President Donald Trump told his Cabinet secretaries they should make final decisions on staffing and cost-cutting measures rather than billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, Politico reports, a move that could help shield the Trump administration in court as it fights multiple lawsuits challenging Musk’s apparent authority.
President Donald Trump is joined by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and his son, X Musk, during an ... [+]
Trump told Cabinet secretaries Thursday that ultimate decisions on “personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation” at their agencies are up to them, Politico reported citing anonymous sources, saying Musk and his DOGE team can make “recommendations” but do not have any power to make “unilateral decisions.”
The president confirmed he met with agency heads and Musk in a Truth Social post Thursday, saying the meeting was “very positive” and that he told them “to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing.”
Musk agreed with Trump’s directive to defer to agency officials on staffing during the meeting Thursday, Politico reports, with one source telling the outlet that Musk acknowledged DOGE had made “missteps” in how it handled widespread government spending and staffing cuts.
Trump’s meeting was reportedly spurred by concerns from lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries about Musk usurping authority over federal agencies, Politico reports, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., telling CNN earlier this week that Musk needs “to pay attention to the aftermath of” his mass government firings “and how it impacts people,” also suggesting lawmakers and Cabinet officials are “probably better-attuned” to make decisions.
The president’s directive could also play an important role for the administration in court, where multiple lawsuits are taking aim at Musk’s authority and suing DOGE over worker firings, prompting the government to claim in court filings that Musk does not have decision-making authority—but struggle to articulate in court what the billionaire’s role exactly is.
The legal debate over Musk’s role in the White House ramped up after Trump declared in his address to the joint session of Congress Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk,” prompting plaintiffs in lawsuits against DOGE to file court briefs citing Trump’s comments as evidence that Musk is connected to DOGE’s actions and thus should be held liable.
The Trump administration has claimed in court filings that Musk has “no greater authority than other senior White House advisors” and can’t “make government decisions himself,” alleging Musk “can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.” The government has also claimed Musk is not an “employee of the U.S. DOGE Service” or the “U.S. DOGE Service Administrator,” but struggled to identify who the agency’s administrator actually was. The White House eventually named Amy Gleason as the administrator, after facing repeated questioning about who was in that role, though a lawyer for the Trump administration said in court Feb. 28 that he “was not able to get an answer” about who was leading DOGE prior to Gleason being named or responses to other questions about the department’s leadership. That prompted Judge Theodore Chuang to express skepticism about what the administration has claimed in court, saying, “The plaintiffs are saying Musk was the head of DOGE. You’re saying he wasn’t, but we can’t tell you who was, which admittedly is highly suspicious.”
Numerous lawsuits are still pending regarding DOGE’s authority, with cases targeting DOGE’s access to data at specific agencies and the department and Musk’s overall authority. A new lawsuit filed by advocacy groups Wednesday claims Musk has led a “lawless, unchecked evisceration of the federal government.” Trump’s claim to agency heads that they, rather than Musk, have ultimate authority over their agency’s staffing and policy decisions could help shield the Trump administration from losing those cases, which ask courts for relief that ranges from blocking DOGE from specific government databases to declaring DOGE was unlawfully established and ending its work.
It remains to be seen whether Cabinet officials could take a more nuanced approach to staffing and spending decisions than the widespread cuts DOGE has made—some of which they’ve had to walk back, after firing essential employees or ending critical government work. Politico reports Trump told Cabinet secretaries Thursday he wants to “keep good people in government and not eject capable federal workers en masse,” with Trump saying on Truth Social that agency heads “can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go.” “We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,’” Trump wrote. It’s still unclear if that could result in any changes to planned staffing cuts at agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs and Securities and Exchange Commission, or reverse any layoffs that have already taken place.
Trump’s meeting with Cabinet secretaries comes after Musk similarly met Wednesday with Republican lawmakers, where he reportedly vowed to improve communications with Congress about DOGE’s actions and gave his personal cell phone number out to lawmakers. The meeting was held at House Speaker Mike Johnson’s request as GOP lawmakers have faced blowback from constituents about DOGE’s actions, The Washington Post reports, with Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., saying before the meeting that members of Congress are the “ones that have to go home and defend these decisions, not [Musk]. So why don’t you give them a heads-up.”
Musk and DOGE have drawn widespread criticism for enacting significant cuts across the federal government as the department carries out its mission of rooting out purported government waste. The moves resulted in thousands of federal workers losing their jobs and cuts to both domestic and foreign federal spending, with Musk and DOGE being linked to the dismantling of federal agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Musk, the richest man in the world and one of Trump’s top election donors, has also drawn widespread scrutiny as he’s taken a top role in the White House, appearing alongside Trump in the Oval Office and publicly claiming credit for DOGE’s government work. The lawsuits against DOGE’s work are a fraction of dozens of legal challenges that have been brought against the Trump administration since the inauguration, which have resulted in a number of rulings pausing federal policies, though most lawsuits remain ongoing.