Elon Musk's DOGE may have cut funding to Politico, but GOP support for his Trump influence dropped significantly
A new survey shows only 13% of American respondents want Elon Musk to have “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration.
On Wednesday, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would crack down on the funding of media outlets, including Politico, with the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) blessing.
Karoline Leavitt announces drying up funding to media outlets
“Upon coming out here to the briefing room, I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room, and I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to, essentially, subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers dime, will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said.
“The DOGE team is working on cancelling those payments now," she continued. "This is a whole government effort to assure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books.”
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Politico's response to the funding crackdown
According to USAspending.gov, Politico received at least $8.2 million from the US government in the past few years. Fox News further reported that the White House confirmation came hot on the heels of an employee affiliated with Politico claiming that the staffers’ recent bi-weekly direct deposits were possibly delayed due to the reforms pushed by DOGE leader Elon Musk.
“Politico screwed a lot of people,” an employee told Fox News Digital of the payout chaos. Without tying the delayed payment to Musk’s crackdown, a Politico spokesperson attributed the issue to a ‘technical error.’
“Employees were paid yesterday, there was a technical error that was remedied in a matter of hours,” read an official statement.
Republicans' support for Elon Musk influencing the Trump administration no longer the same
Meanwhile, a new poll suggests that the share of Republicans in support of billionaire Elon Musk influencing President Donald Trump has slipped dramatically in the months since the MAGA leader was re-elected.
According to the latest poll from The Economist/YouGov released Wednesday, only 26% of Republicans want the Tesla boss to have “a lot” of influence on the POTUS. This number used to be a lot higher right after the November 2024 election: 47% of surveyed Republicans.
Other digits revealed that 43% of Republican respondents want Musk to have “a little” influence. On the contrary, 17% agreed with him having “none at all.” Conversely, the post-2024 election poll reflected that 29% wanted “a little,” while 12% wanted him to have “none at all.”
Americans' view of Elon Musk also dropping
Akin to the GOP numbers’ substantial fall, the overall preference of surveyed Americans for Musk has plummeted, too. Only 13% of American respondents now want the tech titan to have “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration, whereas 25% settled with desiring just “a little” say in Trump matters, and 46% admitted to “none at all.”
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In November 2024, the results were starkly different. Back then 34% of Americans were okay with Musk having “a lot” of influence, 22% with “a little,” and 30% with “none at all.”
The latest survey conducted Feb 2-4, 2025, included 1,604 US citizens, including 78% of Democrats, 41% of Independents and 35% of Republicans.
How Democrats and Independents responded
On the Democratic and Independent side of the survey, there was even consequentially lesser preference for Elon Musk swaying the Trump admin’s decisions. A bleak 6% of each group agreed with him having “a lot” of influence. Right after the election, however, 15% of Democrats and 26% of Independents opted for the pro-Musk category.
The SpaceX chief isn’t the only one whose popularity has dwindled since Trump was elected. The poll similarly showed Americans’ views of the Republican leader and Vice President JD Vance dropping compared to previous results of the poll conducted after their first week in office.
