David Marchese

And what's curious about that cut right off the bat and tells you that maybe there's something wrong there is that the entire budget of ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is about $8 billion.

Yeah, it's implausible that one contract with one vendor would account for their entire budget. And also implausible that if that contract did exist, that you would cut it because it would mean their entire budget would be gone.

Yeah, it's implausible that one contract with one vendor would account for their entire budget. And also implausible that if that contract did exist, that you would cut it because it would mean their entire budget would be gone.

What my colleagues at the Upshot figured out was that it actually was $8 million, which is, again, a lot of money, but it's one thousandth of what they had claimed. And it was just a typo in the system. Somebody in the federal contracting tracking system had listed this at $8 billion at some point, and really not the number was $8 million.

What my colleagues at the Upshot figured out was that it actually was $8 million, which is, again, a lot of money, but it's one thousandth of what they had claimed. And it was just a typo in the system. Somebody in the federal contracting tracking system had listed this at $8 billion at some point, and really not the number was $8 million.

So Doge's response to that was, well, yeah, this was a typo. And we knew all along it was a typo. But they put $8 billion on this wall of receipts. That was about half of the initial total savings they were claiming in the wall of receipts. And again, if you knew anything about ICE or the federal budget, that's a mistake you wouldn't make.

So Doge's response to that was, well, yeah, this was a typo. And we knew all along it was a typo. But they put $8 billion on this wall of receipts. That was about half of the initial total savings they were claiming in the wall of receipts. And again, if you knew anything about ICE or the federal budget, that's a mistake you wouldn't make.

Right. And that was the start of a pattern. Just going on the list of the largest contracts they were claiming credit for canceling, we found other sloppy mistakes that often seem to indicate a real lack of familiarity with the government contracting system, with how government contracting works.

Right. And that was the start of a pattern. Just going on the list of the largest contracts they were claiming credit for canceling, we found other sloppy mistakes that often seem to indicate a real lack of familiarity with the government contracting system, with how government contracting works.

Basically, they had taken on this job to be experts in federal contracting, and they didn't seem to have learned the basics about how it worked.

Basically, they had taken on this job to be experts in federal contracting, and they didn't seem to have learned the basics about how it worked.

Well, for the next example of a kind of mistake we found, all we have to do is go from number one to number two on the list. It turns out that number two on the list was $655 million contract was an example of another kind of error we saw throughout the list of receipts, which was it was the same contract and number two, number three and number four counted three different times.

Well, for the next example of a kind of mistake we found, all we have to do is go from number one to number two on the list. It turns out that number two on the list was $655 million contract was an example of another kind of error we saw throughout the list of receipts, which was it was the same contract and number two, number three and number four counted three different times.

Well, I'll take you through it. Each one of those, two, three, and four, were all U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, contracts with vendors who did basically quality control. They would go around and make sure that USAIDs work in Africa and other places, but just achieving the goals that they wanted. And they all shared the same contract.

Well, I'll take you through it. Each one of those, two, three, and four, were all U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, contracts with vendors who did basically quality control. They would go around and make sure that USAIDs work in Africa and other places, but just achieving the goals that they wanted. And they all shared the same contract.

But then when the Doge people looked at it, they thought that every one of them had a separate contract and then every one of them was entitled to the whole money set aside for that effort. So when three of those vendors had their contracts canceled, they counted that as three different cancellations. Each were $655 million.

But then when the Doge people looked at it, they thought that every one of them had a separate contract and then every one of them was entitled to the whole money set aside for that effort. So when three of those vendors had their contracts canceled, they counted that as three different cancellations. Each were $655 million.

Yeah, there was another kind of mistake we found all over the wall of receipts, which was that Doge was claiming credit for quote-unquote canceling contracts that had actually been canceled before President Trump took office. Hmm. The biggest dollar amount for one of those is a $1.9 billion cut that the Department of Treasury made. And you can actually see this happening.

Yeah, there was another kind of mistake we found all over the wall of receipts, which was that Doge was claiming credit for quote-unquote canceling contracts that had actually been canceled before President Trump took office. Hmm. The biggest dollar amount for one of those is a $1.9 billion cut that the Department of Treasury made. And you can actually see this happening.

You can see how it gets on the wall of receipts, which is that Treasury, which oversees IRS, tweets at Doge and says, hey, Doge, look at this incredible contract. We canceled a $1.9 billion IT contract. Doge says, hey, that's fantastic.