President Donald Trump is limiting the power of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency after hosting a meeting Thursday with cabinet secretaries.
Trump shared an update about the cabinet meeting on Truth Social and explained his belief that cabinet secretaries and DOGE should be more precise in who they fire from government positions.
“DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing. As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go,” Trump said.
Trump suggested that the cabinet officials will take a “scalpel” approach to their agencies rather than the “hatchet” approach Musk has been employing with DOGE. Trump’s message indicates that cabinet heads will have the final say on staffing decisions, rather than DOGE employees.
“We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people,” Trump added.
Reacting on X, Musk said the meeting was “very productive” and shared Trump’s post. Politico first reported on the details of the meeting, citing two administration officials. At the meeting, Musk acknowledged that DOGE made some missteps early on and was on board with Trump’s orders, the outlet reported.
Musk’s DOGE has faced strong criticism from Democratic lawmakers for enacting layoffs across the federal workforce. Some congressional Republicans have also urged Musk to take a more measured approach to layoffs to prevent overreach and the loss of competent people inside government. Hoping to capitalize on the chaos, left-wing activist groups have hounded GOP lawmakers about DOGE at town halls and have drawn considerable media coverage in the process.
In several instances, DOGE has fired government employees only to ask them to return days later. At the Department of Energy, DOGE fired and then attempted to rehire hundreds of workers responsible for maintaining America’s nuclear weapons programs, including some employees who manage the nuclear weapons stockpile.
In a similar fashion, the Trump administration reversed its cuts to funding and staff for a health program for 9/11 survivors after bipartisan pushback. DOGE also scrambled to rehire workers it fired at the Department of Agriculture who are involved with managing the federal government’s ongoing response to the bird flu epidemic, an outbreak contributing to rising egg prices for American consumers.
Musk created widespread confusion in late February when he ordered federal employees to respond to an email listing five things they accomplished this week or face termination. Trump appointees including FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard initially told employees not to respond to Musk’s directive until further notice.
Musk later walked back his threat of termination and said his objective was to expose federal employees who are slacking off. The Trump administration said last week that over a million federal workers responded to Musk’s email, slightly less than half of the government’s total workforce. Musk’s email followed encouragement from Trump to get “more aggressive” with DOGE’s effort to rein in the federal bureaucracy.
Beyond that, DOGE’s website listing federal savings from its work has been riddled with errors and contracts that will not produce any savings. DOGE’s calculation of $55 billion worth of savings appears to be a dramatic overestimate, with actual savings adding up to roughly $7 billion, a far cry from Musk’s $2 trillion goal.
Despite the hiccups, Trump has spoken highly of Musk’s work at DOGE and dismissed attempts from the media to divide them. Trump recently praised DOGE’s team of engineers for playing an important role in making sure all of his executive orders are implemented. The president’s cabinet picks and congressional Republican have also expressed enthusiasm about working with DOGE on budget cuts and improving government efficiency.
President Trump’s Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget said in a memo to cabinet secretaries last week that they should work with DOGE on implementing sweeping layoffs and agency restructuring plans. Musk has already overseen the Trump administration’s buyout offer to federal employees, an offer approximately 75,000 workers have taken so far.
DOGE’s biggest task to date has been dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development with drastic budget cuts and workforce reduction. The Trump administration is targeting USAID because of its extensive history of waste and spending on leftist causes worldwide. Supporters of Trump’s plans for USAID have argued that the agency’s remaining healthcare and humanitarian aid programs can be folded into the State Department’s umbrella.