In early March 2025, social media users shared a rumor that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs canceled a $56,000 contract for watering roughly eight plants for five years and that the Department of Government Efficiency would water these plants for free.
The claim spread on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and TikTok.
A post on DOGE's official X account on March 6 sparked the rumor (archived). It read: "The VA cancelled a $56,000 contract to water ~8 plants for 5 years. This is ~$1400/plant/year. The contract has been canceled and DOGE will water the plants free of charge."
DOGE did not provide any further details or evidence regarding the number of plants covered or the specific services included in the contract. Its announcement came amid the VA's broader plan to terminate "585 non-mission-critical or duplicative contracts."
However, the claim that the VA canceled a $56,000 contract solely for watering roughly eight plants over five years is false. It is true that in early March 2025 the VA terminated a $56,000 contract for "interior plant maintenance"; however, it covered 104 plants and included weekly upkeep services such as pruning, cleaning and plant replacement, not just watering. Therefore, we have rated this claim as a mixture of true and false information.
What we know about the plant maintenance contract
Publicly available records on USASpending.gov — an official, open-to-the-public resource for tracking government spending — show that the VA did indeed award a contract worth up to $56,551 to
The USASpending.gov database categorized the contract under "interior plant maintenance" but did not specify the exact services covered, the number of plants or the frequency of service. It only mentioned that the contract included utilities and housekeeping services and interior plantscaping.
However, Frontline Enterprises said via LinkedIn message that the contract covered the weekly maintenance of 104 plants over a five-year period for a total cost of $56,000 (or $11,200 per year).
The company further explained that this amounted to $107.70 per plant each year or approximately $9 per plant each month for weekly upkeep. The services included watering, pruning, trimming, cleaning and dusting the foliage as well as maintaining proper soil levels, disease prevention and control, fertilization and plant replacement (except in cases of damage or loss beyond the company's control).
Snopes has contacted the VA and Frontline Enterprises for further comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
In early March 2025, the USASpending.gov website indicated that $19,265 of the contract had already been spent. Exactly $33,370 was obligated under the contract, and the total potential award amount was $56,551.
At the time the previous link was archived, the current end date was listed as March 31, 2026, and the potential end date was March 31, 2028. However, as of March 13, the contract's current and potential end dates were both updated to March 6, 2025. This coincided with DOGE's post on X.
No other records in the USASpending.gov database matched the details of the contract shared by DOGE. However, between 2016 and 2019, Frontline Enterprises received a similar VA contract totaling $55,729 for plant maintenance services.
Photographs shared by DOGE
Finally, DOGE included two photos in its post. The first showed an indoor setting with a wooden table positioned against a wall and two framed portraits hanging above it. There was a large, leafy plant on each side of the table. The second showed a close-up of a printed sign on the wooden table displaying pictures of various indoor plants and containing the text: "Please do not water these plants. These plants are serviced by a plant contractor. Thank you. Buildings Management Division."
(X account @DOGE)
However, the origins of the pictures were unclear, including where and when they were taken. Reverse image searches on Google produced no evidence of them appearing online prior to DOGE's original post.
Other VA-related stories we've investigated include a rumor that spread in late February 2025 that the U.S. government set a $1 limit on VA employees' procurement cards, which are used to buy medical supplies and provide other services to veterans. In July 2024, we fact-checked a satirical claim that former Vice President Kamala Harris announced plans to take funding from the VA to give money to refugees.