USDA spiking global food aid grants
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LATEST: DOGE sought access to a legislative branch agency for the fourth time last week, our KATHERINE TULLY-McMANUS reports. ELON MUSK's group attempted to gain access to the Government Publishing Office, which provides the public with access to federal documents.
DOGE made an inquiry about placing a team at GPO, which agency leadership shot down.
THE NEXT HIT TO FOOD AID: The Agriculture Department plans to cancel several major international food aid grants for school-age children, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The grants are part of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which buys U.S. agricultural commodities to support school food programs and maternal and early childhood nutrition in foreign countries.
Catholic Relief Services is expected to lose some of its grants through the program, said the people, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Despite the pending cancellations, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, which administers the program, announced it was accepting new applications for fiscal 2025 last week.
Spokespeople for the Agriculture Department and Catholic Relief Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The move comes just weeks after the White House released its fiscal 2026 spending plan, in which it proposed eliminating the McGovern-Dole program entirely. The first Trump administration also proposed eliminating the program, but Congress continued to fund it. At the time, the Trump administration didn't go so far as to cancel existing grants outright.
The McGovern-Dole program funds projects around the world, including in Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia, according to USDA. The program is also intended to support improved literacy and primary education abroad.
In fiscal 2024, the program received $248 million in funding.
The White House argued in its latest spending proposal that although the McGovern-Dole program supports U.S. farmers, it's an inefficient use of federal dollars given 'the high transportation costs and large portion of funding provided for technical assistance.'
'This program is neither necessary nor efficient as support for U.S. farmers,' the proposal states. 'The elimination of this program is consistent with the elimination of other in-kind international food donation programs in the Budget, including Food for Progress and Food for Peace Title II Grants.'
Democratic lawmakers have previously expressed their concerns over potential grant cancellations affecting the McGovern-Dole program.
In February, amid broader international food aid cuts, USDA clarified that the program's activities would continue. Even so, Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) and House Agriculture Committee ranking member ANGIE CRAIG (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary BROOKE ROLLINS.
'Many questions remain about the decisions of the last several weeks, as well as the future of American food aid,' the two Minnesotans wrote at the time. 'We are concerned about the impact on farmers and U.S. agricultural markets if the USDA does not resume food aid in FY 2025.'
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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POTUS PUZZLER
Which president sold the presidential yacht, the USS Sequoia?
(Answer at bottom.)
Musk Radar
DOGE DATA TRACKER: POLITICO just launched a new Pro tool to track the latest actions by President DONALD TRUMP's Department of Government Efficiency. A look at April and May alone reveals over 5,000 new contract, grant or lease cancellations. Pros can search new cuts, additions, and modifications by government agency, contractor, or congressional district. For access to exclusive reporting and tools like this, subscribe to POLITICO Pro or request a demo of our news service, directories and other products.
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS: Musk announced today that he will 'do a lot less' political spending from now on, saying at the Qatar Economic Forum that he has 'done enough,' our GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING reports.
He sidestepped a question about whether his move was a response to the pushback he received over his prominent role in reshaping the government. 'If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don't currently see a reason,' Musk said.
Musk poured over $290 million of his own money into the 2024 election to support Trump and Republicans. Last month, his political operation spent millions backing the conservative candidate in a key Wisconsin Supreme Court race — which backfired for the tech billionaire as the Democratic-backed candidate easily secured victory, having made Musk's role a central part of her campaign.
MUSK HITS BACK AT GATES: During the same interview at the forum today, Musk pushed back on BILL GATES' recent comment that Musk's takedown of USAID was responsible for the 'deaths of the world's poorest children.'
'I'd like him to show us any evidence whatsoever that this is true. It's false,' Musk said, as Business Insider reports.
BIG PRESS DAY: In an interview with CNBC at the Tesla headquarters in Austin, Texas, today, Musk defended DOGE's work and discussed the future of his EV company. When asked if his work at DOGE was worth the political backlash that caused his business to suffer, he placed the blame at the media's feet.
'Unfortunately, what I've learned is that legacy media propaganda is very effective at making people believe things that aren't true,' Musk said. Asked for an example, Musk said, 'that I'm a Nazi,' referencing a gesture he made at an inauguration event in January that critics said similar to a salute used in Nazi Germany.
'When you stop waste and fraud, it's not like the fraudsters admit their guilt,' Musk said in the interview. 'They don't say, 'Oh, it's so great that the money we were getting has been stopped.' They will obviously come up with a sympathetic sounding claim, but that claim has no merit.'
OH, TO INTERVIEW FOR DOGE: Ever wonder what a job interview for a role at DOGE is like? This story from WIRED's VITTORIA ELLIOTT has got you covered.
According to a person Elliott spoke with who made it through part of the interview process, there are five phases over a two- to three-week period: a 15-minute screening call with a recruiter; a tech assessment that applicants have three days to complete; two different technical interviews with DOGE staff; and finally, a placement interview where applicants would learn more about what type of work they would do if hired.
DOGE, according to the person's conversation with the recruiter, is looking to hire software engineers, project managers and software development and IT operations engineers, all of whom would be listed at GS-13 through 15 with salaries between $120,000 and $190,000.
Agenda Setting
FELT ON THE GROUND: More than two months after 18 tornadoes ripped through parts of Mississippi, the state's request for federal aid is still pending before FEMA, AP's SOPHIE BATES reports. Although it is not unusual for weeks to pass before FEMA approves a declaration, it shows what could be in store for states as the summer storm season arrives and FEMA becomes the target of the Trump administration's cuts.
Devastating storms in the central U.S. in recent days have prompted fresh concerns, driving state leaders to plead for government assistance.
During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing today, Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) asked Homeland Security Secretary KRISTI NOEM what she would do about his state's pending disaster declaration requests, Rolling Stone's NIKKI McCANN RAMIREZ reports. Noem said she would make sure the requests reach Trump's desk as soon as possible.
It comes a day after St. Louis, Missouri Mayor CARA SPENCER told MSNBC that 'FEMA has not been on the ground' and that the city does not 'have confirmed assistance from FEMA at this point.'
WHEN YA LOSE TED … A backlog of more than 200 unsigned contracts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has slowed its operations so much that even Trump ally Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) has raised concerns, POLITICO's E&E News' SCOTT WALDMAN reports. The slowdown is largely due to Commerce Secretary HOWARD LUTNICK, whose portfolio includes NOAA and who said he would personally review any contract in excess of $100,000.
Cruz warned during a Senate hearing earlier this month that the backlog could get worse.
'NOAA alone has 5,700 contracts set to expire this year,' he said. 'These contracts include everything from post-hurricane flood assessment to janitorial services,' he added, expressing concern for the impact it could have in his home state.
Knives Out
SPARRING ON THE HILL: Democratic lawmakers reamed Noem over the White House's floated idea to suspend habeas corpus, our AMANDA FRIEDMAN reports. When asked by Sen. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-N.H.) to define habeas corpus — the right of due process to challenge a person's detainment — Noem described the term as 'a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.' Hassan quickly deemed Noem's answer 'incorrect.'
Sen. ANDY KIM (D-N.J.) asked Noem if she knew what section of the Constitution the suspension of habeas corpus is in. 'I do not,' she said. 'Do you know which article it is in?' Kim prodded. 'No, I do not,' Noem replied.
HHS Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. appeared in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee today, where Democratic senators grilled him on who is directing the sweeping cuts to his agency, NOTUS' MARGARET MANTO reports.
'Is it DOGE?' ranking member Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.) asked. Kennedy did not give a clear answer.
When Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) asked about the cuts to tobacco regulation personnel at the CDC and FDA, Kennedy said he 'didn't know about those cuts.'
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: As part of the White House's Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT held a briefing with several reporters' small children — who asked some hard-hitting questions. 'How many people has he fired?' one child asked Leavitt, to a room of laughter.
'Thus far, we have not had anyone fired, with the exception of one individual who did leave their job,' Leavitt replied. 'We have a great team here.'
What We're Reading
Government contractors are lining up to work with DOGE (Axios' Sam Sabin)
Democrats Throw Money at a Problem: Countering G.O.P. Clout Online (NYT's Theodore Schleifer)
Trump World is Slamming the Door on Elon Musk: 'People Hate Him' (The Daily Beast's Janna Brancolini)
The Trump Administration Is Tempting a Honeybee Disaster (The Atlantic's Joanna Thompson)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
In 1977, while aiming to end what he called the 'imperial presidency,' former President JIMMY CARTER sold a yacht used by every president since FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, the USS Sequoia, according to the White House Historical Association. To learn more about the history of presidential yachts, listen to the White House Historical Association's new podcast episode 'The Honey Fitz: A Presidential Yacht.'
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