Here’s a small update on an on-going stream of reporting I’ve been at work on – the hows, whys, and miscellaneous mechanics of contract terminations across the federal government. I did that piece on the contracts killed at VA and how they seemed entirely or at least heavily focused on contract code NAICS-541611, which is for “Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services.” I said earlier this week that from data in just a couple departments I had the strong impression that DOGE had made incursions into various agencies, pulled up the contracts under this heading and ordered them canceled. Usually they gave some set of either contract officers or stakeholders very brief periods to argue for a reprieve, often just a matter of a few hours. (Just how that was done seemed to vary and played a big role in what was eventually cut.) In every case I’d seen these cuts had been made with no real effort to discover what kind of contracts were being listed under that code and no effort to find out what the contracts were for.

Another example of a Republican member of Congress trying to open up some room between himself and Elon Musk, but lo-fi and only back in the district. Here it’s Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO), generally making out like there’s not much he can do about it, just a bystander.

This is a quick summary of the interview …

Hurd doesn’t know how many of his constituents have lost or left their jobs during these cuts, but says there are some he wishes hadn’t.

“I know there are hardworking land managers on the ground in the 3rd Congressional District who have lost their jobs that should be in those jobs and who should be working,” said Hurd. “Fortunately, we haven’t had any firefighters – public lands right away is where I go to, but certainly this is broader as well – we haven’t had any firefighters cut. But we have had some of the support services for those firefighters cut.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth just sent an email to all Pentagon civilian employees informing them that OPM/DOGE will be sending a new “accomplishments” demand email on Monday March 3rd. Unlike the earlier guidance which requested DOD employees “pause” and not reply to the first “accomplishments” demand email, they now must reply with their 5 bullet points of accomplishments within 48 hours. “Non-compliance may lead to further review.”

New survey data out from Navigator research shows the profound public concern and anger over the cuts in the Musk wilding spree. Unsurprisingly, voters are more concerned than almost anything by Trump and Musk shutting down cancer cure research (and research into cures for other diseases) in the U.S. 71% of independents says they’re concerned or very concerned about it. 65% percent of voters over all. It’s also something they’ve heard the least about. Here’s the raw data for the poll and a powerpoint.