Elon Musk defends DOGE effort from Oval Office

What happened

Elon Musk Tuesday answered questions for the first time since his "Department of Government Efficiency" burrowed into more than a dozen federal agencies, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he viewed his team of government-cutting operatives as "maximally transparent." President Donald Trump, who mostly watched as Musk defended his operation for about 30 minutes, signed an executive order giving DOGE even more power to shape the federal workforce, including approval over almost all new hires.

Who said what

Musk called his team's work "not draconian or radical" and said he checked in with Trump almost every day and before making big changes. He criticized the federal workforce as an "unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government" that was thwarting the "will of the people," and he insisted DOGE was transparent because he and his team post on X — though he acknowledged that "some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected."

DOGE has "provided no information on whom it employs, where it is operating or what actions it is taking inside government agencies," Reuters said. "It posts few actual results from its work, providing only dollar figures for purported cuts in specific agencies and little specific detail." Musk's team is "operating in deep secrecy," The New York Times said, and Musk, a "special government employee" not required to disclose financial interests, "serves as an unelected appointee with vast reach across the government." Federal judges have paused many DOGE initiatives, saying they likely violated the law or the Constitution.

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What next?

Trump's new executive order directed federal agencies to prepare for "large-scale" job cuts and hire one person for every four who leave, with exceptions for personnel "related to public safety, immigration enforcement or law enforcement." The "bulk of the federal workforce" is tied to "security-related agencies," Reuters said, though "hundreds of thousands" work across the country "overseeing veterans' healthcare, inspecting agriculture and paying the government's bills, among other jobs." Successfully "eliminating 25% of federal employees would cut the overall budget by about 1%," The Washington Post said.