(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Washington DC insider magazine Politico has long been accused of having a liberal bias. That might be because it has received more than $8 million in federal contracts, according to information unearthed Wednesday on Twitter/X.
Politico’s government contracts were discovered after an internal email was leaked, revealing that its staffers didn’t receive their latest paychecks. That sparked jokes that Politico may have had its funding cut off due to the Trump administration moving to close the US Agency for International Development—an agency that essentially acts as a proxy for the CIA.
Staff at Politico did not get paid for the latest pay period. The company just sent several emails to employees saying it believes there was a technical error, and is looking into how to fix the issue. pic.twitter.com/PYcWYdbrEC
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 4, 2025
It turned out, there was some truth underpinning those jokes. While Politico may not be funded by USAID, it has received millions of dollars in contracts from a variety of other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Interior, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The contracts appear to be ostensibly for subscriptions to Politco and its various services, including POLITICO PRO, which touts itself as “the leading policy workspace platform for public policy professionals.”
One online sleuth found that HHS apparently gave Politico more than $400,000 for just 37 subscriptions.
Additionally, the data showed that the government has paid Politico using funds such as the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program. It’s unclear why that is.
About 5% of Politico's gov't contracts are seemingly paid from the "Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program."
Excuse me? Can anyone explain this? https://t.co/XtTjeiwWv5 pic.twitter.com/kLAdTS2FqQ— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) February 5, 2025
Other contract descriptions are more vague—simply saying that Politico was paid for “BOOKS, MAPS, OTHER PUBLICATIONS.”
Politico isn’t the only liberal-leaning news outlet funded by the government. Researchers found that the Associated Press and Reuters have received federal contracts, too: $13.6 million for Reuters and $619,969 for the AP.
News that those media outlets are government-funded prompted numerous examples of their biased coverage.
🚨 The moment my association with @RobertKennedyJr became public, @politico published 13 hit pieces targeting me trying to damage my character & reputation.
I have been wrongly treated by this media outlet specifically, all false attacks were funded by the American taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/dVhTMZRvXI
— Jamel Holley (@jamelholley) February 5, 2025
“The moment my association with @RobertKennedyJr became public, @politico published 13 hit pieces targeting me trying to damage my character & reputation,” said New Jersey assemblyman Jamel Holley. “I have been wrongly treated by this media outlet specifically, all false attacks were funded by the American taxpayers.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
