Judge Rules Trump Can Demolish USAID as He Pleases

The Social Security Administration confirmed to The Intercept that the real savings were limited to work on the Gender X Marker Project, which sought to add ‘X’ as a gender option on U.S. passports. The project was canceled last month as part of Trump’s anti-trans executive order insisting the federal government would only recognize two genders. At the time, DOGE claimed canceling the contract could save the government more than $1 million.

But DOGE’s cut didn’t save the government $1 million, let alone the nearly $232 million the agency now claims on its website. In reality, the cut only saved $560,000, a spokesperson from the Social Security Administration told The Intercept.

“The task order referenced on the DOGE receipt website includes numerous I.T. development efforts, one of which was Social Security’s former Gender X Marker project,” Darren Lutz, the SSA spokesperson, said. “While the overarching task order was not terminated, we continue to assess and identify other projects under this task order that may be cancelled or streamlined to create further cost savings.”