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zohran mamdani
Mamdani's Anti-DOGE City Savings Plan Includes Firing McKinsey, Not Hiring Them
"Government must deliver for working people—and every dollar in our budget should work as hard as they do," said the mayor.
Mar 25, 2026
Cutting government "waste" and increasing "efficiency" have long been rallying calls of the right, most recently with President Donald Trump's "slash-and-burn" methods through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency—which rapidly cut hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and threatened lives across the Global South by terminating billions in foreign aid—and his cuts to Medicaid and federal food assistance.
But New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday appeared intent on "co-opting" the idea of efficiency, as one organizer said, as the progressive Democrat provided an update on his plan to save more than $1.7 billion in public funds "without compromising essential services."
The targets of Mamdani's savings plan aren't crucial healthcare programs like Medicaid—which even some Democrats like his erstwhile rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have attacked as "wasteful"—and education, but major government contracts with companies like consulting firm McKinsey.
Cutting the Department of Social Services IT contract will save the city $9 million per year, said Mamdani. McKinsey has contracted with the New York City government several times, including between 2014-17 when it was paid $27.5 million to reduce violence at the jail complex on Rikers Island—only to report "bogus" numbers as the problem worsened—and in 2022 when it was paid $1.6 million to research garbage disposal.
"The city was paying for a lot of work from outside contractors that was costing us far too much, so we're bringing a lot of that work in-house and saving our budget millions on things like IT services and software," said Mamdani in a video he posted to social media. "A contract with McKinsey at the Department of Social Services: no more. That's $9 million that we won't be spending next year.
Government must deliver for working people—and every dollar in our budget should work as hard as they do.That’s why I directed every agency to cut waste and help close our budget gap.Here’s some of what we found.
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— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@mayor.nyc.gov) March 25, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Other savings identified by city agencies, which were directed by Mamdani to find $1.7 billion in public funds that could be saved to fill what city Comptroller Mark Levine called "the biggest budget gap since the Great Recession," include $1.15 million at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has been "overcharged for lifesaving medicine like naloxone."
"We're renegotiating that contract and saving another million dollars," said Mamdani.
Millions will be saved on leases as the city shrinks its "physical footprint" and stops renting spaces it doesn't need, and an estimated $13 million per year will be saved as officials strengthen its verification process to make sure homeowners are actually living in homes for which they get tax breaks.
Other contracts will be terminated or renegotiated at New York City Public Schools, generating more than $30 million in savings next year; the city's public hospitals system, saving about $40 million over the next two years; and the Department of Corrections, resulting in $4.3 million in savings.
Mamdani emphasized that to confront the city's deficit, "we need to tax the rich and end the drain that's been our relationship with the state for far too long."
"As we pursue that, though, we also have to take a close look at our own spending and cut waste wherever we can," the mayor said. "Because to deliver public goods you have to first deliver public excellence."
Organizer and writer Cole Sandick said Mamdani's "co-opting of efficiency from the right will be seismic for the American socialist project" and expressed hope that the mayor could begin "a national campaign against The Contractor State—neoliberalism's grand, massively inefficient outsourcing of government functions to private contractors."
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the think tank Groundwork Collaborative, said it was "really exciting that NYC is generating operational efficiencies by in-sourcing needlessly outsourced public services and functions, building city capacity."
"More of this!" he added.
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Every Single Participant in NYT Focus Group Preferred Progressive Candidates Over Moderate Ones
"The Democratic Party needs to embrace voices that resonate with people," said one participant
Feb 18, 2026
The New York Times' "America in Focus" series has assembled dozens of focus groups in recent years, often asking supporters of President Donald Trump how they feel about his domestic and foreign policy one year into his second term—but political observers suggested Tuesday that the newspaper's latest focus group should capture the attention of Democratic leaders who have been condemned for capitulating to the president and refusing to embrace and learn from the victories of progressive leaders like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The newspaper spoke to 13 Democratic and independent voters including retirees from Indiana and Michigan, working people from states such as North Carolina and Nevada, and an unemployed voter from Iowa. The topic of discussion was the participants' frustrations with the Democratic Party as it faces the Trump administration and the president's aggressive deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the country.
"Spineless" was one word a participant had for the Democratic Party when asked to describe it. Another said the party appears "paralyzed" while a 46-year-old Latina woman from Nevada said Democrats in Congress are "sellouts and suckers."
Terrill, a 68-year-old retired Indiana resident, agreed that the party leadership has "sold out."
"I just feel we were never being governed," said Terrill. "We’re being looted. The Democratic Party lined their pockets and created—they created this mess."
A number of respondents expressed ire over the decision by eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus to vote with Republicans last November to end a record-breaking government shutdown—without securing any concessions on protecting healthcare for millions of Americans who rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The response from participants "tracks 100% with what I've seen on the streets, from No Kings protests to the resistance against ICE," said commentator Hasan Piker.
Democratic leaders, he added, "are oblivious to the anger" felt by voters. "They’re speaking into an echo chamber of consultants who tell them what they want to hear."
With voters expressing such intense dissatisfaction with the leadership of establishment Democrats, "how on Earth do Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries still manage to cling to their leadership roles?" asked journalist Mehdi Hasan, referring to the Senate and House minority leaders, who both represent New York.
But along with unloading their frustration about the Democrats who continue to back ICE—even as support for the agency craters among voters—and refuse to develop what one voter called "clear, concise messaging" that communicates how the party will fight for working Americans, the participants talked about the political leaders who "excite" them about the future of the party and the country.
Mike, a 33-year-old telecommunications professional in North Carolina, said that Mamdani, a democratic socialist, exemplifies what the party "should be doing more of."
Less than two months into his mayoral term, said Mike, Mamdani has provided voters in New York and across the country with a "clear and concise" message about how he plans to govern and what he plans to prioritize.
Mike drew a comparison to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an early backer of Mamdani who is continuing the Fighting Oligarchy nationwide tour he began last year, speaking to crowds in both red and blue districts about the need for policies that serve working families rather than billionaire political donors and corporations.
"Bernie has said the same thing since the ’80s," said Mike. "You’ve got to tax the billionaires. You’ve got to tax the upper class. He’s never changed. That’s the messaging. You’ve just got to drill it into them, and Zohran did it. Man, it’s beautiful."
While other respondents expressed some enthusiasm about more moderate leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, several participants agreed with Mike's comments on Mamdani and one independent voter named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), another outspoken democratic socialist and a potential 2028 contender, as a leader who "excites" them.
If given a choice between voting for a moderate candidate in an election or a progressive, all 13 participants said they would choose the progressive.
A 29-year-old independent voter named Panth from Arizona said the term moderate reminded him of "people like [former West Virginia Sen.] Joe Manchin, who hold up some of the policies that I would want supported."
"I feel like moderates are happy with the status quo and will basically do what we’ve always done. The system is working for them and they want to keep it the same. I think for a large part of Americans, the system isn’t working, so we need something new," said Panth.
Days after taking office, Mamdani announced that he and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had finalized a deal to fund his universal childcare plan for the city. He also announced the launch of "rental ripoff" hearings to hold landlords accountable for abuses, intervened in a major renters' dispute, personally aided with snow removal, and repaved a dangerous bump in the road on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Progressive policymakers "actually do stuff," summarized Panth.
The widespread expression of enthusiasm for progressive candidates came a week after grassroots organizer Analilia Mejía's victory in the Democratic primary in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, after which Sanders asserted that victories on the left "can be done everywhere.”
As Trump has ramped up his attacks on immigrant communities and First Amendment rights, leaders including Schumer and Jeffries have incensed progressive commentators by backing down on demands to rein in ICE, refusing to clearly condemn the administration's arrest and attempted deportation of pro-Palestinian protesters, and expressing frustration at advocacy groups that have demanded they fight the Trump agenda.
"The Democratic Party needs to embrace voices that resonate with people," said Panth. "When you hear Bernie, he has energy because he really believes in what he’s saying. It’s the same reason Trump resonates with people, because he acknowledges some of the struggles that they’re facing. Sure, he blames the wrong groups, but he at least voices it. The Democratic Party doesn’t do the same."
Alex Jacquez, a former Obama administration official who's now chief of policy and advocacy at the economic justice group Groundwork Collaborative, commented: "Bingo."
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‘Expel Randy Fine Immediately’: Vile Bigotry of GOP Lawmaker Sparks Calls for His Ouster
"This is genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official."
Feb 17, 2026
Critics are demanding the censure and even expulsion of a Republican US congressman after his latest bigoted remarks against Muslims.
The firestorm began on Sunday when Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) responded to a sarcastic social media post by Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani, who jokingly suggested that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's election meant that "NYC is coming to Islam," and it was time to consider banning dogs as pets because "like we've said all along, they are unclean."
"If they force us to choose," Fine wrote, "the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one."
Kiswani insisted that her post was not meant to be taken at all seriously, and was rather her attempt to satirize some Americans' fears about having a Muslim elected to lead the largest US city.
"If Americans cared as much about abused children as they do about posts joking about dogs," she wrote, "we might actually be facing a national reckoning. Instead watching some of the same politicians who resisted transparency around the Epstein files discover their outrage over this is telling."
Many Democratic lawmakers were quick to condemn Fine for suggesting that the US expel Muslims.
"We must call this what it is. Disgusting bigotry," wrote Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). "Fine must be censured. It's about morality and decency, not politics."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined Khanna's call to censure Fine.
"This is genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official," she wrote. "It should not stop shocking us that the Republican Party openly embraces this. Fine should be censured and stripped of committees. To ignore this is to accept and normalize it."
Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) argued that Fine's statement "is what it looks like when Islamophobia and outrage are the only two items on your political agenda," and demanded that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) issue a formal condemnation.
Jennifer Jenkins, a Democrat running against Fine in Florida's 6th Congressional District, said that censuring the Republican lawmaker was not enough.
"Randy Fine has spent years spewing hate: attacking entire faiths, calling for violence, targeting kids and families, and dehumanizing Americans," she wrote. "He’s only escalated. Congress must act now and expel Randy Fine immediately."
Fine appears undeterred by the condemnation he's received, appearing on Newsmax Tuesday morning to push false claims about Democrats wanting to ban pet dogs.
"People should know Democrats like [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] are saying 'we are going to get rid of your dogs,'" Fine falsely claimed. "Americans need to keep that in mind when they go and vote in November."
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