Politico is not typically associated with state-backed media like National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting System. Founded in Washington, D.C., in 2007 and later acquired by a German media company in 2021, Politico operates in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and the EU.
However, it has received funding from the U.S. government through the purchase of subscriptions used across multiple federal agencies.
At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the federal government would no longer be subsidizing these Politico subscriptions.
🚨Karoline Leavitt announces DOGE is cutting ALL funding to POLITICO and other media outlets funded by USAID:
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 5, 2025
“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.”
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Journalist Kyle Becker reported that Politico received $8.1 million from various government agencies across 237 transactions.
Agencies involved included the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Food and Drug Administration, Office of the Secretary, Departmental Offices, Department of Transportation, and Department of State.
Much of this funding was allocated to PoliticoPro subscriptions through FEDLINK Schedule LCFDL19D0071, a program that also provides access to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint FedPro. The State Department was one of the largest purchasers of these subscriptions.
PoliticoPro offers news, policy insights, and tracking tools designed to help shape legislation, according to its promotional materials. It also provides detailed policy newsletters and bill-tracking services.
Elon Musk responded to Becker’s report on X, stating, “Not for long. This is obviously a huge waste of taxpayer money!” Musk has been making funding cuts across government agencies, including USAID, which is now under the control of the State Department.
Data from USSpending.gov shows that Politico, classified as an internet publishing and broadcasting recipient, received these federal funds between 2016 and 2024, with the largest payments occurring from 2020 to 2024.
A steep decline is projected for fiscal year 2025, following the Trump administration’s recent decision to cancel domestic enterprise funding through a memo from the Office of Management and Budget.
Politico has consistently taken an anti-Trump stance. In 2020, it published a letter signed by 51 current and former intelligence officials suggesting that a New York Post report on Hunter Biden’s laptop bore the “hallmarks” of Russian disinformation.
The letter’s origin was later revealed to be linked to Antony Blinken, then a Biden campaign adviser, who encouraged a former intelligence official to draft the statement.
After Biden’s election victory, Blinken was appointed Secretary of State, and Politico published the letter without correction.
Other media outlets, including NPR, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, relied on the letter to dismiss the laptop story—only to later acknowledge that the New York Post’s reporting had been accurate. The Trump administration has since revoked the security clearances of the 51 officials involved.
With the Biden administration funding Politico subscriptions across multiple agencies, government officials making key policy and spending decisions were consistently exposed to news and analysis with a strong anti-Trump and anti-conservative bias.