Politico denies it’s a ‘beneficiary of government programs’ as questions swirl over receiving taxpayer funds

Politico leadership denied it’s a “beneficiary of government programs” after revelations of taxpayer funds being used to pay for its subscription service went viral.

“As surely many of you saw today, there was a spirited discussion at the White House and among officials connected to the Department of Government Efficiency on the subject of government subscriptions for journalism products, at POLITICO and other news organizations,” Politico’s CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief John Harris jointly wrote to staff on Wednesday in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital. 

“This is a fine conversation to have, and we welcome it. The value of POLITICO subscriptions is validated daily in the marketplace. Some parts of today’s conversation, however, were confusing and left some people with false understandings. For this reason, we want you to hear from us on several points.”

WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES DOGE IS CANCELING PAYMENTS TO POLITICO

Sheikholeslami and Harris stressed Politico “has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies—not one cent, ever, in 18 years” and touted that its subscription service Politico Pro “provides both private and public sector clients with granular, fact-based reporting, real-time intelligence, and tracking tools across key policy areas.”

“We are proud of the value our POLITICO Pro platform and policy journalism gives to all subscribers. As a practical matter, the overwhelming majority of our professional subscriptions under POLITICO Pro are in the private sector,” they wrote. 

The Politico chiefs later added, “We believe the work of a new administration—and the work being done by DOGE—is a hugely important story. In particular because of the ambition of the new administration to transform large sections of the government, our responsibility to cover this from every angle is urgent.”

Politico did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt vowed any government funding Politico had been receiving will end as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cracks down on spending. 

“I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to, essentially, subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers dime, will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said during Wednesday’s press briefing.

“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” she continued. “This is a whole government effort to assure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books.”

There was speculation on social media that the $8 million in question all came from USAID, the agency currently being targeted by DOGE co-founder Elon Musk, but only $44,000 of it came from that agency. Base subscriptions are typically between $12,000 and $15,000 for three users. 

Politico received taxpayer funding for its costly subscription service from elsewhere in the federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services led the way, with $1.37 million followed by $1.35 million from the Department of the Interior, according to USAspending.gov. 

The Department of Energy paid Politico $1.29 million, the Department of Agriculture paid $552,024 and the Department of Commerce paid $485,572.  

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While Politico did receive smaller amounts of money for subscriptions from government agencies under prior administrations, it appears to have skyrocketed during the Biden administration, according to USAspending.gov.