White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday on Fox News that the press was left in “sheer silence” over the resurfacing of a limestone mine in Pennsylvania being used to hoard federal retirement files, adding that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is exposing Washington D.C. “rot.”
During a press appearance in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, DOGE’s Elon Musk said that the process of federal employees retiring could be held up due to the program still being manual, as documents are being held in an old limestone mine in Boyers, Pa. On “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Watters asked if Trump plans to “shut the cave down,” highlighting how former President Barack Obama spent millions on it.
“Yes, he [Trump] does. That’s why Elon Musk and President Trump brought it to the American people’s attention in the Oval Office yesterday. As they did that, Jesse, I was watching the faces of the mainstream media reporters who were in the Oval Office, and there was sheer silence because it appeared that many of them who are supposed to be writing the truth about our federal bureaucracy had no idea that the federal retirement system is being processed deep into the ground and is not computerized,” Leavitt said.
In 2014, The Washington Post released a report on the Pennsylvania mine, where at the time 600 employees of the Office of Personnel Management were working in the cave, processing retirement papers of federal employees. While millions have been spent on attempting to digitize the process, Obama’s administration spent millions more on the mine, adding at least 200 people in the past five years, according to the outlet.
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Leavitt went on to say that DOGE and Musk are exposing “the truth” about the federal government and its system, adding that this is why American voters elected Trump last November.
“They, the president and Elon are shining a light on the truth about our federal government. But the mainstream media simultaneously is saying there’s an alleged lack of transparency and access. It’s preposterous,” Leavitt said. “Together, President Trump and Elon, the entire DOGE team and this entire administration are shining a light on the corruption, the waste, the fraud and abuse.”
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and they are revealing the rot of this city every single day. It’s music to the ears of the American people who voted for this. As you rightly pointed out, 77 million of them liked what President Trump promised on the campaign trail, and he is delivering and it’s fascinating,” Leavitt said.
Pushback against DOGE and Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration came quickly after the DOGE leader said on Feb. 3 that he and the president agreed to upend the U.S. Agency for International Development, moving it under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Democratic lawmakers have protested in D.C., despite the exposure of government waste, with some seen directing profane comments to the president while others have called to “shut down” the Senate.
Despite the resistance from Democrats, a CBS News poll released Sunday shows 53% of Americans approve of Trump’s administration so far, with 70% saying Trump is following through on his campaign vows.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox News/”Jesse Watters Primetime”)
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