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Sara Fischer: DOGE targets government media subscriptions after MAGA attacks
The executive branch will stop spending money on Politico subscriptions after paying millions of dollars to the news outlet last year, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Wednesday.
- “I was made aware of the funding of USAID to media outlets, including Politico … And I can confirm that the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said. “The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.”
- ‘This is a whole of government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books.”
Why it matters: It’s an easy political lever for the Trump administration to pull to undermine media without facing legal or regulatory hurdles.
- Right-wing personalities are using USAspending.gov to dig up more payments from the government to media organizations — like The New York Times, AP and Reuters — for products and subscriptions. Look for those organizations to be in the hot seat next.
How we got here: A fake theory about Politico being funded by the government is catching fire in right-wing circles.
- It’s a prime example of how false information sweeps through social media — and it could spell trouble for Politico and any other media organization that has contracts for subscriptions with the government.
- Politico hasn’t responded to Axios’ request for comment.
Zoom in: The story appears to have started when Politico missed payroll on Tuesday because of a tech snag, media reporter Will Sommer notes.
- MAGA media dug into public records on USAspending.gov and uncovered that the government paid Politico $8.2 million in the last 12 months.
- People linked those two facts and wrongly assumed that Politico missed payroll because those millions came from USAID. That turned into dozens of viral posts on X, reposted by Elon Musk himself.
Reality check: It appears $24,000 of that $8.2 million came from USAID. $8.2 million was the amount the entire government paid Politico — and it’s likely the cost of premium subscriptions, such as Politico Pro.
- This is paywalled content that goes deeper on policy and industry and costs thousands per year.
What they’re saying: Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and global editor-in-chief John Harris sent a memo to staffers saying “we welcome” the conversation around the value of Politico’s subscriptions.
- The Politico bosses noted that the company had “never been the beneficiary of government programs or subsidies” and that the “overwhelming majority” of subscriptions come from the private sector.
- “Please know that our business is strong and enduring,” they added.
Zoom out: The government spends money on subscriptions and advertising with various media companies. Agency heads are allowed to dictate that spending, according to the General Services Administration.
- There aren’t federal laws that require the government to spend ad or subscription dollars with certain outlets, although there are some laws around public notice advertising that require state governments to run ads in local newspapers.
Our thought bubble: The government spends trillions of taxpayer funds annually. The fact that the Trump administration is focused on slashing relatively small media budgets at the outset of Trump’s second term speaks to how seriously targeting media companies is their priority.
- MAGA accounts are continuing to seize on this theory and proliferate it online.
- Conservative commentator Dana Loesch is calling for protests outside Politico’s offices.
This story was updated with the internal Politico memo.
Disclosure: Our Axios Pro product provides in-depth policy and industry news to paying subscribers, including government employees. Last year, $5,550 in payments were made to Axios as part of a Federal Communications Commission subscription, according to the government’s database that tracks federal spending.
This article was written by Erica Pandley and WWSG exclusive thought leader, Sara Fischer.
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