The Department of Government Efficiency is now focusing on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gained access to key payment and contracting systems.
Members of the agency headed by Elon Musk have been at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' offices this week, looking at the systems' technology, as well as the spending that flows through them, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
DOGE members also are combing through IT databases at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to find employees associated with DEI initiatives, Axios reported Wednesday, citing a source at the agency.
Like they did with the Treasury Department and U.S. Agency for International Development, DOGE officials are focusing on what they consider fraud or waste at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid while also examining the organizational design and how it is staffed.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is the hub for much of the nation's complex healthcare economy, with a budget of about $1.5 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year, or about 22% of the U.S. budget, according to the Journal. Its 6,710 employees oversee Medicare, the health coverage program for older and disabled Americans, and Medicaid, for lower-income enrollees, among other areas.
In a post Wednesday on X, which Musk owns, he wrote: "Yeah, this is where the big money fraud is happening," referring to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while reposting another user who referenced the Journal's report.
White House and DOGE officials didn't comment to the Journal regarding DOGE's work at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former TV host and Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate, is President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid but hasn't yet been confirmed by the Senate. Several officials who are expected to work under Oz have taken over at the agency, according to the Journal.
An agency official told the Journal that two senior agency veterans are leading the coordination with DOGE, and that agency leaders are "taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient spending in line with meeting the goals of President Trump."
Meanwhile at the NOAA, an unnamed source who works for one of NOAA's multiple line offices told Axios that employees were emailed late Tuesday and told to give a DOGE official "edit access" to internal intranet sites. Axios reported it viewed a copy of the email that cited instructions from acting Secretary of Commerce Jeremy Pelter and acting NOAA Administrator Nancy Hann.
Such sites would include employee resource groups, such as Pride at NOAA and Women at NOAA, information would include their membership, internal newsletters, training documents, and personnel management information, according to Axios.
The content turned over, however, wouldn't encompass the agency's climate and extreme weather data or operational weather and climate forecasts.