Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk’s crackdown on government spending played a role in the late payment.
Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk’s crackdown on government spending played a role in the late payment.
Politico has received at least $8.2 million from the U.S. government in recent years, with $44,000 of that coming from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to USAspending.gov. Musk, the world’s richest man now in charge of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced plans to cut funding for USAID.
Many Politico employees typically receive direct deposit every other Tuesday, but this week they woke up and noticed the funds didn’t hit their account. An employee told Fox News Digital that management didn’t communicate the issue until 9 a.m., when they chalked it up as a “technical error.”
According to the employee, many concerns went unaddressed as panicked Politico staffers expressed worry about paying bills and being hit with overdraft fees from their banks. Politico management eventually insisted it was a technical error between the bank and payroll providers and that everyone would be paid by the end of the day.
The employees were eventually paid, but it didn’t appear as “pending” until after 5 p.m. ET and didn’t clear until Wednesday morning, according to the impacted staffer.
“Politico screwed a lot of people,” the employee told Fox News Digital.
A Politico spokesperson provided the following statement: “Employees were paid yesterday, there was a technical error that was remedied in a matter of hours.”
Politico did not immediately respond to a series of follow-up questions about whether or not Musk’s crackdown on government spending had anything to do with the delayed payment.
While Politico did receive cash from USAID, it was hardly the government agency that has given the most to Politico. The Department of Health and Human Services leads the way, with $1.37 million followed by $1.35 million from the Department of the Interior, according to USAspending.gov.
TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY
The Department of Energy has given Politico $1.29 million, the Department of Agriculture has given $552,024 and the Department of Commerce has given $485,572.
On Wednesday, as staffers were still annoyed about the late payment, Musk responded to a post on X claiming the Department of Health and Human Services spent roughly $500,000 on Politico Pro subscription by writing, “This is odd.”
The Politico staffer said employee concerns quickly shifted from being angry about the late payroll to anxieties over Musk’s post.
Politico did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Musk’s post.
Social media erupted with claims that the government has been funding Politico, but others pointed out that Politico has an expensive subscription service that is critical for many government employees. Base subscriptions are typically between $12,000 and $15,000 for three users.
While Politico did receive small amounts of cash from government agencies under prior administrations, it appears to have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, according to USAspening.gov.
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Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
