内容摘要：The trade ledger has been top of mind for Trump as he argues that for too long America has been played by friends and adversaries, including neighbors Canada and Mexico.

The trade ledger has been top of mind for Trump as he argues that for too long America has been played by friends and adversaries, including neighbors Canada and Mexico.

But DOGE’s savings estimates — a fraction of Musk’s $1 trillion cost-cutting goal — have not been verified and do not take into account the costs of moves and closures. The group has released no information about what they will mean for agencies.“My initial reaction is this is just going to cause more chaos,” said Jim Simpson, an accountant in Arizona who helps low-income people file taxes and serves on an IRS panel that advocates for taxpayers. “There’s a lot of room to help with government efficiency, but it should be done surgically and not with a chainsaw.”

Simpson said he was surprised to learn that dozens of IRS offices, including local taxpayer assistance centers, were facing upcoming lease cancellations. He refers clients there to get paperwork to file returns and answer IRS inquiries, and he said losing services would “cause a lot of anxiety” and delay refunds.Plans to cancel the leases at several of the IRS centers and other sites were in error and have been rescinded, according to a person with direct knowledge of the changes who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity in order to avoid retaliation. Those changes are not yet reflected on DOGE’s list, which only removed one and added dozens more in its latest update published Thursday.The GSA walked back the cancellation of a Geological Survey office in Anchorage, Alaska, for instance, after learning it did not have termination rights, according to the person familiar with the matter.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Monday that he’d convinced DOGE to back off lease terminations planned for the National Weather Center in Norman, a Social Security office in Lawton and the Indian Health Services office in Oklahoma City. But all three leases remained on DOGE’s list of cancellations as of Thursday.GSA’s press office didn’t respond to inquiries.

While there was already a bipartisan push to reduce the government’s real estate footprint, the mass cancellations blindsided an industry known for its stability.

Landlords who had been expecting government agencies to remain tenants, for several more years in some cases under their existing leases, were stunned. Some agencies learned from building managers, not their federal partners, that their leases were being canceled, according to real estate managers.from Social Security’s inspector general states that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency paid out almost $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion — or less than 1% — in improper payments. Most of the erroneous payments were overpayments to living people.

In addition, in early January, the U.S. Treasury clawed backin a variety of federal payments— not just Social Security payments— that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that former Treasury official David Lebryk said was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave thetemporary access to the