The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled over $180 million in contracts in just 48 hours. Among them was a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci museum exhibit.
"In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contracts worth $182 million," announced the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on social media. "These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses—none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum."
The news is part of DOGE’s broader effort to overhaul government spending. Led by billionaire Elon Musk, the department has been pushing for drastic cuts. This includes plans to eliminate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and major changes at the U.S. Treasury Department to cut $100 billion in entitlement payments to individuals without Social Security numbers.
No federal agency has escaped DOGE’s cost-cutting agenda. HHS is just the latest target in the drive to eliminate what Musk’s department calls government waste.
The Fauci exhibit was expected to open in July 2025. That project has now been scrapped, along with $182 million in other administrative expenses at HHS.
Fauci, a longtime government figure, has often been at the center of controversy. He famously clashed with President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just last month, Trump revoked Fauci’s taxpayer-funded security detail, which was granted in 2020 when Fauci became the government’s public spokesperson for the pandemic.
"I think, you know, when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off," Trump explained. "You can’t have them forever. We took some off other people, too."
On his final day in office, former President Joe Biden gave Fauci a preemptive pardon. It was meant to protect him from potential retaliation by Trump during his second term, though Fauci had never been charged with any crimes.
Before serving as chief medical advisor during COVID-19, Fauci spent nearly 30 years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He started at the National Institutes of Health in 1968 and was widely praised for his work on HIV/AIDS before becoming the face of the government’s pandemic response.