Politics
DOGE Claims Credit for Killing Contracts That Were Already Dead
While George W. Bush was president, the U.S. Coast Guard signed a contract to get administrative help from a company in Northern Virginia. It paid $144,000, and the contract was completed by June 30, 2005.
Twenty years passed. Presidents came and went.
Last week, Elon Musk’s restructuring team, called the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, said it had just canceled the long-dead Coast Guard contract — and in doing so, saved U.S. taxpayers $53.7 million.
That claim, posted on the group’s “wall of receipts,” bewildered experts on federal contracting. And there were others like it. Even after Mr. Musk’s group deleted several large erroneous claims from its website last week, The New York Times found that it had added new mistakes — claiming credit for “canceling” contracts that had actually ended under previous presidents.
“These are not savings,” said Lisa Shea Mundt, whose firm, The Pulse of GovCon, tracks federal spending. “The money’s been spent. Period. Point blank.”
These mistakes do not mean DOGE has not made cuts to the federal government. It has, deeply, by pushing widespread layoffs of employees and cancellations of active contracts, and by helping instigate the demise of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
But the repeated errors have raised questions about the quality and veracity of the information that the Musk team is putting out, including whether it is being misled by other departments. The mistakes also seem to call into question the team members’ competence — whether they understand the government well enough to cut it while avoiding catastrophe.
“It’s obvious that they don’t understand,” said Eric Franklin, the chief executive of the firm Erimax, who advises the government on contracting procedures. His own firm was the subject of one of the errors on DOGE’s “wall of receipts.” Mr. Musk’s group claimed it had saved $14 million by canceling one of its contracts — which had ended in 2021.
“It’s really akin to a bull in a china shop,” Mr. Franklin said. “And what do you end up with? It’s just a big mess.”
At the White House, a senior administration official offered a partial explanation, saying the information on the wall of receipts had been provided by individual federal agencies — many of which have embedded staff members from Mr. Musk’s group. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to describe DOGE’s methods, said Mr. Musk’s group then checked the accuracy of the agency’s claims.
Why were there still so many errors? The official said individual agencies should answer that question. On its website, DOGE says it is trying to improve its data, and asks readers to notify it of potential errors.
Missing Identifiers
Agencies are under tremendous pressure to find budget cuts for Mr. Musk’s group to promote. The group has even created a “leaderboard” to measure which ones have eliminated the most.
But in databases of federal contracts, there are clues that this rush is not being well managed or adequately tracked.
In the past, the government has designated specific codes to track large batches of contracts across different agencies that relate to a common initiative, like the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic. That makes it easier to find all the contracts involved.
But the contracts in the “wall of receipts” have no such signature. That omission may mean there are errors in both directions — not only with expired contracts that don’t actually save money, but also potentially with contracts that were canceled by the group’s effort but are not being counted.
Mr. Musk’s group has said that it has saved taxpayers $65 billion, by cutting contracts, leases, federal employees and other items in the federal budget. But it has itemized only two of those categories: cancellations of contracts and leases. When adding up DOGE’s claimed savings for each item, those categories collectively account for about $10 billion, less than one-sixth of the total.
When DOGE first published its list of canceled contracts, there were about 1,100 examples.
The five largest were wrong.
In one case, DOGE listed a contract worth $8 million as actually being worth $8 billion. In another, it mistakenly counted the same $655 million contract three times. In yet another, it erroneously said that a huge contract at the Social Security Administration had been fully canceled, saving $232 million. In reality, only a small project within that contract had been canceled. Actual savings: $560,000.
By last week, all of those claims were gone. DOGE revised the total savings from these five cuts from $10 billion down to about $19 million.
At the same time, Mr. Musk’s group also added about 1,100 new canceled contracts to the list.
Errant Links
Among the new entries were several that had ended before President Trump took office.
Mr. Musk’s group took credit for the cancellation of a $1.9 billion Treasury Department contract, for work on information technology at the Internal Revenue Service. But it had actually been canceled in November, when President Biden was in office.
The Treasury Department suggested this cut to DOGE in a post on X on Feb. 19. Two days later, The Times reported that it had been canceled before Mr. Trump took office.
Three days after that, DOGE went ahead and posted the Biden-era cancellation on its wall. The Treasury Department did not respond to questions about the contract.
DOGE also claimed credit for canceling two different Coast Guard contracts that had ended during the George W. Bush administration. In addition to the $53 million contract that ended in 2005, Mr. Musk’s group said it had saved $53 million more by canceling another contract with the same vendor. Public contracting data shows that one ended in 2006.
Deniece Peterson, a senior director of federal market analysis at the firm Deltek, said that both contracts were part of a larger spending agreement with a $53 million spending limit. In all, she said, the Coast Guard paid the vendor about $35 million over several years. All of its work under that agreement was completed by 2011, and federal contracting data shows that no bills remain outstanding and no more money was expected to be spent.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, did not offer an explanation for why the department had claimed $106 million in savings from ending these two long-dead contracts. Instead, she responded to questions from The Times with an email saying: “We’re certainly excited about $100 million + in taxpayer savings.”
And then there were the links on the DOGE website that led to different contracts than those touted.
DOGE claimed it had saved $149 million by canceling a contract for three administrative assistants at the National Institutes of Health worth about $1.4 million.
The link, however, led to the page of an unrelated contract with a different company that supplies refrigerated gases used in laboratories. That contract, which does not appear to be canceled, was worth only $118,000.
After being asked about the errors, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services said DOGE was working to correct the website.
Emily Badger contributing reporting.
Politics
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday evening condemned the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, calling the operation both “unlawful” and “unwise.”
In a lengthy post on X, Harris acknowledged that Maduro is a “brutal” and “illegitimate” dictator but said that President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela “do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable.”
“Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable,” Harris wrote. “That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We’ve seen this movie before.
“Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos, and American families pay the price.”
SEE PICS: VENEZUELANS WORLDWIDE CELEBRATE AS EXILES REACT TO MADURO’S CAPTURE
Vice President Kamala Harris had strong words for the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
Harris made the remarks hours after the Trump administration confirmed that Maduro and his wife were captured and transported out of Venezuela as part of “Operation Absolute Resolve.”
The former vice president also accused the administration of being motivated by oil interests rather than efforts to combat drug trafficking or promote democracy.
“The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to. This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman,” Harris said. “If he cared about either, he wouldn’t pardon a convicted drug trafficker or sideline Venezuela’s legitimate opposition while pursuing deals with Maduro’s cronies.”
SECOND FRONT: HOW A SOCIALIST CELL IN THE US MOBILIZED PRO-MADURO FOOT SOLDIERS WITHIN 12 HOURS
President Donald Trump shared a photo of captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima after Saturday’s strikes on Venezuela. (Donald Trump via Truth Social)
Harris, who has been rumored as a potential Democratic contender in the 2028 presidential race, additionally accused the president of endangering U.S. troops and destabilizing the region.
“The President is putting troops at risk, spending billions, destabilizing a region, and offering no legal authority, no exit plan, and no benefit at home,” she said. “America needs leadership whose priorities are lowering costs for working families, enforcing the rule of law, strengthening alliances, and — most importantly — putting the American people first.”
MADURO’S FALL SPARKS SUSPICION OF BETRAYAL INSIDE VENEZUELA’S RULING ELITE
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch U.S. military operations in Venezuela from Mar-a-Lago in Florida early Saturday. (Donald Trump via Truth Social)
Maduro and his wife arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn late Saturday after being transported by helicopter from the DEA in Manhattan after being processed.
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Earlier in the day, Trump said that the U.S. government will “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
Harris’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
CARACAS, Venezuela — It was about 2 a.m. Saturday Caracas time when the detonations began, lighting up the sullen sky like a post-New Year’s fireworks display.
“¡Ya comenzó!” was the recurrent phrase in homes, telephone conversations and social media chats as the latest iteration of U.S. “shock and awe” rocked the Venezuelan capital. “It has begun!”
Then the question: “¿Maduro?”
The great uncertainty was the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been under Trump administration threat for months.
The scenes of revelry from a joyous Venezuelan diaspora celebrating from Miami to Madrid were not repeated here. Fear of the unknown kept most at home.
Hours would pass before news reports from outside Venezuela confirmed that U.S. forces had captured Maduro and placed him on a U.S. ship to face criminal charges in federal court in New York.
Venezuelans had watched the unfolding spectacle from their homes, using social media to exchange images of explosions and the sounds of bombardment. This moment, it was clear, was ushering in a new era of uncertainly for Venezuela, a nation reeling from a decade of economic, political and social unrest.
Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas on Saturday.
(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)
The ultimate result was an imponderable. But that this was a transformative moment — for good or bad — seemed indisputable.
By daybreak, an uneasy calm overtook the city of more than 3 million. The explosions and the drone of U.S. aircraft ceased. Blackouts cut electricity to parts of the capital.
Pro-government youths wielding automatic rifles set up roadblocks or sped through the streets on motorcycles, a warning to those who might celebrate Maduro’s downfall.
Shops, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed. There was little traffic.
“When I heard the explosions, I grabbed my rosary and began to pray,” said Carolina Méndez, 50, who was among the few who ventured out Saturday, seeking medicines at a pharmacy, though no personnel had arrived to attend to clients waiting on line. “I’m very scared now. That’s why I came to buy what I need.”
A sense of alarm was ubiquitous.
Motorcycles and cars line up for gas Saturday in Caracas. Most of the population stayed indoors, reluctant to leave their homes except for gas and food.
(Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)
“People are buying bottled water, milk and eggs,” said Luz Pérez, a guard at one of the few open shops, not far from La Carlota airport, one of the sites targeted by U.S. strikes. “I heard the explosions. It was very scary. But the owner decided to open anyway to help people.”
Customers were being allowed to enter three at a time. Most didn’t want to speak. Their priority was to stock up on basics and get home safely.
Rumors circulated rapidly that U.S. forces had whisked away Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
There was no immediate official confirmation here of the detention of Maduro and Flores, both wanted in the United States for drug-trafficking charges — allegations that Maduro has denounced as U.S. propaganda. But then images of an apparently captive Maduro, blindfolded, in a sweatsuit soon circulated on social media.
There was no official estimate of Venezuelan casualties in the U.S. raid.
Rumors circulated indicating that a number of top Maduro aides had been killed, among them Diosdado Cabello, the security minister who is a staunch Maduro ally. Cabello is often the face of the government.
But Cabello soon appeared on official TV denouncing “the terrorist attack against our people,” adding: “Let no one facilitate the moves of the enemy invader.”
Although Trump, in his Saturday news conference, confidently predicted that the United States would “run” Venezuela, apparently during some undefined transitional period, it’s not clear how that will be accomplished.
A key question is whether the military — long a Maduro ally — will remain loyal now that he is in U.S. custody. There was no public indication Saturday of mass defections from the Venezuelan armed forces. Nor was it clear that Maduro’s government infrastructure had lost control of the country. Official media reported declarations of loyalty from pro-government politicians and citizens from throughout Venezuela.
A billboard with an image of President Nicolas Maduro stands next to La Carlota military base in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. The graffiti reads, “Fraud, fraud.”
(Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)
In his comments, Trump spoke of a limited U.S. troop presence in Venezuela, focused mostly on protecting the oil infrastructure that his administration says was stolen from the United States — a characterization widely rejected here, even among Maduro’s critics. But Trump offered few details on sending in U.S. personnel to facilitate what could be a tumultuous transition.
Meantime, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez surfaced on official television and demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, according to the official Telesur broadcast outlet. Her comments seemed to be the first official acknowledgment that Maduro had been taken.
“There is one president of this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” the vice president said in an address from Miraflores Palace, from where Maduro and his wife had been seized hours earlier.
During an emergency meeting of the National Defense Council, Telesur reported, Rodríguez labeled the couple’s detention an “illegal kidnapping.”
The Trump administration, the vice president charged, meant to “capture our energy, mineral and [other] natural resources.”
Her defiant words came after Trump, in his news conference, said that Rodríguez had been sworn in as the country’s interim president and had evinced a willingness to cooperate with Washington.
“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday after President Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.
(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)
Somewhat surprisingly, Trump also seemed to rule out a role in an interim government for Marina Corina Machado, the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime anti-Maduro activist.
“She’s a very nice woman, but doesn’t have respect within the country,” Trump said of Machado.
Machado is indeed a controversial figure within the fractured Venezuelan opposition. Some object to her open calls for U.S. intervention, preferring a democratic change in government.
Nonetheless, her stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, did win the presidency in national balloting last year, according to opposition activists and others, who say Maduro stole the election.
“Venezuelans, the moment of liberty has arrived!” Machado wrote in a letter released on X. “We have fought for years. … What was meant to happen is happening.”
Not everyone agreed.
“They want our oil and they say it’s theirs,” said Roberto, 65, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name for security reasons. “Venezuelans don’t agree. Yes, I think people will go out and defend their homeland.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and staff writer McDonnell from Boston. Contributing was special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City.
Politics
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes Trump’s meetings with Zelenskyy, Netanyahu: ‘Can we just do America?’
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Sunday called for President Trump to only focus on America’s needs as the president meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president has been heavily involved in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts since returning to the White House.
Trump met with Zelenskyy on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago to discuss a peace plan aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war that began with an invasion by Moscow in February 2022.
Netanyahu arrived in Florida on Sunday ahead of their scheduled meeting on Monday at Trump’s estate to address Israel’s conflicts in the Middle East. It will be the sixth meeting of the year between the two leaders.
TRUMP ZELENSKYY SAY UKRAINE PEACE DEAL CLOSE BUT ‘THORNY ISSUES’ REMAIN AFTER FLORIDA TALKS
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump’s meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Greene, responding to Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu, said that the Trump administration should address the needs of Americans rather than becoming further involved in global conflicts.
“Zelensky today. Netanyahu tomorrow,” she wrote on X.
President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. (Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
“Can we just do America?” the congresswoman continued.
The congresswoman has been a vocal critic of supplying U.S. military aid to foreign countries amid the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
She has also referred to Zelenskyy as “a dictator who canceled elections” and labeled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a genocide and humanitarian crisis.
ZELENSKYY READY TO PRESENT NEW PEACE PROPOSALS TO US AND RUSSIA AFTER WORKING WITH EUROPEAN TALKS
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and President Donald Trump had a public feud in recent months. (Getty Images)
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This comes after Taylor Greene, who is set to resign from the House in January, had a public spat with Trump over the past few months as Trump took issue with the Georgia Republican’s push to release documents related to the investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump had withdrawn his endorsement of Greene and called her a “traitor” over the public feud.
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