Trump’s latest DOGE order aims to cut costs through federal contracts, travel

Ron DeSantisflorida Governor

Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance, and our new Florida DOGE task force will do even more to serve the people of Florida. It will eliminate redundant boards and commissions, review state university and college operations and spending, utilize artificial intelligence to further examine state agencies to uncover hidden waste, and even audit the spending habits of local entities to shine the light on waste and bloat."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in a Monday statement

This order scores obvious political points, but the economic score will be determined later,

Blanco told Newsweek

OMG. Look what Ron DeSantis just announced in Florida. Their own DOGE task force. This is brilliant."

Eric Daugherty, assistant news director at conservative news site Florida's Voice, in a February 24 post on X, formerly Twitter

For all of it to hit the market in a short time, it’s just a supply-and-demand issue that’ll drive down the value of that real estate considerably.”

She continued

You go around Washington and see all these buildings with the Department of Education,

the president said

Each Agency Head, in consultation with the agency's DOGE Team Lead, shall review all existing covered contracts and grants and, where appropriate and consistent with applicable law, terminate or modify (including through renegotiation) such covered contracts and grants to reduce overall Federal spending or reallocate spending to promote efficiency and advance the policies of my Administration,

the order reads

This process shall commence immediately and shall prioritize the review of funds disbursed under covered contracts and grants to educational institutions and foreign entities for waste, fraud, and abuse,

it continues

No more wasting your hard-earned money!"

Musk, commenting on Trump signing the executive order in a post to X, formerly Twitter

We’re cutting down the size of government. We have to,

Trump said earlier on Wednesday during the first cabinet meeting of his second term

This order commences a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public,

it states

I know anonymous sources, probably career bureaucrats, have leaked that to many of you in this room,

she claimed

This flood of spending historically had minimal safeguards,

the fact sheet read

The existing system fails to safeguard taxpayer dollars or promote merit among contractors and grant recipients,

White House officials said in a fact sheet, noting

To the maximum extent permitted by law, all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen for 30 days from the date of this order, except for any credit cards held by employees engaged in, or charges related to employees utilizing such credit cards for, disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services as determined by the Agency Head, and subject to such additional individualized or categorical exceptions as the Agency Head, in consultation with the agency’s DOGE Team Lead, deems appropriate,

Trump's executive order reads

Susan Collinssenator

I'm very concerned about the impact on the state of Maine, on everything from our national parks to biomedical research. So this is a big problem."

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican up for reelection next year, to CNN

From massive job cuts in Virginia to the hampering of wildfire prevention in California, these cuts will surely spur voters and candidates alike to deny Republicans their House Majority in 2026,

Rice said

Nicole Malliotakisrepresentative

This idea that they were going to just fire people via Twitter, Elon Musk, that to me, seems rash, it seems not appropriate."

Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican, to CNN

Where you might see a more general effect is that these three million federal employees have friends and family, and they might have a reaction, if they are more moderate and moveable politically,

he said

In the end, it may be wise to chart independent paths, but Trump could make that very difficult, thereby shooting himself in the foot in the midterms. It may be a risk Trump is willing to take to showcase his iron-grip on the party and his disdain for GOP defectors,

he said

Federal employees are embedded in complex personal networks and communities where they can be influential both within and outside of their districts. Job cuts have significant personal and economic consequences,

he said