DOGE cancels contract to build Dr. Fauci museum exhibit

• DHS canceled a $168,000 contract to build an exhibit honoring Dr. Fauci. DOGE put the contract on the chopping block.
• Fauci spent 54 years at NIH, but his response to the COVID-19 pandemic made him a controversial figure.
• DOGE claims it has saved the government $32 billion so far.

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled a $168,000 contract to build an exhibit honoring Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contract was originally signed in October 2024 at the end of the Biden administration. However, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump, put it on the chopping block.

The funds for the Fauci exhibit would have paid for project management, design consultation, samples and fabrication. 

Dr. Fauci spent 54 years at NIH and retired in December 2022. He was a controversial figure during the COVID-19 pandemic as he tried to guide the country’s response. Many Republicans accused him of providing inconsistent guidelines for social distancing, masking and vaccinations. He has been a target for oversight ever since. 

News about the canceled exhibit came in a larger DOGE announcement about 62 canceled contracts at HHS totaling $182 million. It’s unclear exactly how much money that will save the government, given that some payments on active contracts have already been made. 

In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract worth $182 million. 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. pic.twitter.com/EsZxflPS6w

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 7, 2025

According to the website DOGE-tracker, the group has saved American taxpayers $32.7 billion thus far, a little more than 1.5% of its $2 trillion goal. The department, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is set to terminate automatically on July 4, 2026, so they have a little over 500 days left. Many of the cuts are related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs that President Trump banned with an executive order.

Recently, Musk teased a DOGE audit of the IRS. DOGE has also gutted USAID and put 2,200 of its employees on leave. However, a judge temporarily blocked some of DOGE’s actions related to the foreign aid agency Friday afternoon, Feb. 7.