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Tag: DOGEs

  • DOGE’s access to critical IRS system containing taxpayer information is imminent

    DOGE’s access to critical IRS system containing taxpayer information is imminent

    The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, will soon have access to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system that contains sensitive taxpayer information, Fox News has learned.

    DOGE has requested access to the IRS Integrated Data Retrieval System, which allows IRS workers to view taxpayer accounts.

    Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News in a statement that access to this system is necessary to identify fraud and fix the system.

    “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” Fields said. “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it. DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on.”

    WHAT HAS DOGE CUT SO FAR?

    Elon Musk and President Donald Trump talk about DOGE’s efforts to investigate wasteful U.S. government spending from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

    The IRS website states that the system allows workers “to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts.” Other functions of the system include “researching account information and requesting returns,” entering transactions and collection information, and “automatically generating notices, collection documents and other outputs.”

    IRS building, logo

    The Musk-led DOGE will soon have access to an IRS system that contains sensitive taxpayer information, Fox News learned Monday. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

    Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Donald Trump. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

    DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS

    The group has faced criticism over its access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system, as well as moves to cancel federal contracts and make cuts at various agencies. Attorneys general from 14 states are suing to block DOGE from accessing federal data, arguing Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach.

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    The newly formed cost-cutting agency scored a win on Friday when a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

    Hillary Vaughn is a correspondent for FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network and is based in Los Angeles, CA.

    Twitter: @hillary__vaughn

  • Federal agency in DOGE’s crosshairs played key role in Harris’ strategy to curb migrant crisis

    Federal agency in DOGE’s crosshairs played key role in Harris’ strategy to curb migrant crisis

    When the Biden administration launched its strategy to tackle “root causes” of migration at the southern border during a time of rapidly rising and historic illegal immigration, the now-frozen United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a significant role.

    During the Biden administration, Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with leading diplomacy in Latin America to tackle the root causes, identified as issues like gang violence, climate change and poverty. It consisted of both government initiatives and funding from private organizations.

    USAID, which was frozen in recent days over concerns about misspending, played a key role in the distribution of funds. While certain operations have been halted to get a full picture of USAID funding to the region, it is possible to get a glimpse of the help it provided.

    JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP FROM PLACING 2,200 USAID WORKERS ON LEAVE 

    President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Feb. 7, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

    In 2021, the first year of the Biden administration, USAID announced Centroamérica Local, a 5-year, $300 million initiative that funded organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the root causes of migration to the U.S.

    “Under this new initiative, Centroamérica Local, USAID intends to invest up to $300 million, subject to the availability of funds, toward engaging, strengthening, and funding local organizations to implement programs to advance sustainable and equitable economic growth, improve governance, fight corruption, protect human rights, improve citizen security, and combat sexual and gender-based violence,” USAID said in a statement at the time.

    “These programs are being carried out under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Root Causes Strategy and deliver on the Agency’s goal to foster greater engagement with local organizations and communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and advance stability in the region.”

    More was still to come.

    TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY

    In 2022, USAID announced programs in Central America to end gender-based violence, including a $6.5 million program in Guatemala and a $2.7 million program in Honduras. That built off a program announced in El Salvadaor.

    In March last year, Harris met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and announced a planned investment of $135 million in USAID funding, alongside $170 million to aid development, economic health and security assistance.

    Included in the announcement was an expansion of the Central American Service Corps, which was created in 2022 at the Summit of Americas. The expanded program was funded by USAID and aimed to reach 2,800 people seen at most risk of migrating by engaging them with volunteer work, employment and training.

    Also announced for Guatemala was a USAID-implemented “Feed the Future” program to strengthen the capacity of research and education entities to scale agricultural technologies and to support research and education related to “climate smart” agriculture.

    USAID flag

    A flag outside U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Getty Images)

    USAID was also to implement a new “Guatemala Biodiversity Conservation” program to promote the conservation of biodiversity and strengthen protected areas and other areas of ecological importance.

    In September, USAID announced an additional $10.75 million in funding for Guatemala.

    USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

    That came after USAID invested over $153 million in Guatemala in 2023 to allegedly support the government in efforts to strengthen democracy and improve opportunities. According to a release, funded activities included “integrated rural and agricultural development, sustainable economic growth, support for the construction of climate-resilient infrastructure, and digital development and e-governance.”

    Harris was dogged by the “border czar” title throughout her unsuccessful presidential bid as she largely dropped the root causes emphasis and instead focused on the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the border.

    President Donald Trump’s administration has demonstrated a skepticism of the root causes strategy, both in its leaning in on border security and interior enforcement and also its moves to cut or freeze funding abroad.

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    In his first week in office, Trump also rescinded Biden’s 2021 executive order creating a “comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration, to manage migration throughout North and Central America and to provide safe and orderly processing of asylum seekers at the United States border.”

    He also revoked an executive order to rebuild and enhance programs to resettle refugees and plan for “the impact of climate change on migration.”

    Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

    He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

  • DOGE’s crackdown on USAID catches attention of US enemies and allies

    DOGE’s crackdown on USAID catches attention of US enemies and allies

    President Donald Trump’s second administration has made the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) a prime target for spending cuts. Under Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, is taking a serious look at the foreign aid agency — and America’s allies and enemies alike are taking notice.

    In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital at the United Nations, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó didn’t hide his disdain for USAID. While insisting that he was not interested in interfering with US domestic issues, Szijjártó did speak about what he saw from the agency under former President Joe Biden.

    “The former administration couldn’t digest that we weren’t ready to give up our national positions. We were not ready to give up representing our national interests,” Szijjártó told Fox News Digital. “And we were not ready to give up our non-liberal, patriotic, conservative type of approach.”

    Former President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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

    Szijjártó also accused the Biden administration of using USAID to “destabilize the situation in other countries” and to fund “programs which were totally alien and strange compared to the culture and the heritage of other countries.”

    “If you ask me whether it’s good to us that there’s a revision period of 90 days when it comes to payments regarding USAID and others, we are very happy,” Szijjártó added.

    USAID HAS ‘DEMONSTRATED PATTERN OF OBSTRUCTIONISM,’ CLAIMS TOP DOGE REPUBLICAN IN LETTER TO RUBIO

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime ally of Trump, also ripped USAID after it was reported that the agency was funding Politico.

    Prime Minister Orbán followed up in another tweet saying, “We had to endure for years that the ultra-progressive, self-proclaimed human rights champions of the mainstream media demonized Patriotic political forces for years. They did it because they were paid to do so by USAID and the previous, left-wing US administration. I agree with President [Trump]: this is too big and too dirty to hide from.”

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed during Wednesday’s press briefing that “more than $8 million taxpayer dollars” went to Politico, adding that DOGE is “working on canceling those payments.” However, the publication denied that it has ever been a “beneficiary of government programs.”

    Musk, who is heading up Trump’s cost-cutting efforts through DOGE, described the agency as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”

    Elon Musk at Congress

    Elon Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    MEET THE BIDEN-ERA USAID LEADER FACING BACKLASH AMID MUSK’S DOGE CRACKDOWN

    On Monday, Trump’s White House issued a list of examples of “waste and abuse” at USAID. This included $6M to fund tourism in Egypt, $1.5M in funding for DEI programs in Serbia’s workplaces, $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia and more.

    The White House also accused the agency of spending “hundreds of millions of dollars” on “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” adding that this was “benefiting the Taliban.”

    Donald Trump and Elon Musk

    Trump and Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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    At the end of its list, the White House noted that the highlighted examples were part of a longer list of projects.

    “Under President Trump, the waste, fraud, and abuse ENDS NOW,” the White House added.

    Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

  • Elon Musk dunks on Sen. Chuck Schumer, declaring ‘Hysterical reactions’ demonstrate DOGE’s importance

    Elon Musk dunks on Sen. Chuck Schumer, declaring ‘Hysterical reactions’ demonstrate DOGE’s importance

    Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tasked with spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort, declared in a social media post that “Hysterical reactions” demonstrate the importance of DOGE’s work.

    He made the comment in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

    “An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,” a post on Sen. Schumer’s @SenSchumer X account reads, echoing remarks the lawmaker made during a press conference. 

    RUBIO SAYS ‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO BRING USAID ‘UNDER CONTROL’ AFTER AGENCY TAKEOVER: ‘RANK INSUBORDINATION’

    Left: Elon Musk arrives to speak during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States; Right: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrats policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Left: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images; Right: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    “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,” Schumer’s post continued.

    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,” he asserted.

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

    The business magnate has called DOGE “the wood chipper for bureaucracy.”

    “If the Treasury Secretary does not remove DOGE’s access to the Treasury payment systems at once: Congress must immediately act,” another post echoing the sentiments Schumer conveyed during the press conference reads. “That is why @RepJeffries and I will work together on legislation to stop unlawful meddling in the Treasury Department’s payment systems. We must protect people’s Social Security payments, Medicare payments, and tax refunds from any possible tampering by DOGE or other unauthorized entities.”

    MUSK RIPS ‘FRAUDULENT’ TREASURY HANDOUTS AS REPORTS MOUNT DOGE HAS ACCESS TO FEDERAL PAYMENT SYSTEM

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    Musk declared a tweet, “Doge has not looked at, nor is there any interest in, private financial data. What would we even do with it? The outgoing payment review process just looks at potential fraud and wasteful spending to organizations. Corrupt politicians are the ones complaining. I wonder why?”

    Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

  • Top lawmaker says issues that spurred DOGE’s genesis came full circle with Trump fixes: ‘Already winning’

    Top lawmaker says issues that spurred DOGE’s genesis came full circle with Trump fixes: ‘Already winning’

    The Senate’s lead “DOGE” lawmaker said Friday her quest for government efficiency is beginning to come full-circle, as the Agriculture Department instituted a return-to-work mandate she said was first spurred by a 2024 whistleblower who contacted her office.

    “The Trump administration, DOGE, and I are already racking up wins for taxpayers,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital on Friday.

    “Growing up on a farm, I know what working from home really means.”

    President Donald Trump too, highlighted the difference between telework in white-collar jobs and Americans in agriculture and manufacturing who don’t have the luxury of working from a desk.

    In remarks to reporters, Trump said federal workers appear less productive when working-from-home and that the dynamic is “unfair to the millions of people in the United States who are in fact working hard from job sites and not from their home.”

    ‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

    The Wilbur J. Cohen Building, Trump, Ernst (Getty)

    He also warned federal workers they would have to report to the office or, “you’re fired.”

    In that regard, Ernst looked back on a whistleblower who came to her and alleged USDA’s District of Columbia offices were largely vacant.

    That, she said, spurred her to outline policy proposals that eventually became “DOGE” – a term popularized by Trump ally Elon Musk.

    “When I first discovered that the Department of Agriculture was a ghost town, I took action to end federal employees’ abuse of telework and get the agency working for Iowa farmers,” said Ernst.

    “I have put bureaucrats on notice that their four-year vacation is over, and we are just beginning to get Washington back to work and serving the American people.”

    A memo from Acting Agriculture Secretary Gary Washington obtained by Politico on Thursday ordered senior staff “with assigned duty stations” to work from their offices full-time. Additional guidance would follow for workers without a preassigned workstation.

    Ernst characterized the memo as that full-circle moment.

    DOGE SENATOR SEEKS TO ENSURE FEDS CAN CONTINUE PURSUING COVID FRAUDSTERS, DEBTORS AS IG SOUNDS ALARM

    Ernst reportedly brought up her early concerns about teleworking bureaucrats and unused Washington office space running up tabs on the federal ledger during a meeting with Trump and Musk at Mar-a-Lago last year.

    She previously compiled a report following an investigation into government waste and abuse through which $2 trillion in savings could be realized if the issues were attended to.

    In a December statement highlighting that report, the House Budget Committee – now led by Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas — said the Biden administration’s condoning of mass telework “generated complacency in the workforce while costing taxpayers billions in unnecessary maintenance and upkeep costs.”

    “Early success means there is much more to come,” a person familiar with the Senate’s DOGE work added.

    According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, only 11% of the USDA’s office space was occupied in the first quarter of 2023, and 75% of available space across 17 federal agencies has remained empty since the pandemic.

    Ernst built her initial pre-formal-“DOGE” probes off of the USDA whistleblower, which is why she believes the latest development mandating return-to-work for agriculture bureaucrats is the issue now coming full-circle.

    Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., – the chairman and founder of the DOGE Caucus – praised Ernst’s work and said taxpayers deserve to have a government operating at “full capacity.”

    “President Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to work is the first step in improving government efficiency.”

    “This is just common sense, and the exact type of waste DOGE will continue to crack down on,” Bean said.

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    Ernst’s first DOGE “win” came with the passage of an otherwise Democrat-favored bill named for former President Joe Biden’s longtime friend Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and signed as both Delawareans were departing public service.

    Within the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act was a provision to compel the General Services Administration to sell the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.

    The block-long “stripped classicist” building southwest of the U.S. Capitol was designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Z. Klauder in the 1930s, and originally hosted the Social Security Administration.

    However, its total occupancy dwindled to 2% — largely Voice of America workers – by 2025.

    Another “DOGE” amendment sponsored by Ernst that requires agency oversight and reporting regarding telework was successfully added to a major appropriations bill passed in December.

    Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment for purposes of this story but did not receive a response by press time. 

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].