Politico management denied it is a “beneficiary of government programs” after revelations of taxpayer funds getting used to pay for its subscription service went viral.
“As surely many of you saw today, there was a spirited discussion at the White House and among officials connected to the Department of Government Efficiency on the subject of government subscriptions for journalism products, at POLITICO and other news organizations,” Politico’s CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief John Harris collectively wrote to employees on Wednesday in a memo obtained by Fox Information Digital.
“This is a fine conversation to have, and we welcome it. The value of POLITICO subscriptions is validated daily in the marketplace. Some parts of today’s conversation, however, were confusing and left some people with false understandings. For this reason, we want you to hear from us on several points.”
WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES DOGE IS CANCELING PAYMENTS TO POLITICO
Politico was swept up in Elon Musk’s efforts to chop authorities spending as revelations that the information outlet obtained tens of millions in federal funds went viral. (Screenshot/Politico, (Picture by Samuel Corum/Getty Photographs) )
Sheikholeslami and Harris harassed Politico “has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies—not one cent, ever, in 18 years” and touted that its subscription service Politico Professional “provides both private and public sector clients with granular, fact-based reporting, real-time intelligence, and tracking tools across key policy areas.”
“We are proud of the value our POLITICO Pro platform and policy journalism gives to all subscribers. As a practical matter, the overwhelming majority of our professional subscriptions under POLITICO Pro are in the private sector,” they wrote.
The Politico chiefs later added, “We believe the work of a new administration—and the work being done by DOGE—is a hugely important story. In particular because of the ambition of the new administration to transform large sections of the government, our responsibility to cover this from every angle is urgent.”
Politico didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt vowed any authorities funding Politico had been receiving will finish as President Donald Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) cracks down on spending.
“I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to, essentially, subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers dime, will no longer be happening,” Leavitt stated throughout Wednesday’s press briefing.
“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” she continued. “This is a whole government effort to assure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books.”
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt vowed that the Trump administration would cancel funds being made to Politico. (AP/Evan Vucci)
There was hypothesis on social media that the $8 million in query all got here from USAID, the company at present being focused by DOGE co-founder Elon Musk, however solely $44,000 of it got here from that company. Base subscriptions are usually between $12,000 and $15,000 for 3 customers.
Politico obtained taxpayer funding for its expensive subscription service from elsewhere within the federal authorities. The Division of Well being and Human Providers led the way in which, with $1.37 million adopted by $1.35 million from the Division of the Inside, in line with USAspending.gov.
The Division of Vitality paid Politico $1.29 million, the Division of Agriculture paid $552,024 and the Division of Commerce paid $485,572.
TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man answerable for Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), has introduced plans to chop funding for USAID.
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Whereas Politico did obtain smaller quantities of cash for subscriptions from authorities businesses underneath prior administrations, it seems to have skyrocketed through the Biden administration, in line with USAspending.gov.
