Fact Check: DOGE allegedly froze spending on care, feeding of TSA bomb-sniffing dogs. Here’s what we know

Claim:

The Department of Government Efficiency issued guidance restricting Transportation Security Administration employees from submitting requests related to food, kenneling and veterinary care for dogs on the agency’s explosives detection canine teams.

Rating:

What’s True:

A TSA spokesperson confirmed over email that the agency’s “credit card purchases have been restricted for 30 days.”

 

What’s Undetermined:

The TSA spokesperson said that “canine operations have not been adversely affected by this effort,” but did not explain how the dogs’ care was currently being funded. They also did not directly confirm or deny DOGE’s involvement in the spending freeze.

 

On March 13, 2025, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin posted (archived) a screenshot showing what she said was an internal Transportation Security Administration email informing employees that the Department of Government Efficiency, U.S. President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting initiative, had frozen all payment requests associated with the care and feeding of dogs in the TSA’s bomb-sniffing units.

The text visible in the screenshot read:

Subject: NEW GUIDANCE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!
Importance: High

Good morning all,

As of the moment, ALL requests for everything to include (Vet visits, kenneling, dog food, etc…) have been put on hold until we receive further guidance. I apologize for the confusion, but due to new guidance sent out last night, nothing is being approved at this time. Once I receive an update, I will be sure to share with all of you.

Thanks

(X/Jennifer Griffin)

The screenshot did not contain the names or titles of the email’s sender or recipients.

In the body of the post, Griffin said the email came from the TSA and that DOGE was responsible for the guidance:

DOGE cuts at TSA hit Canine (K-9) bomb sniffing units as the White House celebrates K9 Veterans Day. From TSA/Security Operations National Explosives Detection

Canine Team Program: vet visits, kenneling and dog food put on hold effective immediately.

Griffin made her post in response to a post (archived) the official White House account made earlier that day in honor of National K9 Veterans Day. That post included a photo of Trump posing next to a seated dog.

In the days after Griffin shared the screenshot, internet users on social media platforms including X (archived), Reddit (archived) and Facebook (archived) spread the claim.

Snopes readers wrote in and searched our site to find information about whether DOGE had really cut or frozen spending on TSA’s bomb-sniffing dogs.

Over email, a spokesperson for the TSA appeared to confirm the freeze — but also claimed, without providing specific details, that it was temporary and had not resulted in any interruptions to the care of the animals. The spokesperson also did not directly confirm that the screenshot Griffin shared in her March 13 post authentically showed a real TSA email.

Because of these unanswered questions, we’ve rated the claim a mixture of true and unverified information.

The spokesperson’s full statement — which they also provided to Newsweek — was, “Our heroic canines are happy, healthy, and funded. Credit card purchases have been restricted for 30 days, but Canine operations have not been adversely affected by this effort.”

We’ve followed up with the TSA spokesperson to ask for further details including the reason for the restrictions as well as the level of DOGE’s direct involvement in the guidance. We will update this story if we hear back.

No information about any TSA canine-related cuts or freezes appeared on DOGE’s official website or X account at the time of this writing.

The 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which established the TSA, mentions “Search by canine explosive detection units” among the act’s “enhanced security measures.” Air Force civilian employees initially trained the dogs. The agency’s dedicated Canine Training Center opened in 2005 and celebrated its 20th anniversary in February 2025.

According to a 2021 TSA fact sheet about the agency’s canine program, “more than 1,000 TSA canine teams” are deployed at airports and in mass-transit and maritime systems nationwide. Per the agency’s website, dogs selected for the teams are typically “German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Labrador retrievers and German shorthaired pointers,” and at least some of the animals come from shelters.

Sources:

140 Dog Years of Training by TSA’s Canine Training Center | Transportation Security Administration. https://www.tsa.gov/about/employee-stories/140-dog-years-training-tsas-canine-training-center. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.

A TSA Canine’s Work Is Never Done | Transportation Security Administration. https://www.tsa.gov/about/employee-stories/tsa-canines-work-never-done. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.

admin-afba. “National K9 Veterans Day: Honoring Our Four-Legged Heroes.” AFBA, 6 Mar. 2024, https://www.afba.com/uniformed-services-news/first-responders/national-k9-veterans-day-honoring-our-four-legged-heroes/.

“DOGE Makes Cuts to Bomb-Sniffing Dogs at TSA: What to Know.” Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/doge-cuts-bomb-sniffer-dogs-tsa-homeland-security-2044872.

TSA Canine Training Center | Transportation Security Administration. https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/factsheets/tsa-canine-training-center. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.