Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor pushing for a radical downsizing of the U.S. government, attended President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday. His controversial directive demanding federal employees justify their jobs or face termination has ignited turmoil, prompting mass resignations and internal clashes within the administration.
Despite the ongoing controversy over President Trump’s intentions to lay off federal employees, billionaire adviser Elon Musk will be present at Wednesday’s first cabinet meeting. Reuters reports that Musk is responsible for drastically cutting the size of the United States government.
This meeting is the latest development in a power struggle that has broken out between Musk, Trump, and US government officials.
Even though he isn’t officially a cabinet officer, Trump’s inner circle has seen no one with more sway than Musk in the first few weeks in office.
administration departments were divided over whether or not to comply with Musk’s email demand that all federal personnel describe their successes or risk job loss. This division caused pandemonium within the administration.
Trump and his associates continued to imply that employees would be better off if they followed Musk’s requests, even though the United States Office of Personnel Management informed them they were not required to respond to Musk’s email.
Musk threatened government employees with termination if they did not provide a weekly activity report by Saturday, giving them 48 hours to reply via email.
Musk persisted on Tuesday in using social media to encourage employees to reply. Trump appears to have supported him in this attempt, telling reporters on Tuesday that the email request was “somewhat voluntary, but it’s also if you don’t answer, I guess you get fired.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump would follow the advice of cabinet secretaries on their own workforces when asked whether Musk’s threat would be implemented.
Kelly Loeffler, chief of the Small Business Administration, was one of several cabinet secretaries who supported Musk’s proposal.
Our only concern is whether or not someone is actually carrying out their duties. Again, the standard is so ridiculously low, Loeffler said in a Tuesday interview with Fox News.
On the other hand, several bosses—including Trump supporters like the new head of the FBI, Kash Patel—told their staff not to respond just yet.
On Tuesday, while the back-and-forth continued, twenty-one employees of what Musk claimed was the Department of Government Efficiency resigned.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the employees stated in an online resignation card.
More than 20,000 employees have been let go as a result of Musk’s downsizing initiative, with an additional 75,000 accepting buyouts. On Tuesday, the pace of layoffs picked up even more. Roughly 2.3 million people work for the federal government as civilians.
Most those let go had been with the company for less than a year, which allowed for easier layoffs in accordance with civil service regulations. Still, DOGE seemed to be shifting its focus to long-term career employees.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, the IRS is planning to lay off even more employees, adding to the approximately 12,000 workers who are already facing terminations (including 5,000 workers who are getting a buyout and 7,000 probationary workers). So far, almost 10% of the service’s workers has been laid off.
Reuters was informed by an Interior source that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were ordered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prepare for staff reductions of 10% to 40% on Tuesday.
Much of Tuesday was devoted to Musk’s criticism of the federal courts who have ordered the release of frozen foreign-aid funds and blocked his team’s access to sensitive systems and data at the Departments of the Treasury, Education, and Personnel Management.
“The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges,” Musk said on X. “No one is above the law, including judges.”
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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