Eight core staffers leave roles in US DOGE agency: Politico
A senior White House official played down the report, telling Politico that senior people working the cost-cutting body spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk had only been taken on for fixed terms.
'It was never the plan for the highest levels of DOGE officials to make a career out of the government,' the official told Politico.
The report said that, on top of the eight senior staffers, at least seven DOGE engineers, most with high-level access across multiple agencies, have left. At least three more are preparing to exit, it added.
Reuters could not confirm the report. The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
Musk, the world's richest man, pulled back from his involvement with DOGE in late May.
He spent hundreds of millions on Donald Trump's re-election as US President, but the two men fell out publicly in early June and launched into an increasingly fractious feud.
DOGE – which has overseen job cuts across nearly every federal agency – was created by a January 20 executive order to modernize federal technology and enhance efficiency.
It is a temporary White House unit that absorbed the US Digital Service, not a formal department established by Congress.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Cuts Short Gaza Ceasefire Talks and Accuses Hamas of Lacking ‘Good Faith'
The United States is cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing its negotiating team home from Qatar to discuss next steps after Hamas' latest response "shows a lack of desire" to reach a truce, President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday. "While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith," Witkoff said in a statement. "We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza." State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott would not offer details on what "alternative options" the US is considering to free hostages held by the group. Hamas said in a statement that it was surprised by Witkoff's "negative remarks" and said it has shown responsibility and flexibility in the negotiating track. It added that it was "keen to reach an agreement that ends the aggression and the suffering of our people in Gaza." A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas following 21 months of war has eluded the Trump administration as humanitarian conditions worsen in Gaza. Thursday's move is the latest setback as Trump has tried to position himself as peacemaker and vowed to broker agreements in conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza. Talks for a Gaza ceasefire have dragged on When pressed on whether and how the US would proceed on seeking a truce in Gaza, Pigott did not offer clarity and told reporters that "this is a very dynamic situation." He said there's never been a question of the US commitment to reaching a ceasefire and faulted Hamas. The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place. Witkoff said the US is "resolute" in seeking an end to the conflict in Gaza and it was "a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way." The White House had no comment. Hamas, in the statement it released early Friday, said it had offered its final answer following wide consultations with Palestinian factions, mediators and countries in the region. It said it has dealt positively with all remarks it received reflecting a "true commitment" to making the efforts of the mediators successful and to "deal constructively" with the presented initiatives. Hamas said it reaffirmed its "keenness to continue the negotiations and to engage in a way that would ease obstacles and ensure reaching a permanent ceasefire." Israel also calls back its negotiators Earlier Thursday, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's office recalled his negotiating team in light of Hamas' response. In a brief statement, Netanyahu's office expressed appreciation for the efforts of Witkoff and other mediators Qatar and Egypt but gave no further details. The deal under discussion was expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire. The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons. Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach. Trump has been pushing for peace Trump has made little secret of the fact he wants to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. For instance, he has promised to quickly negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but little progress has been made. On the war in Gaza, Trump met with Netanyahu at the White House this month, putting his weight behind a push to reach a deal. But despite a partnership further solidified by their countries' joint strikes on Iran, the Israeli leader left Washington without any breakthrough. The State Department had said earlier in the week that Witkoff would be traveling to the Middle East for talks, but US officials later said that Witkoff would instead travel to Europe. It was unclear if he held meetings there Thursday. The apparent derailing of the talks comes as Israel's blockade and military offensive have driven Gaza to the brink of famine, according to aid groups. The UN food agency says nearly 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe, acute malnutrition, and the Gaza Health Ministry has reported a rise in hunger-related deaths. Israel is criticized for its role in Gaza British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would hold an emergency call Friday with officials from Germany and France to discuss how to urgently get food to people in need and launch steps to build a lasting peace. "The suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible," he said in a statement. The three European countries "all agree on the pressing need for Israel to change course and allow the aid that is desperately needed to enter Gaza without delay." French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France would recognize Palestine as a state, saying, "The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.″ Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post late Thursday, "Canada condemns the Israeli government's failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza." He called for "a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians." Israel has come under mounting pressure, with 28 Western-aligned countries calling for an end to the war and harshly criticizing Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. More than 100 charity and human rights groups released a similar letter, saying even their own staff are struggling to get enough food. The US and Israel rejected the allegations and blamed Hamas for prolonging the war by not accepting their terms for a ceasefire. Israel says it is allowing in enough aid and blames UN agencies for not distributing it. But those agencies say it is nearly impossible to safely deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order, with crowds of thousands unloading food trucks as soon as they move into Gaza. A separate Israeli- and US-backed system run by an American contractor has also been marred by chaos. "Of course, we want to see the end of devastation that is taking place in Gaza," Pigott said. "That is why we have supported the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. That is why we've seen those 90 million meals being distributed."
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
USAID analysis finds no evidence to Israel's claims of Hamas looting Gaza aid
An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation. The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organizations between October 2023 and this May. It found 'no reports alleging Hamas' benefited from US-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters. A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, alleging there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos. The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up 'aid corruption.' The findings were shared with the USAID's inspector general's office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave. Israel claims it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the crisis. The UN World Food Program says nearly a quarter of Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and the World Health Organization and doctors in the enclave report starvation deaths of children and others. The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the new private aid group that uses a for-profit US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US military veterans. The study was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of USAID, which was the largest funder of assistance to Gaza before the Trump administration froze all US foreign aid in January, terminating thousands of programs. It has also begun dismantling USAID, whose functions have been folded into the State Department. The analysis found that at least 44 of the 156 incidents where aid supplies were reported stolen or lost were 'either directly or indirectly' due to Israeli military actions, according to the briefing slides. Israel's military did not respond to questions about those findings. The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who receive aid cannot be vetted, it may be possible that US-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, the rulers of Gaza. One source familiar with the study also cautioned that the absence of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas 'does not mean that diversion has not occurred.' Israel's war on Gaza has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health officials. Israeli claims Israel, which controls access to Gaza, has claimed that Hamas steals food supplies from UN and other organizations to use to control the civilian population and boost its finances, including by jacking up the prices of the goods and reselling them to civilians. Asked about the USAID report, the Israeli military told Reuters that its allegations are based on intelligence reports that Hamas militants seized cargoes by 'both covertly and overtly' embedding themselves on aid trucks. The Israeli military said those reports also show that Hamas has diverted up to 25 percent of aid supplies to its fighters or sold them to civilians, adding that GHF has reportedly ended the militants' control of aid by distributing it directly to civilians. Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas security official said that Israel has killed more than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and security guards trying to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated with the UN Reuters could not independently verify the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen aid. GHF also accuses Hamas of massive aid theft in defending its distribution model. The UN and other groups have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the US to cooperate with the foundation, saying it violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality. In response to a request for comment, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials as saying Hamas profited from the sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid. Aid groups required to report losses The 156 reports of theft or losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were filed by UN agencies and other humanitarian groups working in Gaza as a condition of receiving US aid funds. The second source familiar with the matter said that after receiving reports of US-funded aid thefts or losses, USAID staff followed up with partner organizations to try to determine if there was Hamas involvement. Those organizations also would 'redirect or pause' aid distributions if they learned that Hamas was in the vicinity, the source said. Aid organizations working in Gaza also are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups before receiving US funds, a condition that the State Department waived in approving $30 million for GHF last month. The slide presentation noted that USAID partners tended to over-report aid diversion and theft by groups sanctioned or designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations - such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - because they want to avoid losing US funding. Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to aid group personnel 'engaging in corrupt activities,' and six to 'others,' a category that accounted for 'commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,' according to the slide presentation. The armed actors 'included gangs and other miscellaneous individuals who may have had weapons,' said a slide. Another slide said 'a review of all 156 incidents found no affiliations with' US-designated foreign terrorist organizations, of which Hamas is one. 'The majority of incidents could not be definitively attributed to a specific actor,' said another slide. 'Partners often largely discovered the commodities had been stolen in transit without identifying the perpetrator.' It is possible there were classified intelligence reports on Hamas aid thefts, but BHA staff lost access to classified systems in the dismantlement of USAID, said a slide. However, a source familiar with US intelligence assessments told Reuters that they knew of no US intelligence reports detailing Hamas aid diversions and that Washington was relying on Israeli reports. The BHA analysis found that the Israeli military 'directly or indirectly caused' a total of 44 incidents in which US-funded aid was lost or stolen. Those included the 11 attributed to direct Israeli military actions, such as airstrikes or orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of the war-torn enclave. Losses indirectly attributed to Israeli military included cases where they compelled aid groups to use delivery routes with high risks of theft or looting, ignoring requests for alternative routes, the analysis said.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan deputy PM in Washington to discuss trade, economic cooperation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, has arrived in Washington to discuss trade, economic cooperation and other matters, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Friday. Pakistan and the United States (US) have been engaged in talks after Washington announced a 29 percent 'reciprocal tariff' on Pakistani exports in April. Islamabad said the move, paused in June for a 90-day period, may undercut its fragile, export-led recovery. The US is Pakistan's top export destination, with shipments totaling $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to official data. From July 2024 to February 2025, exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier. Deputy PM Dar, who was received by Pakistan's Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh upon arrival in Washington, is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry. 'The meeting will discuss important facets of Pakistan-US relations exploring ways and means to strengthen bilateral ties, with a particular focus on promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation,' the Pakistani foreign ministry said. 'The Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister is also scheduled to speak at the US think tank, The Atlantic Council, sharing Pakistan's perspective on regional and global issues as well as the future of Pakistan-US relations.' Nearly 90 percent of Pakistan's exports to the US are textiles, a sector that is most vulnerable to the duties. The South Asian country is also seeking to diversify its trade destinations and export base to mitigate risks related to its international trade as it recovers from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week that Islamabad and Washington are exploring a shift in their economic engagement from a trade-focused relationship to one anchored in long-term investment, following his meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington. 'One thing we discussed was that we have to move beyond the immediate trade imperative for it to be brought into the next level and bring in a real step change,' Aurangzeb said. 'So, the investment imperative will come forward, and areas have already been identified in terms of minerals and mining, in terms of AI [artificial intelligence], in terms of digital infrastructure [and] crypto,' he continued. 'We feel that this will be a real game changer, God willing, in terms of the relationship and the economic relationship between Pakistan and the United States.' The Pakistani finance chief said both sides were committed to resolving outstanding trade issues to move 'toward the finishing line' and begin investment-related discussions 'very quickly.'
