White House cancels Federal Politico subscriptions amid viral misinformation campaign

In a surprising turn of events at Wednesday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the cancellation of $8 million worth of federal government Politico subscriptions, responding to a misleading social media conspiracy theory about government funding of news organizations.

The controversy began when conservative commentator Kyle Becker posted on X, incorrectly claiming that Politico received direct funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In reality, the $8.2 million in federal spending represented subscription fees for Politico Pro, a premium service used across numerous government agencies, according to USASpending.gov records.

The situation escalated when Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, amplified the mischaracterization, calling it "a huge waste of taxpayer money!" The false narrative gained further traction among right-wing media personalities, including Benny Johnson, Charlie Kirk, and Dana Loesch, with the latter calling for protests outside Politico's offices.

In response to the growing controversy, Politico's leadership team of Goli Sheikholeslami and John Harris issued a firm rebuttal in a staff memo: "POLITICO has never been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies — not one cent, ever, in 18 years." They explained that government agencies, like many corporations, simply subscribe to their premium service, highlighting their high subscription renewal rates as evidence of the service's value.

The Associated Press, which was also caught in the crossfire of these allegations, clarified that their relationship with the federal government has spanned both Democratic and Republican administrations, consisting solely of content licensing agreements similar to those they maintain with thousands of other clients worldwide.

Independent newsletter founder Isaac Saul characterized the controversy as "DOGE nonsense," explaining that Politico's premium subscription service provides valuable information that numerous US agencies and employees rely upon for their work. This practice of federal employees maintaining subscriptions to premium news services for work-related purposes is standard across government agencies.

This incident echoes a similar controversy from 2019, when the Trump administration attempted to end federal subscriptions to The Washington Post and The New York Times. The current situation highlights ongoing tensions between the administration and mainstream media organizations, while raising questions about the rapid spread of misinformation on social media platforms and its impact on government decision-making.

Leavitt concluded her briefing by stating that the DOGE team is actively working to terminate these subscription payments, though the practical implications of this decision for federal employees who rely on Politico's services remain unclear.