proper documentation and show my ID.”

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Villa scrutinized actress Selena Gomez for taking to social media recently to cry about President Trump’s swift action removing illegal immigrants.

“Girl, sit all the way down,” Villa said. “You are an American citizen and those are not your people.”

“Deport everyone who’s coming here illegally,” she said.

Gabriele Regalbuto is a Senior Editor of SEO at Fox News Digital. Gabriele has a Journalism and Communications degree from West Virginia University. She has worked to produce content for newspapers, magazines, and digital platforms. At Fox, she has assisted in coverage of breaking news events including the 2024 presidential cycle, 2022 midterm elections, Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

February 5, 2025
Treasury Department says DOGE will have ‘read-only’ access to payment systems in letter to Congress

Panelists Ben Ferguson and Stacy Washington discuss how Democrats are reacting to DOGE looking into government spending on ‘The Bottom Line.’

A Treasury Department official told members of Congress on Tuesday that a tech executive working with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will have “read-only access” to the government’s payment system, stressing that it is committed to safeguarding the system after DOGE was granted access.

The official penned a letter in response to lawmakers who were concerned that DOGE’s access to the government’s payment system for the federal government could lead to security risks or missed payments for various programs, including Social Security and Medicare.

Lawmakers have also expressed concerns that billionaire Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, possesses too much power within the U.S. government and that he says on his social media platform X that DOGE will shut down payments to some organizations, such as a Lutheran charity.

The letter notes that the ongoing review of the Treasury’s systems has “not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed” and that Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause was working at Treasury as a “special government employee,” which means rules on ethics and financial disclosures are less strict than for other government employees.

TRUMP NAMES TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT AS ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU

Elon Musk is seen in the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., while on the Hill to talk about President-elect Donald Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” on Thursday, December 5, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Krause is conducting the review in coordination with career treasury officials, the letter said.

“Currently, Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment,” the letter reads. “This is similar to the kind of access that Treasury provides to individuals reviewing Treasury systems, such as auditors, and that follows practices associated with protecting the integrity of the systems and business processes.”

“Treasury will continue its efforts to promote efficiency and effectiveness in its operations, and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse,” it adds.

The Treasury’s payments are managed by its Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which disburses nearly 90% of all federal payments and conducts more than 1.2 billion transactions per year.

The official said the purpose of the review is to “maximize payment integrity for agencies and the public.”

“Treasury has no higher obligation than managing the government’s finances on behalf of the American people, and its payments system is critical to that process,” the letter reads. “In keeping with that mission, Treasury is committed to safeguarding the integrity and security of the system, given the implications of any compromise or disruption to the U.S. economy.”

The U.S. Treasury Building, photographed on Friday, July 16, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)

While the Treasury official said DOGE has just “read-only access” to the payments systems, some Democrats remain skeptical.

“Some Republicans are trying to suggest that Musk only has ‘viewing access’ to Treasury’s highly sensitive payment system as if that’s acceptable either,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement.

“But why on earth should we believe that — particularly when he is saying the exact opposite loudly and repeatedly for everyone to see?” Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, added.

A group of labor unions and advocates have filed a lawsuit attempting to block the Treasury from handing over access to the payment systems to DOGE.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the lawsuit reads. “People who must share information with the federal government should not be forced to share information with Elon Musk or his ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to.”

BILL GATES WEIGHS IN ON NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, ELON MUSK’S ROLE

The U.S. Treasury Department building is seen in Washington, D.C., January 19, 2023. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Some congressional Democrats decided to test if they would be granted access to the Treasury since DOGE was given access, with Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., writing on X: “We are members of Congress at the Treasury Department. We want to be let in to provide oversight on behalf of our constituents.”

White House communications director Steven Cheung responded: “Look at these losers. Literally everything they do is for social media clout.”

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DOGE’s access to the payment systems came after the Treasury’s Acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from the agency. Lebryk resigned from his position after DOGE requested access to sensitive Treasury data, according to The Washington Post.

“The Fiscal Service performs some of the most vital functions in government,” Lebryk said in a letter to Treasury employees. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important. I am grateful for having been able to work alongside some of the nation’s best and most talented operations staff.”

February 5, 2025
Meet the young team of software engineers slashing government waste at DOGE: report

Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts to slash government waste and streamline the federal bureaucracy include the hiring of several up-and-coming young software engineers tasked with “modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

Six young men between the ages of 19 and 24 — Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger and Ethan Shaotran — have taken up various roles furthering the DOGE agenda, according to a report from Wired.

Bobba was part of the highly regarded Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program at UC Berkeley and has held internships at the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, Meta and Palantir.

“Let me tell you something about Akash,” Grata AI CEO Charis Zhang posted on X about Bobba in recent days. “During a project at Berkeley, I accidentally deleted our entire codebase 2 days before the deadline. I panicked. Akash just stared at the screen, shrugged, and rewrote everything from scratch in one night — better than before. We submitted early and got first in the class. Many such stories. I trust him with everything I own.”

‘VIPER’S NEST’: USAID ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT LONG BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN TOOK AIM

Elon Musk (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Coristine, a recent high school graduate who studied mechanical engineering and physics at Northwestern, previously worked for Musk’s Neuralink project, Wired reported.

Bobba and Costine reportedly work directly under Anna Scales as “experts” at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Kliger is listed on LinkedIn as a special advisor to the director of OPM and attended UC Berkeley in 2020. Kliger has also worked at the AI company Databricks. Kliger’s substack contains a post, “The Curious Case of Matt Gaetz: How the Deep State Destroys Its Enemies,” as well as another titled “Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense: The Warrior Washington Fears.”

USAID CLOSES HQ TO STAFFERS MONDAY AS MUSK SAYS TRUMP SUPPORTS SHUTTING AGENCY DOWN

Another post on the substack is headlined, “Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America.”

Killian is listed as a volunteer for DOGE who attended McGill University after graduating from high school in 2019. Wired reported that Killian previously worked as an engineer at a company called Jump Trading that deals with high-frequency financial trades and algorithms.

Shaotran was studying computer science at Harvard University last year and is the founder of Energize AI, an OpenAI-backed startup. Additionally, Shaotran participated in a “hackathon” sponsored by an Elon Musk company where he finished in second place.

Farritor, who dropped out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has a working GSA email address, was previously an intern for SpaceX and is also a Thiel fellow.

Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall Oct. 26, 2024, in Lancaster, Pa. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

In 2023, at 21years old, Farritor became the first person to successfully decode text inside a 2,000-year-old Greek scroll using AI, according to the University of Nebraska website.

According to Wired, Bobba, Coristine, Farritor and Shaotran have working GSA emails along with A-suite level clearance that allows them to work on the top floor at GSA with access to all IT systems.

Fox News Digital reached out to OPM and GSA for comment.

Speaking to Fox News’ Peter Doocy in the Oval Office Tuesday, President Donald Trump praised the intelligence of some of the young hires working for DOGE.

“That’s good,” Trump said of the hires as young as 19. “They’re very smart, though, Peter. They’re like you. They’re very smart people.

“No, I haven’t seen them,” Trump said when asked if he had met the team. “They work, actually, out of the White House as smart people, unlike what they do in the control towers. We need smart people. We should use some of them in the control towers, where we were putting people that were actually intellectually deficient. That was one of the qualifications is you could be intellectually deficient.

“No. We need smart people. Some are young and some are not young. Some are not young at all. But they found great things. Look at the list of things. I’ll … maybe I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll read off a list of 15 or 20 things that they found inside of the USAID. It has to be corrupt.”

Elon Musk has also publicly posted online about the qualifications he is looking for and the strength of his team.

“If you’re a hardcore software engineer and want to build the everything app, please join us by sending your best work to [email protected],” Musk posted on X in January. “We don’t care where you went to school or even whether you went to school or what “big name” company you worked at. Just show us your code.”

In another X post this week, Musk wrote, “Time to confess: Media reports saying that @DOGE has some of world’s best software engineers are in fact true.”

Wired cited sources who raised concerns about Musk’s team’s clearance, and Democrats in Congress have been railing against DOGE in recent days, arguing that DOGE has received improper access to various government systems.

Musk has pushed back on the criticism from Democrats, including allegations about DOGE’s involvement in treasury payment oversight.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

“The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once,” Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X.

Musk also responded to Democratic critics, including those upset about his efforts to push reforms at USAID, saying the “hysterical reactions” demonstrate the importance of DOGE’s work.

“An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,” a post on Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s X account states, echoing remarks the lawmaker made during a press conference.

“DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to make spending decisions. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law. DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Congress must take action to restore the rule of law.”

Congress is racing to be ready to execute the recommendations of Trump’s new DOGE commission. (Getty Images)

Musk described the effort to slash government waste and bureaucracy as a one-time opportunity.

“Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that @DOGE is doing work that really matters,” he wrote in response to Schumer.

“This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this. It’s now or never. Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people.”

Since its creation last month, DOGE’s X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including an announcement last week that it had cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and personnel.

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“DOGE is fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to making government more accountable, efficient and, most importantly, restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities. The ongoing operations of DOGE may be seen as disruptive by those entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, who resist change. While change can be uncomfortable, it is necessary and aligns with the mandate supported by more than 77 million American voters.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

February 4, 2025
Federal prosecutor puts potential DOGE sabotage on notice with threat of ‘any and all legal action’

Newly-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin published a letter vowing to hold to account those who try to sabotage efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to clean the federal government of overspending and corruption.

“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE have been targeted publicly,” Martin wrote to Elon Musk in a letter, which Martin posted to his X account Monday. “At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”

“Let me assure you of this: We will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people,” he continued. “We will not act like the previous administration who looked the other way as the Antifa and BLM rioters as well as thugs with guns trashed our capital city. We will protect DOGE and other workers no matter what.”

Martin previously worked as a defense attorney, including representing three men charged in the Jan. 6 protests, when President Donald Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 Jan. 6, 2021 criminal defendants upon taking office in January.

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Newly-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin, inset, published a letter vowing to hold to account those who try to sabotage efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk. (Chesnot/Getty Images )

Trump appointed Martin the interim United States attorney for Washington, D.C., shortly following his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Martin’s letter comes as Musk takes a hatchet to government agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to rid the departments of what the administration has described as corruption and overspending.

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News reports spread this week that Musk’s DOGE team includes a group of college-age engineers to help dismantle government overspending and reported corruption, which has sparked some on social media to attack the team, including threatening to dox them, according to a review of some reactions online.

News reports spread this week that the DOGE team, led by Elon Musk, includes a group of college-age engineers to help dismantle government overspending and reported corruption. ( Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Martin noted in his Monday public letter that he worked with the DOGE team “this weekend,” while warning that “we must keep all our American government employees safe and we must protect the American people’s property.”

“One last warning to you,” Martin wrote in the conclusion of his letter to Musk. “Late last week, we indicted an economist who worked for the Fed for economic espionage for the Communist Chinese. Please be very aware that there are those who are acting against our American people in every way. Refer to us any questionable conduct or details that you find or notice.”

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USAID’s fate is hanging in the balance as Musk went on a warpath against the independent government agency as a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.” On Monday morning, hundreds of USAID employees reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed.

Elon Musk, left, announced in an audio-only message on X overnight on Sunday that “we’re in the process” of “shutting down USAID” and that President Donald Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Musk announced in an audio-only message on X overnight on Sunday that “we’re in the process” of “shutting down USAID” and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday that he is now serving as acting director of the agency and outlined that its policies need to shift to fall in line with Trump’s “America First” mission.

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“USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with U.S. policy,” he told reporters while in El Salvador. “It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S. They’re not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.”

February 4, 2025
Musk’s DOGE takes aim at ‘viper’s nest’ federal agency

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is taking aim at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and, according to senior congressional sources, moved to seize control of the independent agency over the weekend.

The senior congressional sources told Fox News that more than 50 senior USAID staff members were placed on administrative leave and subjected to a gag order, meaning they were not allowed to communicate with anyone outside the agency without approval.

Signs were also removed from USAID’s headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., and the DOGE team took over the computer systems, the sources said. USAID is responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid and development assistance to countries around the globe. The agency managed approximately $40 billion in appropriations last year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after refusing to turn over classified material in restricted areas to DOGE.

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The U.S. Agency of International Development flag flies in front of the agency’s headquarters building in Washington.

After initially being refused access to USAID’s classified information, DOGE eventually gained that access on Saturday, allowing them to see things like intelligence reports, a current and a former U.S. official told the AP.

The DOGE team members lacked high enough security clearance to access the information, so the two USAID security officials – John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill – believed they were legally obligated to deny access.

On Sunday, Musk took aim at USAID on his social media platform X, saying, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

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He also wrote several other posts about the agency, saying things like, “USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and “USAID is evil.”

The latter was in response to a post suggesting USAID helped fund coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, which referred to an interaction posted on Forbes between Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and now former USAID Administrator Samantha Power in April 2023.

ABC News reported that those familiar with USAID were questioning whether the moves at USAID were being made in an effort to move the agency under the State Department, where there could be better accountability.

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Elon Musk jumps on stage as he joins former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images/File)

Last week, at least 56 USAID officials were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, and several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere were laid off.

The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.

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The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can’t make payroll.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 3, 2025
Musk rips ‘fraudulent’ Treasury payments as reports mount DOGE has access to federal payment system

Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped alleged “fraudulent” Treasury payments on Saturday as reports circulated that the Department of Government Efficiency has gained acces to the federal government’s payment system as the second Trump administration continues cutting what they say is government fat and overspending.

“The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once,” Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X.

Musk’s post came just ahead of the New York Times reporting Saturday afternoon that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE personnel access to the payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, posted to social media on Saturday that he has also been informed that DOGE was granted access to the system.

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Elon Musk is heading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk’s own companies. All of it,” Wyden posted to social media site BlueSky on Saturday evening.

DOGE’s reported access to the payment system comes after the Washington Post reported on Friday that the former acting director of the Treasury, David A. Lebryk, was planning to exit the finance department of the federal government following a clash over granting DOGE access to its payment system. Lebryk oversaw the Treasury Department in the days between President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and Bessent’s confirmation to lead the department on Jan. 27.

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On Friday, reports also spread that civil servants within the Office of Personnel Management, which works as the federal government’s HR department, were reportedly locked from the office’s computer systems by DOGE.

Musk quipped on X on Saturday that working over the weekend is a “superpower,” where the “opposing team” disappear for two days.

“Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days! Working the weekend is a superpower,” he posted.

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Trump officially created DOGE via an executive order signed on his first day in office. The EO outlines that government agency chiefs provide DOGE with access to internal government platforms such as, “software systems, and IT systems.”

“Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems. USDS shall adhere to rigorous data protection standards,” the executive order reads.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump and Musk had long previewed the creation of DOGE while on the campaign trail, championing that the team would weed out overspending and fraud within the federal government. DOGE is not a government department, but instead operates as a team within the Trump administration.

Before Trump’s win in November, Musk hosted the Republican president for an interview on X in August, where Musk railed against government overspending and inflation that has gripped the nation in recent years.

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk arrive to attend a viewing of the launch of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“A lot of people just don’t understand where inflation comes from. Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government. So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. If the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation,” Musk said during their conversation.

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“So really we need to reduce our government spending, and we need to re-examine… I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’”

Since its official creation last month, DOGE’s X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including announcing last week that it has cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and personnel.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Treasury Department on Sunday morning, but did not immediately receive replies.

February 2, 2025