DC federal workers in a ‘panic’ over novel experience of job insecurity with Trump cuts

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February 8, 2025

Federal workers in Washington, D.C., are experiencing job instability for the first time ever, and the whole city is in a “panic,” according to one report.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are cutting spending and terminating government programs left and right, leading to layoffs, buyouts and a shell-shocked Capitol not even 3 weeks into his second term.

“Washington already feels like a transformed place,” Politico senior editor Michael Schaeffer wrote in a Friday column. “And it won’t just snap back even if the crusade ends tomorrow. … something essential in the culture has shifted.”

In his piece, titled, “‘Are We Detroit Now?’: Trump’s Cuts Panic Washington,” Schaeffer took stock of the sudden anguish and anxiety experienced by government workers living in one of the richest and most expensive areas of the country.

NEARLY ALL USAID WORKERS TO BE LAID OFF: REPORT

USAID found itself on the chopping block in recent weeks due to the DOGE effort to cut government waste. (Getty Images)

“It is a very difficult time in D.C.,” Yesim Sayin, the executive director of the D.C. Policy Center, said. “The uncertainties are so big. There’s a whole industry contingent on the federal government spending money.”

“It’s hard to express just how unfamiliar base-level uncertainty is in Washington,” Schaeffer said. “The city has always felt like a company town where the company will never go out of business. While most of us don’t actually work for the government, its permanence shapes our expectations, and not just in four-year increments. Assumptions about Washington’s essence inform decisions about buying a house or building a life.”

“It’s essentially like a nuclear bomb falls and destroys all your future plans,” Sayin added.

While Trump’s moves have affected contractors, Schaeffer says that workers in the nation’s Capitol are experiencing a “novel element to a city built on government stability: economic paranoia” and “a Beltway category that didn’t really exist until recently: waiting around to be fired.”

“For generations, the staid predictability of federal paychecks and government contracts has defined Washington life even for the many folks who don’t work for Uncle Sam,” Schaeffer wrote. “Now there’s a sudden awareness that those payments may not be so predictable. It’s a bewildering, vertiginous feeling: an industry town when the industry starts to wobble.”

FEDERAL JUDGE DELAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S BUYOUT DEADLINE FOR FEDERAL WORKERS

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler speaks at a rally against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) outside the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL on February 05, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kena Betancur/VIEWpress)

With Trump’s mandate that federal workers accept a buyout or return to work in-person, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and two other unions filed a complaint, saying the buyout offer is “arbitrary and capricious” and that it violates federal law.

Over 40,000 workers have agreed to the buyout, and on Thursday a federal judge pushed the administration’s deadline to accept the buyout or resign from Thursday to Monday.

As white collar federal bureaucrats worried the city is turning into Detroit during the collapse of the auto industry, Schaeffer spoke to Ron Fournier, a former DC journalist who moved back to Motor City, who confirmed the comparisons.

US Capitol security measures being put in place for Trump's inauguration

The US Capitol Building is surrounded by fencing in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 17, 2025. (Fox News Digital)

Fournier predicted that the D.C. workforce “is not going to recover.”

“It’s hard to come back from being in what you thought was a stable industry, and then you wake up one day and you realize it’s not,” Fournier said. “It’s always going to change the way people in your town look at their history and how secure they feel, and how comfortable they feel, and how optimistic they feel. It’s a blow for the psyche that is not going to recover.”

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Rachel del Guidice is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

At a Draft Site in Ukraine, an Anguished Wait for a Chance to Say Goodbye

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February 8, 2025

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They stand in a small crowd outside the large metal gate, tense and waiting in the dark. Most look weighed down, both by stress and by overstuffed plastic bags — all for men who may soon be heading off to war.

“Where’s my father? Where’s my father?” a boy in a camouflage coat asks, leaning on the gray gate. As his mother tells him to be patient, two women comfort each other nearby.

Svitlana Vakar hovers at the back of the group, crying and sniffling as she holds the dimpled hand of Maksym, her 2-year-old grandson. Wiping her eyes, she adjusts Maksym’s red “Paw Patrol” puffer jacket to protect him from the winter cold, then plants a long kiss on top of his head.

Maksym’s father had been picked up by recruiting officers that morning, on his way to work. He was able to send his mother a message: He had been taken to this military gathering point on the edge of Kyiv — along with dozens of other men picked up that day around the Ukrainian capital. Brought in for processing, they would be held overnight then shipped out in the morning for basic military training as recruits.

“Why take him like a dog? Not allowing him to say goodbye to family, to kids,” Ms. Vakar said, starting to sob.

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, men flocked to the recruitment centers. But after three years of grinding war, the well of volunteers has run dry. Now, men wait for their draft papers to arrive before appearing at recruiting centers — or try to avoid being found.

Faced with severe troop shortages and heavy casualties, Ukraine’s military has been chasing draft dodgers to help replenish the ranks. In some cases, that means pulling men off the street or off buses and taking them to recruiting points in the clothes they are wearing: jeans, suits, gym shorts. It happens so quickly that the men can’t always immediately call to let loved ones know what has happened or where they’ve been taken, families say.

Some are brought to this isolated facility, where, for a few hours before dawn and at dusk, friends and family trek to say goodbye — and to deliver essentials for the road ahead.

Loss is everywhere in Ukraine, where faces of the fallen cover billboards and memorials stretch down city streets. Amid all the sacrifice, sympathy for those who avoid serving can be in short supply. There are nearly a million people fighting in Ukraine’s military — they have children and families, too.

The uncomfortable, pre-emptive grief on display at the gates is yet another facet of the widespread angst Ukrainians live with. It was unclear how many of the men inside had ignored draft notices; some relatives mentioned paperwork issues around exemptions or cited bureaucratic mistakes.

Ms. Vakar said that she had “dropped everything” when her son Artem, 32, messaged that morning in January to say that he had been picked up and taken to the recruiting center.

“What reaction can a mother have?” she said. She threw his West Blue cigarettes, along with some potatoes and eggs, into a white plastic bag, then rushed with Maksym to the gathering point, where they stood waiting anxiously with other families in the dark.

Every few minutes, a door in the gate would clank open. A soldier would poke his head out to call a name — “Roman,” “Oleg” — and someone in the crowd would hustle forward.

More people kept arriving as the clock moved toward 6:45 p.m. Soon there were between 15 and 20 waiting.

The contents of the bags they carried spoke to how suddenly the men had been taken. Phone chargers. Socks. Underwear. Toothbrushes. A warmer coat. Many at the gate also held plastic containers with food — borscht, macaroni — to help ease the abrupt transition to military life.

Ms. Vakar fed Maksym a snack at 6:50. Soon after, “Vakar” was called. They were led through the gate, past the soldier with the list of names and another with an assault rifle, to a small strip of asphalt with benches. That’s where she was able to see her son, for about 20 minutes.

The gate kept clanking, letting visitors back out. Their bags now empty, many left with tears streaming down their faces.

The center sits at the end of a winding road, far from any public transport. Some people paced as they waited for taxis; others made calls to relay that husbands or boyfriends had gone missing — only to be found at the recruitment site.

Anya, 38, who had come looking for her husband, said it had taken her an hour to get to the closest bus stop, then another hour to find the gate. She asked that only her first name be used out of a fear of retaliation. When she arrived, out of breath, she rushed up to the gate but was told to wait.

Others were still arriving, and some carried duffels. More than one looked bewildered, asking “Where do I go?” or “How does the line work?”

Time was running out on what might be a last chance to say goodbye. In the mornings, large yellow buses roll through the gates with signs reading “Ukrainian Armed Forces!” Visitors can come from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. — after that, the buses take the recruits away for 45 days of basic training, followed by assignment to a unit.

More men are brought in by van to replace them throughout the day. And so the evening visiting window, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., fills with relatives of those picked up just hours earlier.

Not all visitors make it in time — a man and a woman who arrived at 8:14 p.m. were turned away.

But Anya made it through to see her husband, who works at McDonald’s. When she emerged after 15 minutes, she was a wreck.

“He’s not a soldier,” she said. “I don’t know how he’ll serve.”

Anya said that she had a bad feeling when her husband called her after she had dropped their 7-year-old daughter at school. It was a call she had dreaded, yet expected, for months, but it was no less devastating when it came.

“I’m in shock,” she said, listing the reasons her husband was unfit to serve, including a bad back. She said she would push for an exemption, find medical documents, anything to get him released. That was for tomorrow, she said. Now, she needed to go to her daughter. The girl did not know that her father had been drafted.

“I don’t know when to tell her, and how,” Anya said, choking on the words through tears. No longer able to speak, she headed off down the dark road. Moments later, the gate clanked open, revealing a line of men in civilian clothes being led past a banner that read, “Protecting your homeland is the duty of Ukrainian citizens.”

A white van drove in, but the crowd in front of the gate had cleared. Before the sun came up more people would form a line again, stuffed plastic bags in hand.

Oksana Parafeniuk contributed reporting.

Trump says he is revoking Biden’s security clearances : NPR

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February 8, 2025

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President Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office on Friday. In a posting on his Truth Social site, Trump said he was revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearances.

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President Trump says he is “immediately revoking” former President Joe Biden’s security clearances — access that Biden stripped from Trump four years ago.

Former presidents are historically given intelligence briefings after leaving office. In 2021, Biden revoked Trump’s access just weeks after being sworn in, arguing Trump exhibited “erratic behavior.”

Now, Trump appears to be repeating the move.

In a post Friday on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Biden “set this precedent” by taking away his clearances shortly after Trump left office.

Trump criticized the former president’s cognitive ability and referenced a report by special counsel Robert Hur that described Biden as having a “poor memory.” Biden was investigated by Hur for his alleged mishandling of classified materials after he left the vice presidency, but prosecutors ultimately determined that charges were not warranted.

Special counsel Hur defended Biden classified documents probe before Congress

“The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information,” Trump said on Truth Social. “I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED.”

A spokesperson for the former president could not be immediately reached for comment.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a hearing with the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 19, 2024. The committee held the hearing to question retired U.S. Generals on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“What value is giving him an intelligence briefing?” Biden said in an interview with CBS News four years ago. “What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”

Trump’s decision to revoke Biden’s access follows similar moves taken by the administration against past critics of the president. Last week, the Pentagon revoked retired Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley’s security detail and suspended his clearance. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser John Bolton have also had their security details removed by Trump.

Critics Choice Awards 2025: Ariana Grande, Angelina Jolie, and Demi Moore dazzle on the red carpet

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February 8, 2025

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Hollywood stars have made their way to the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California for the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.

The Critics Choice Awards, which was initially scheduled to take place at the beginning of January, was postponed due to the LA Fires. The show started by honoring first responders, some of whom were in attendance at the show.

Nominated at the awards show for her leading role in “Maria,” actress Angelina Jolie turned heads when she posed for photos on the red carpet in a light brown dress with intricate lace designs throughout. She kept her accessories to a minimum, wearing her blonde hair down and pulled to one side, and made a statement with a bold red lip.

Also nominated in the lead actress category, actress Demi Moore walked the carpet in a strapless dark blue gown with a beaded neckline and fringe on the bottom. She kept her makeup look natural, and wore her hair in a slick back bun, allowing her sparkly earrings to shine.

Grande, Jolie and Moore on the Critics Choice Awards red carpet. (Getty Images)

‘WICKED’ STAR SLIPS AND FALLS DURING LONDON PREMIERE

Angelina Jolie walked the red carpet in a light brown dress with lace overlay. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)

Demi Moore stunned in a strapless blue gown with beading and fringe. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Ariana Grande made a statement when she posed for photos in a structured brown mini dress with floral designs flowing off of it. She accessorized with black heels and diamond earrings, going for a subtle natural makeup look, wearing her hair in a high bun.

Nominated for her supporting role in “Emilia Perez,” Zoe Saldaña walked the red carpet in a stunning red dress, which she paired with a black choker and a few rings on her fingers. She kept her makeup natural, and wore her hair in a slick back bun.

Ariana Grande walked the carpet in a brown structured dress. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)

Zoe Saldana wore a red dress, which she paired with a black choker and a few rings. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage))

Another big nominee of the evening, Cynthia Erivo, continued to channel her character from “Wicked,” Elphaba, while on the red carpet, choosing a black leather gown with a plunging neckline and a peplum waist. She paired the look with her signature long nails and intricate earrings.

Nominated for her role in “Lioness,” Nicole Kidman walked the red carpet in a tan suit with a white shirt and a black tie underneath, wearing her signature blonde hair down in loose waves. She kept her accessories to a minimum, wearing large hoop earrings and a brown bracelet.

Nicole Kidman wore a suit on the red carpet. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Actress Kate Hudson was also in attendance, choosing to wear a backless black dress, tied together with a bow in the back. She accessorized the look with large gold, diamond earrings, and wore her hair in a slicked back low bun.

Walking the red carpet in a sparkly tan dress with bedazzled buttons down the middle was Jodie Foster, who is nominated for her role in the limited series, “True Detective: Night Country.” She wore her hair in her signature short bob and kept her makeup natural.

Kate Hudson walked the red carpet in a backless figure-hugging black gown. (Photo by JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images)

Cynthia Erivo, nominated for her role in “Wicked,” wore a black leather gown with a plunging neckline. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

The host of the evening, comedian Chelsea Handler, walked the red carpet in a cream-colored mid-length one-shoulder dress, with ruffles on one side. She paired the dress with nude heels, featuring sparkly embellishments, and a bracelet and earrings.

Rachel Brosnahan, known for her starring role in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” posed for photos in a figure-hugging black gown with keyhole cutouts on the chest, and additional cutouts on the shoulders.

The host of the evening, Chelsea Handler, opted for a cream-colored mid-length gown. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

Rachel Brosnahan stunned in a black dress with keyhole cutouts on the chest. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

Nominated for her role in “Nobody Wants This,” Kristen Bell kept it simple in a black dress with a halter neckline, which she paired with a black purse.

Country singer, Maren Morris, wore a black and white strapless gown on the red carpet, featuring a white train which extended out from both sides of her gown. She paired the look with a diamond chain and diamond earrings, and she wore her hair in a slick back bun.

Kristen Bell kept it simple in a black dress with a halter neckline. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Maren Morris wore a black and white strapless gown with a long train. (Photo by JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images)

Lori Bashian is an entertainment production assistant for Fox News Digital.

Stream Near Argentina’s Capital Turns Red

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February 8, 2025

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Drone footage showed an unusual reddish color of the Sarandi Canal in the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Thursday.

Consider This from NPR : NPR

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February 8, 2025

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during inauguration ceremonies in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during inauguration ceremonies in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty Images

A lot of labels have been applied to Trump’s foreign policy approach. America First, Isolationist, transactional, imperialist, protectionist. “I’m a nationalist and a globalist” he told the Wall Street Journal during his first term.

In his inaugural address last month, Trump made comments suggesting his foreign policy will be characterized by restraint, saying, in part, success should be defined by the “wars we never get into.”

Yet in the same address, he also said, the United States will take back the Panama Canal.

In his first campaign, Trump ran on the idea that the cycle of the United States intervening in the Middle East should come to an end.

And on Tuesday of this week, he said that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza Strip, after relocating the Palestinians, who live there.

Trump has promised a new approach to American foreign policy. Is there a Trump Doctrine? And what is it?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org

Email us at [email protected]

The episode was produced by Connor Donevan. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Nadia Lancy. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

Aircraft matching description of missing Alaska plane found, Coast Guard says

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February 7, 2025

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The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said Friday afternoon that it had located an aircraft matching the description of the Nome-bound plane that went missing after takeoff with 10 people onboard on Thursday.

The Coast Guard also reported that three deceased individuals were found inside the plane.

The flight, operated by Bering Air, was traveling from Unalakleet to Nome in Western Alaska when its position was lost about 12 miles offshore, according to the Coast Guard. Data from FlightRadar shows the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX last reporting info at 3:16 p.m. over the Norton Sound.

USCG has located an aircraft matching the description of the missing plane (X / @USCGAlaska)

Earlier, officials said aerial searches carried out by C-130 Hercules planes from the National Guard and Air Force resulted in “no sightings.”

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In a news conference on Friday officials said an “item of interest” had been found related to the search.

Stream Near Buenos Aires Turns Red, ‘Like a River Covered in Blood’

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February 7, 2025

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A stream in a suburb of Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, turned bright red this week, prompting residents to express concern that industrial chemicals could be to blame.

Residents of Sarandí, about six miles south of the capital, told local news outlets that chemicals from several factories and tanneries in the area could have changed the color of the stream, which flows into the Río de la Plata, a major body of water between Argentina and Uruguay.

Rivers in the area have a history of contamination problems. The Matanza-Riachuelo River basin, for example, has been called one of the most polluted waterways in Latin America. Officials have announced major public works projects to prevent sewage and industrial discharges from entering the basin.

The environmental ministry for the Province of Buenos Aires said in a statement that it responded on Thursday morning to a report that the stream in Sarandí was red and that it had taken water samples for testing. It said that the freakish hue could have been the result of “some type of organic dye.” A ministry spokeswoman said on Friday that results of the testing were not yet available.

Maria Ducomls, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, told Agence France-Presse that she noticed that the stream had turned red after a strong smell woke her up. The Argentine newspaper La Nación described it as a “nauseating smell, like garbage.”

“It looked like a river covered in blood,” Ms. Ducomls said.

She said that the stream had turned other strange colors over the years — bluish, greenish, purplish, pink — and that it sometimes had an oily sheen. “It’s terrible,” she said, blaming pollution for the changing colors.

Moira Zellner, a professor of public policy and urban affairs at Northeastern University, who grew up in Buenos Aires and worked as an environmental consultant on river and land remediation projects there in the 1990s, blamed “chronic lack of regulation and lack of enforcement” for the region’s pollution problems.

“Unfortunately, I’m not too surprised,” she said of the red color of the stream in Sarandí. “There’s a huge, long history of pollution in the rivers of Buenos Aires, and it’s really heartbreaking. I know some of the populations that have settled there are really suffering from the consequences.”

Carlos Colángelo, the president of the Professional Council of Chemistry for the Province of Buenos Aires, told a local news outlet, infobae.com, that he was concerned that chemicals could have been dumped into the stream.

“We have to wait for the results of the analysis, but we can say that a company that would have dumped this is totally unscrupulous,” he said. “I don’t think they are chemical professionals because under no circumstances would they have allowed this waste to be dumped into the water.”

CDC funding delays under Trump affect rape crisis centers : Shots

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February 7, 2025

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Groups that work to prevent sexual assault and support rape victims are facing funding delays.

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A disruption in federal funding has imperiled the work of community groups that run rape crisis centers and programs aimed at preventing sexual violence.

It’s just one example of the confusion and funding troubles affecting some social and health services since the Trump administration began scrutinizing spending.

Some groups have already begun to cut staff and limit the work they do.

The funding comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Rape Prevention and Education Program, which awards the grants every five years.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, was among a group of Democratic senators who wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services demanding answers on the agency's communications pause.

The new grant cycle was set to begin on Feb. 1, but the money never arrived, says Terri Poore, policy director at the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence in Washington.

“I am worried this is having a very real-world impact on anti-sexual violence work,” she says. “Nobody knows what is causing the delay and how long it will be.”

The impact of the funding disruption will vary by state.

The CDC grants are funneled through state health departments, which then distribute that money to nonprofits that run programs aimed at stopping sexual violence in their comunities.

While some states have reserves that can help keep programs afloat for now, others don’t have that cushion, she says.

For example, community groups in Texas are already dealing with the fallout.

“We have some programs that are actually starting to lay people off,” says Rose Luna, CEO of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, which receives the grant funding and coordinates with others groups across the state.

“We anticipate more the longer that this goes on,” she says.

President Trump is seen here after signing a range of executive orders on Jan. 23.

The CDC program is authorized through the Violence Against Women Act, originally passed by Congress in the mid ’90s.

“We are hoping to still get this funding and that it’s just a hiccup,” says Rachel West, prevention and community development director for the Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic violence.

West says without these funds, three programs in her state will have to stop their work on sexual violence prevention in schools and colleges, the hospitality industry, and employee training, for example.

Around the country, funding supports evidence-based strategies to prevent sexual violence. That includes “conducting hot-spot mapping and improving safety and monitoring in schools” and “ensuring women have adequate work supports such as safe and affordable childcare and paid family leave policies,” according to the CDC’s website.

Poore says the CDC has not communicated why the funds are being withheld, but hopes there’s a “simple solution.” Nevada is the only state that she’s heard from that has received notice that its funds have been awarded.

A CDC spokesperson referred NPR to the Office of Management and Budget for comment, which has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Luna says groups in her state that depend on this funding “are not sure how to handle the uncertainty,” she says.

“What’s at stake here are life-saving programs and information and messaging and education for communities in Texas.”

Edited by Carmel Wroth.

Top federal agency with history of wasteful spending could be next DOGE target

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February 7, 2025

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Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk’s efforts to clean up waste and fraud in the federal government will soon shift its focus to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in a move likely to create a firestorm with Democrats similar to reactions to the recent measures taken against the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The SSA, created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 and tasked with establishing a federal benefits system for older Americans, will soon become a focus of DOGE, according to a report from Semafor that was not denied by the White House when contacted by Fox News Digital.

While several Democrats — including Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., in a post on X — have been quick to accuse this move as being aimed at slashing Social Security benefits for the elderly, several areas with potential waste exist in the agency that don’t involve cutting current benefits.

Just Facts, a nonprofit research institute, previously reported that the agency disbursed roughly $2 billion in fraudulent or improper payments in 2022, which it calculated was enough “to pay 89,947 retired workers the average annual old-age benefit of $21,924 for 2023.”

‘DISTURBING’: WHISTLEBLOWER FUMES AT BIDEN-ERA AGENCY PROMOTING DEI PROGRAM AS DEPARTMENT’S ‘MISSION’

Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts are set to focus on Social Security. (Getty Images)

Just Facts explained that through a policy known as “administrative finality,” once the “SSA mistakenly overpays a beneficiary for more than four years, it does not recover past overpayments and deliberately continues to make future overpayments excepting cases of fraud.”

The SSA sent roughly 7,000 federal employees disability benefits in 2008 while they were still taking wages from federal jobs, according to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO estimated that about 1,500 of those individuals “may have improperly received benefits” since their wages went beyond maximum income thresholds. The GAO investigation also found that over 71,000 “stimulus checks” were sent by the Obama administration to people who were deceased, including 63,481 people whose deaths had been previously reported to the agency.

MEET THE YOUNG TEAM OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SLASHING GOVERNMENT WASTE AT DOGE: REPORT

Musk’s team has moved to slash USAID’s $40 billion spending budget. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Social Security will not be touched, it will only be strengthened,” President Donald Trump said during a press conference on Friday. “We have illegal immigrants on Social Security and we’re going to find out who they are and take them out.”

Trump added, “We’re going to strengthen our Social Security, etc. We’re not going to touch it other than to make it stronger. But we have people that shouldn’t be on, and those people we have to weed out, most of them, or many of them, so far, have been illegal immigrants.”

On Friday afternoon, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer posted a report on X from the Center for Immigration Studies in 2021 that said, “We estimate that there are 2.65 million illegal immigrants with Social Security numbers.”

Trump added that DOGE will go through “everything” when it comes to waste and fraud in the federal government.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the SSA said, “We remain focused and vigilant on the integrity of our programs and take seriously our responsibilities to deter fraud, waste, and abuse.”

The Social Security Administration was created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

DOGE has dominated news headlines over the past week as Musk’s team has moved to slash USAID’s $40 billion spending budget and put on leave the vast majority of its employees, as photos of the sign at the door of the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters being taken down have circulated on social media.

Musk has said that both he and Trump “agreed” that the agency should be “shut down.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been named acting director of the independent agency, on Monday echoed the sentiment, telling reporters, “USAID is not functioning.”

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“It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S. They’re not a global charity, these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money?” Rubio continued. “We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.”

Democrats held a rally outside the Treasury Department earlier this week blasting the DOGE efforts as a threat to democracy.

“Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said at a rally, sparking pushback from conservatives on social media.

“Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of.”

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].