We might just have seen a glimpse where Elon Musk's power in government reaches its limits, as US President Donald Trump outlines his desired process going forward when it comes to federal job cuts.
Elon Musk's big reward for supporting Donald Trump throughout his campaign trail was a new job as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as 'DOGE' for short.
This new private advisory board is tasked with cutting up to $2,000,000,000,000 from the federal budget, alongside shrinking bureaucracy as a whole through federal employment and department reductions.
With this power, Musk and his team have enacted widespread job cuts across most areas of government, starting with an email that threatened the roles of 100,000 employees, alongside major job losses in key departments like Education, Labor, and more.
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Some agencies have seen their employee numbers reduced to just one - which is the legal minimum - while other have seen efforts 'restored' and mass rehires enacted after many employees were laid off 'accidentally' by DOGE workers that did not understand their importance.
Following a cabinet meeting led by President Trump, we now might finally have an insight into the limits of the power that Elon Musk holds as head of DOGE.
As reported by the Metro, Trump has asked his cabinet members to 'go first' and find positions they think should be cut themselves, while 'keeping the good people' at the same time - ideally to avoid making the same mistakes that have embarrassed DOGE so far.
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"We're going to be watching them, and Elon and the group, we're going to be watching them," Trump illustrated, adding that "if they can, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting."
This seemingly puts Musk and DOGE a level underneath the cabinet members, ensuring that they get a chance to make their own decisions before Elon's team comes in to clean up afterwards.
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Trump also outlined in a post on Truth Social that he's opting for the "'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet'" when it comes to cuts, and that "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."
Some have inferred this to be Trump putting Musk on a bit of a leash, indicating that he has been too reckless with his cutting actions, although the president also indicated that "DOGE has been an incredible success" so far.
Musk also echoed Trump's statement, adding alongside a screenshot of the Truth Social post that it was a "very productive meeting."