GOP Senator Raises Concerns Over USAID Payments to Politico: 'Please Tell Me This Is a Joke'

GOP Senator Raises Concerns Over USAID Payments to Politico: 'Please Tell Me This Is a Joke'

Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, expressed disbelief on social media Wednesday after learning that Politico had received payments from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Podcast host Benny Johnson claimed in a post that Politico had been "massively funded" by USAID and that no employees were paid by the outlet on Tuesday. USAID is currently under investigation by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its spending, and all direct-hire employees of the agency are set to be placed on administrative leave starting Friday.

"Please tell me this is a joke," Sen. Lee responded to Johnson’s post. "Please. Someone?"

Johnson described the situation as "the biggest scandal in news media history," claiming that "no employee at Politico got paid yesterday" and that this marked the first time the company had missed a pay period, calling it a "crisis." The National News Desk (TNND) was unable to independently verify this statement.

Johnson further alleged that USAID had heavily funded Politico, a "news company" that he claimed had spent years working against the MAGA movement.

According to USAspending.gov, USAID spent $24,000 on Politico subscriptions in 2022 and $20,000 in 2023, the official platform for tracking federal spending.

Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, said on Monday that former President Donald Trump had agreed USAID should be shut down.

“Trump & Elon deleted their funding. Now Politico will go out of business,” Johnson added. “The corruption is endless. Good riddance.”

Since 2015, Politico has received a total of $8.2 million in funding from various government sources, according to USAspending.gov.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday that DOGE is working to "cancel" these payments.

“I can confirm that the more than $8 million in taxpayer dollars that have been essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico will no longer be happening,” she told reporters.

Politico did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The National News Desk (TNND).

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