DOGE leader Elon Musk has been hit with 96% negative coverage on ABC, NBC and CBS evening newscasts, according to the Media Research Center. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier this year, DOGE discovered the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) had transferred $132,000 to Mohammad Qasem Halimi, a former Taliban member who was Afghanistan's former Chief of Protocol. DOGE announced on March 31 that the contract was canceled.
Halimi was detained by the U.S. and held at Bagram Air Base for a year beginning Jan. 2, 2002. He held several positions in Afghanistan's government following his release and was appointed as the Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Afghanistan in 2020.
"A small agency called the United States Institute of Peace is definitely the agency we've had the most fight at. We actually went into the agency and found they had loaded guns inside their headquarters — Institute for Peace," a DOGE staffer told Watters. "So by far, the least peaceful agency that we've worked with, ironically. Additionally, we found that they were spending money on things like private jets, and they even had a $130,000 contract with a former member of the Taliban. This is real. We don't encounter that in most agencies."
USIP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's inquiry.
ELON MUSK LOOKS BACK ON 100 DAYS OF DOGE, PREVIEWS FUTURE OF THE 'LONG-TERM ENTERPRISE'
President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as they arrive to attend a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus and who has collaborated closely with Musk to identify waste to cut, revealed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) "authorized a whopping $20 million to create a 'Sesame Street' in Iraq."
Ernst said that under the Biden administration, USAID awarded the $20 million to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to produce a show called "Ahlan Simsim Iraq" in an effort to "promote inclusion, mutual respect and understanding across ethnic, religious and sectarian groups."
DOGE received a hand from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which released a report in March revealing that federal agencies wasted $162 billion in "improper payments," which was actually a decrease of $74 billion from the previous fiscal year.
GAO's analysis revealed that of the 16 government agencies reporting improper payments, 75% of the waste found was concentrated in five programs: $54 billion from three Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Medicare programs; $31 billion in HHS Medicaid; $16 billion from the Department of the Treasury’s earned income tax credit; $11 billion from the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and $9 billion from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at the White House. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On the campaign trail and since taking office, Trump has made it clear he aims to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spending in the federal government, while making the case that a system of meritocracy should be the focus.
DOGE has announced over the last few months that it has cut hundreds of millions in DEI contracts.
Earlier this month, DOGE announced it had worked with the U.S. National Science Foundation to cancel 402 "wasteful" DEI grants, which will save $233 million, including $1 million for "Antiracist Teacher Leadership for Statewide Transformation."
The Department of Defense could save up to $80 million in wasteful spending by cutting loose a handful of DEI programs, the agency announced last month.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Defense Department has been working with DOGE to slash wasteful spending, DOD spokesman Sean Parnell said in a video posted to social media.
Parnell listed some of the initial findings flagged by DOGE, much of it consisting of millions of dollars given to support various DEI programs, including $1.9 million for holistic DEI transformation and training in the Air Force and $6 million to the University of Montana to "strengthen American democracy by bridging divides."
The Trump administration announced earlier this month it is slashing millions of dollars in DEI grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of its overall DOGE push.
And in February, the Department of Education said it is canceling more than $100 million in grants to DEI training as part of DOGE's efforts.
Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-5-most-outrageous-ways-government-has-wasted-your-taxes-uncovered-elon-musks-doge