Amanda Prestigiacomo

So more recently, Trump has offered a buyout to the entire CIA workforce. That's both to downsize the government and to more align the agency with Trump's priorities. This follows his broader offer to give millions of full-time federal workers full pay and benefits for eight months if they choose to resign by February 6th, so today.

The goal there is to save American taxpayers an estimated $100 billion and, frankly, to get rid of employees who don't want to be there or who refuse to return to in-person work, which Trump has already mandated. Trump administration officials are also reportedly drafting an executive order to effectively dismantle the Department of Education.

The goal there is to save American taxpayers an estimated $100 billion and, frankly, to get rid of employees who don't want to be there or who refuse to return to in-person work, which Trump has already mandated. Trump administration officials are also reportedly drafting an executive order to effectively dismantle the Department of Education.

The Education Department currently employs more than 4,000 people and has an annual budget of $79 billion.

The Education Department currently employs more than 4,000 people and has an annual budget of $79 billion.

Yeah, that's right. That had an annual budget of around $40 billion and currently has around 10,000 employees. Nearly all the staff at the agency will be placed on leave by Friday night, so by tomorrow night, and all overseas missions have been ordered to shut down. Very dramatic action there and lots of money on the line.

Yeah, that's right. That had an annual budget of around $40 billion and currently has around 10,000 employees. Nearly all the staff at the agency will be placed on leave by Friday night, so by tomorrow night, and all overseas missions have been ordered to shut down. Very dramatic action there and lots of money on the line.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the goal was to reform USAID, but he said they were met with a lot of resistance from the agency and effectively forced to take drastic action.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the goal was to reform USAID, but he said they were met with a lot of resistance from the agency and effectively forced to take drastic action.

The White House has released an initial list of wasteful projects USAID has funded, including giving millions of taxpayer dollars to a group involved with research at the Wuhan lab, hundreds of thousands to a nonprofit linked to terror groups, 2 million to LGBT activism in Guatemala, and 1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia.

The White House has released an initial list of wasteful projects USAID has funded, including giving millions of taxpayer dollars to a group involved with research at the Wuhan lab, hundreds of thousands to a nonprofit linked to terror groups, 2 million to LGBT activism in Guatemala, and 1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia.

Elon Musk has called USAID a criminal organization, and he boasted on Monday that he and his team, quote, spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.

Elon Musk has called USAID a criminal organization, and he boasted on Monday that he and his team, quote, spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.

Right. This is starting to generate a lot of debate and controversy. It involves left-wing publication Politico, which produces a premium service product for professionals called Politico Pro.

Right. This is starting to generate a lot of debate and controversy. It involves left-wing publication Politico, which produces a premium service product for professionals called Politico Pro.

On Wednesday, Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said that Doge spotted at least $8 million in taxpayer dollars going toward Politico Pro subscriptions, and the administration can now confirm that they will be canceling those payments.

On Wednesday, Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said that Doge spotted at least $8 million in taxpayer dollars going toward Politico Pro subscriptions, and the administration can now confirm that they will be canceling those payments.

Some reports suggest that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that Politico is certainly not the only legacy media outlet that's been getting big money from the federal government, particularly during the Biden administration. Those claims have, of course, raised even more questions about media bias.

Some reports suggest that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that Politico is certainly not the only legacy media outlet that's been getting big money from the federal government, particularly during the Biden administration. Those claims have, of course, raised even more questions about media bias.

Yeah, he's tackling this in a very holistic way, you could say. Musk has gained access to view the Treasury's payment system. That process is trillions of dollars in spending each year. This past fiscal year, the Fed's reported an estimated $236 billion in improper payments. So a lot of potential waste could be spotted there. Hmm.