White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday held up what she said were screenshots of alleged evidence of fraud and waste in federal government contracts that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) found.
Republicans and President Donald Trump have in recent weeks voiced support for DOGE and its head, Elon Musk, as they have worked with the administration to gut several federal agencies. DOGE and Trump have alleged these agencies and civil servants have wasted American taxpayers’ money, but they have provided few details to support their claims and often point to policy disputes, such as money allocated for diversity programs.
In her briefing, Leavitt characterized such diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts as fraud and waste.
“These are screenshots of contracts that were found across our government. This is a DEI contract, $36,000 for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. That is against the president’s policies and his America First agenda,” Leavitt said as she held up printed pieces of paper of what she said were screenshots of fraud in government contracts. “This is a $3.4 million contract, a council for inclusive innovation at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Department of Commerce, another DEI contract that DOGE identified.”
“I love this one: $57,000 for climate change in Sri Lanka,” Leavitt said. “What is this doing to continue the interests of the American people?”
When a reporter pressed Leavitt, she appeared to confirm that Trump was pushing for cuts and halting congressionally-allocated government spending based on policy differences.
Reporter: “Are all those things you just mentioned fraud, or are they waste, or are they just contrary to the president’s policies?”
“I would argue that all of these things are fraudulent, they are wasteful, and they are an abuse of the American taxpayer’s dollar,” Leavitt said. “This is not what the government should be spending money on. It’s contrary to the president’s priorities and agenda.”
