Trump tells Cabinet they are in charge of layoffs, not Musk

What happened

President Donald Trump said he told his Cabinet secretaries Thursday that they were in charge of staffing decisions and policies at their agencies, not Elon Musk and his DOGE team. Trump's comments, after a closed-door Cabinet meeting that Musk attended, followed mounting "complaints about DOGE's blunt-force approach from agency heads" and "frustrated Republican members of Congress all over the country, some of whom have faced anger from constituents at home," Reuters said.

Who said what

Trump's message marked his "first significant move to narrow Musk's mandate," publicly relegating the world's richest person and his DOGE staff to an "advisory role," Politico said. But the message was mixed. Cabinet secretaries should "go first, keep all the people you want, everybody that you need," Trump told reporters, recounting his guidance. But "we're gonna be watching them. And Elon and the group are gonna be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting."

Musk has "wielded unprecedented authority in implementing mass firings, canceling billions of dollars in contracts and programs and gaining access to sensitive computer systems," Reuters said. But "initial court rulings have undercut Musk and the president's ability to direct firings," The Washington Post said, and Trump's new messaging "signals a tactical shift, as his administration seeks to guard against possible legal challenges in its next round of federal workforce cuts."

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DOGE has already cut more than 100,000 federal workers, though "scores" are "being recalled back to work across the federal agencies" after their firings were deemed counterproductive or dangerous, The Associated Press said.

What next?

Trump said on social media it was "important to keep the best and most productive people" in government, and jobs should be cut with a "scalpel" rather than a "hatchet." Meanwhile, the administration is reportedly preparing to cut roughly 80,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs and 45,000 from the IRS — half its workforce — and to close at least a dozen consulates abroad, possibly more. Newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon is also widely expected to dismantle her department on Trump's orders.