President Donald Trump made the promise to cut some of the worst spending in the federal government, and on Monday, his Cabinet announced a progress report, revealing the billions of dollars in federal contracts are being canceled. The decision is part of a broader effort to reform how federal agencies use taxpayer money. The initiative is supported by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
.@SecretaryBurgum announces $830 million in savings at @Interior by cutting contracts for useless surveys pic.twitter.com/DORXKoUT4H
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 24, 2025
One canceled project included a $300,000 food justice education program in San Francisco aimed at queer and transgender farmers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins criticized that project, along with similar ones in New York, as being irrelevant to the government’s core priorities, reported Fox News.
Rollins also revealed that her department ended a $600,000 study in Louisiana focused on the menstrual cycles of transgender men and shut down a pest management diversity program at a Midwestern university. She told President Trump these were just a few out of hundreds of questionable contracts uncovered so far.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum pointed to another example: an $830 million contract for conducting government surveys. He argued that the survey was so simplistic it could have been created by a junior high student or even artificial intelligence, questioning how such a high price tag was justified.
Trump called the canceled spending “fraud” and credited Musk and DOGE for helping expose what he sees as widespread misuse of federal funds. He said the problem goes beyond waste, calling it “incredible fraud.”
At the Environmental Protection Agency, over $22 billion in contracts have reportedly been scrapped. This includes a controversial $2 billion grant to a nonprofit with connections to voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams and a $5 billion award linked to the director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which funded progressive “green” causes and was part of the “gold bars on the Titanic” that leftwing bureaucrats tried to ship out to allies in the final days of the Biden presidency.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin emphasized that the collaboration with Musk and DOGE was critical to identifying and eliminating these expenses. He pledged to continue the effort until every unnecessary dollar is recovered. A liberal federal judge has been desperately trying to force the EPA to send the money to her allies despite the move.
This move represents a major partnership between Trump’s administration and Elon Musk, who is playing an increasingly influential role in reshaping federal spending practices. It also highlights the administration’s intent to make government reform a central theme as the election approaches.
