In 2014, Daniel Watson-Bey enrolled in a federal program to assist petite minority companies such as his production company, so that he could compete for government agreements.
As part of the East Hill Media program based in Landsdale, she won federal offers to install video conference systems at West Point Military Academy, webinars with low income of housing programs and the involvement of the community before the demolition of the dam over the Monongahel River in Pittsburgh.
His revenues not only doubled over the past decade – but the work for Washington was significant.
“It was this combination of knowledge that we are making a difference and knowing that we would receive a salary in time,” said Watson-Bey, noticing that petite municipalities and private customers often lag behind invoices.
But this stream of income evaporated last month, when Trump’s administration canceled the last East Hill contract with the Department of Housing and Development of US cities (HUD), as part of a wide -ranging savings campaign aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.
From Monday, the East Hill agreement was one of at least 37 contracts in Pennsylvania, which allegedly canceled by the Department of Government – Task Group for returns, better known as “dog”, led by Elon Musk, the richest man in the world.
Pennsylvania’s list offers a window for an unknown work that Washington will commission to petite and gigantic enterprises throughout the community of nations-from providing mental health treatment for employees in war zones, to studying the safety and risk of implanted medical devices, to integration of initiatives regarding climate change from the biden era.
While President Donald Trump supported Doge as a reformist measure that reduces costs, some companies believe that economic damage will exceed all noticeable profits to countries such as Pennsylvania. Some companies disregarded an economic hit for their company. Others stated that lost contracts would force them to scale back operations and dismissal.
And taxpayers’ savings advertised by Doge remain suspicious. In one case in Pennsylvania, Doge seemed to be considered a cancellation of an agreement worth $ 34 million, which was annulled by the Biden administration in November – adding to Error pattern It seems that the department’s success has overstated.
According to the Analysis, Associated Press almost 40% of publicly noticeable contracts may not bring any savings, because many contracts have been paid. Inquirer stated that some Doge calculations were also based on high contract ceilings for services based on needs, but companies stated that they would never receive this full amount.
Limited Doge data makes it challenging to verify his claims.
Online Department “Wall of influence“It saves over $ 15 billion of savings – but only about a third of contracts are noticeable. In recent weeks, the disappearance of contracts with an online database without explanation has disappeared, including at least 17 in Pennsylvania on March 3.
Despite this, the Inquirer of Doge analysis in the Doge sample showed that more than half of the published agreements on Pennsylvania were associated with two agencies whose White House was a target for cuts: HUD and the Consumer Protection Bureau. About 57% of companies on the Pennsylvania list are also the property of minorities, veterans or women.
Doge did not answer the request for comment. Questions about the department’s methodology also remained unanswered in the Congress – leaving both democrats and republicans unanswered for their voters wounded by cuts.
“There is a complete lack of transparency, which is usually where Congress should accelerate and ask for supervision,” said US representative Mary Gay Scanlon on Tuesday, a democrat representing Delaware and some of the Philadelphia.
Reduced contracts raised some concern about the economic effect of Trump’s resolution to reduce the federal government, and come when Pennsylvania employees were also summarized with mass dismissals addressed to employees of the trial period, as well as extensive cuts of government subsidies.
Hit in Pennsylvania
A consulting company based in Monica Gould, Jama Enterprises and Strategic Consulting Partners, had four contracts ended on the dog list.
One was with the Department of US Department of Agriculture to develop a succession plan for people regulators and evaluate milk in America. Gold said that Jama has established a developing leadership program that helps in completing jobs in the industry, which trends the older, as the specialists aged.
The next agreement concerned training supervisors in the trade department. The program, three years in a 5-year contract, provided leadership and organizational skills of mid-level managers in the section.
“It seems that the development of leadership and the development of culture are not valued,” said Gould. “We know that great leaders inspire and engage employees, making them more productive, creative and innovative. These cuts … will have a destructive effect on employees’ morale. “
Gould, who emigrated from India with her parents when she was a toddler, runs a certified woman and a minority company-one of several on the Pennsylvania Doge list.
At the personal level, the dismissed contracts appear on the heels of a huge hit in Gould’s business, which she started 30 years ago after having children and looking for life with greater balance after years in corporate America.
Its largest government agreement, a commitment of $ 34 million in USAID to ensure mental health and other support for employees often working in war zones, has also been canceled.
To sum up, this is about a 60% reduction in the activities of Gould and required to release staff, many of which live in Pennsylvania.
The USAID agreement ended just a few days after selecting Trump, although now appears on the list of alleged Doge reduction.
Such inflation has become a trademark of the Pusżmity Task group in recent weeks. In one case reported by the New York Times, task group He took a loan For ventilating a federal agreement worth $ 53 million, which ended in 2005. The contract was later scrubbed from the site. The USAID agreement has remained on the Doge list since Friday.
“Misleading” savings
Some of the largest references to contracts in Pennsylvania also suggest that Doge may inflate mathematics.
Jurisolutions, a company from Philadelphia, which orders to lawyers and assistants of design work, took five contacts on the Pennsylvania list. Two of them had CFPB and combined for $ 30 million, which is a gigantic sum that drives the US claim by billions of savings.
But Cindy Towers, the president and general director of the company, called the figure “a bit misleading”. Both were “indefinite” contracts – a type used for indefinite amount of work in an unlimited amount.
CEO of Jurisolutions and president of Cindy Towers said that he was providing lawyers to Washington in various legal projects.
But even if the contract was not canceled, the company would never put up this ceiling anywhere, she said. The reason for a gigantic sum is to avoid the need to draw up a novel contract in the event of a huge augment in demand for services.
“This is a contract that means that they do not know how much they will need,” said Towers. “If the total value is USD 10 million, this does not mean that they will use USD 10 million. They will use my lawyers only when they need my lawyers. “
Federal agreements are a fraction of the jurisolution activities. Towers said that she would assist lawyers to develop these federal projects in Washington in detail. Find a job with other clients. She said that the impact of her company is much less earnest than for others in connection with the federal reduction.
While Doge claims that all contracts published on their website as a cancellation, some are not designated as terminated in federal contract documents connected by Doge.
In one case, a gigantic company dealing with healthcare, United Concordia, said that she had not received a contract notification that appeared on the dog list. The contract with the Consumer Protection Office for dental insurance was valued at a maximum of USD 8 million.
“United Concordia Dental did not receive a notification about the cancellation of the contract and continued to perform work on the basis of a contract,” said Suzanne Cibotti, a communication consultant at the company with headquarters at Camp Hill, on Friday.
In the case of Watson-Bey, the message about cancellation appeared last month with the “clerical error”. The government accidentally connected its activities over USD 150,000. Officials asked him to get back back.
He suspected that his decade of federal contracts would end when Trump took office, and from the election in November he led his business out of his office and home as a precaution.
Despite this, his five -year contract with HUD for the provision of webinar services for housing programs was aimed at doing the next fall. Now further size, he is worried that he may not be able to pay his three employees.
He said it was one of the ways in which Doge crosses a tough wave.
“You can’t simply cut everything out of reagan and make the government so small that you can drown it in a bathtub,” he said. “This is not balanced. Each action has a different reaction. “
Data reporter Chris Williams contributed to this article.
