Musk's DOGE Gains Access to Key Health Agencies

The Capitol (Sipa USA)
Sipa USA
By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey

Happy Wednesday! On this date in 2020, the Senate acquitted President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial. Five years later, Trump is once again president and he's sending shockwaves through the federal government and worldwide.

Palestinians and world leaders quickly rejected Trump’s stunning Tuesday proposal to displace the people of Gaza and have the United States “take over” the enclave — an idea that was mostly met with a mixture of alarm, disbelief and skepticism from U.S. lawmakers as well. Trump aides reportedly started to walk back Trump’s comments, insisting he did not intend a permanent displacement despite his use of language the suggested just that. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today that Trump is not looking for the United States to pay to rebuild Gaza and has not committed to send American troops there.

Here’s what’s happening on the domestic front.

Shutdown Threat Rises as Funding Deadline Approaches

Capitol Hill lawmakers are increasingly worried that a March 14 deadline to fund the government might result in a government shutdown as tensions rise over the Trump administration’s actions, including a funding freeze that has been blocked by the courts.

“I don’t think anybody thinks a shutdown is a good thing. But the politics are such that we could certainly stumble into one without meaning to,” said Republican Rep. Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

“While the Democratic leader in the House demands that Trump’s funding freeze be ‘choked off’ as part of any funding agreement, Republican lawmakers say it will be Democrats who take the fall for causing a funding lapse if they hold that line,” Politico’s Jennifer Scholtes reports. “And so the shutdown blame game begins again.”

DOGE Accesses Medicare Agency Systems: Report

Analysts working under Elon Musk as part of President Trump’s cost-cutting DOGE initiative have gained access to key payment and contracting systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. 

The parent agency of Medicare and Medicaid, CMS sits at the center of the U.S. public health system and is responsible for about $1.5 trillion in spending in fiscal year 2024, nearly a quarter of all federal spending. DOGE officials said they are beginning to examine the technology that powers the various CMS systems, as well as the payment flows through them, with a focus on potential waste and fraud. The analysts are also looking at the organizational structure and staffing levels at CMS.

In a statement, CMS confirmed that two agency employees are working with the DOGE team, one focused on policy and the other on operations. “We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump,” CMS said. 

Musk was more pointed in his assessment of the effort. “Yeah, this is where the big money fraud is happening,” he said on X, the social media platform he owns. 

DOGE officials haven’t yet gained access to files with personal medical or payment information, a source told the Journal. But they do have access to the Acquisition Lifecycle Management system, known as CALM, which includes information about federal contracts. They have also sought access to the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System, known as HIGLAS, which The Washington Post says “is tightly controlled, contains sensitive financial information about all of the hospitals, physicians and other organizations that have financial relationships with programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act — a vast database that touches nearly every corner of American health care.”

CIA Offers Buyouts to Its Entire Workforce

The Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday offered buyouts to its entire workforce, following a similar “Fork in the Road” offer sent last week to nearly all 2.3 million civilian employees of the federal government. Workers who take the buyout would be eligible for full pay and benefits through the end of September — though the legality of the offers has been questioned and some have expressed skepticism that the Trump administration will uphold its end of the agreement. “There’s no statutory authority that I can see for the president making this offer,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the CIA offer.

The employee buyouts are part of a Trump effort to dramatically scale back the size of government — following a playbook that closely resembles that used by Elon Musk after he bought Twitter. CIA representatives told news outlets that the offers are meant to bring “renewed energy” to the agency and ensure that its workforce is aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities.

USAID Workers to Be Placed on Leave

The US Agency for International Development told its staff around the world that they will be placed on administrative leave on Friday night. A statement on the agency website said the directive applies to all direct hire personnel “with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.” The agency said it is preparing plans for workers outside the United States to return to the country within 30 days.

USAID was established by President John F. Kennedy and tasked with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas. It has emerged as a main target of efforts to shrink the government by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Trump put a freeze on foreign aid and the agency’s senior officials were already put on leave, with thousands of contractors laid off and the agency website taken down before being replaced by the new statement.

Trump Gets His AG; Budget Director Expected to Be Confirmed Thursday

Pam Bondi was sworn in as the nation's 87th attorney general Wednesday. She takes over as Trump officials are already moving quickly to enact the president's agenda and reshape the Justice Department and the FBI. Bondi reportedly signed a memo to create a working group investigating the "weaponization" of the justice system against President Trump.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Scott Turner to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation advanced Howard Lutnick's nomination to be secretary of commerce.

Twelve of Trump's Cabinet picks have been confirmed so far.

Senate Democrats reportedly plan to protest an imminent vote to confirm Russell Vought as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget "by holding the Senate floor for the full 30 hours of debate that are allowed before a final vote Thursday," The Washington Post reports, adding, "Democrats will speak overnight about what they see as the dangers of Vought's vision for reducing federal spending through freezing and reviewing funds." Vought is still expected to be confirmed Thursday with the support of Republicans.

Quotes of the Day

"It 1,000% feels like Elon Musk is running the government."

– An unnamed official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, speaking to NBC News about Elon Musk's rapid penetration and disruption of federal agencies. The official said they were afraid to speak up about any problems that have emerged for fear of losing their job "without cause."

"President Trump and his friends are ignoring both federal law and the, to me, clear limitation of presidential power in Article II of the Constitution. The Constitution did not imagine what we are seeing."

– Peter L. Strauss, a professor emeritus of law at Columbia University, speaking to The New York Times about actions taken by President Trump during his first two weeks in office - actions that include unilaterally shuttering federal agencies, freezing congressionally-approved spending, and firing prosecutors in violation of proper procedure. "We are well past euphemism about 'pushing the limits,' 'stretching the envelope' and the like," said Peter M. Shane, a legal scholar at New York University, adding that Trump's actions amount to "programmatic sabotage and rampant lawlessness."

The Washington Post reports that "[i]nternal legal objections have been raised at the Treasury Department, the Education Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the White House budget office, among others."

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