Trump Orders Massive Federal Workforce Reduction, Empowers Elon Musk’s DOGE Panel
Washington, D.C. – In a sweeping executive order, President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to slash their existing workforce in collaboration with Elon Musk’s Deficit Reduction Oversight Group (DOGE). This move effectively grants the billionaire-led panel even greater influence than it has wielded during the first three weeks of Trump’s presidency.
According to the Washington Post, a DOGE liaison will be installed within each agency. These liaisons will have the sole authority to approve any and all future hires.
Furthermore, agency heads are instructed to replace no more than one departing employee for every four who leave upon the expiration of the hiring freeze. Exempt from this directive are positions "related to national security, immigration enforcement, or criminal law enforcement." Agency chiefs are also directed to "take immediate steps to prepare for substantial reductions in force, consistent with applicable law."
Trump’s executive order follows a 30-minute presentation by Musk in the Oval Office, where he defended his controversial plan to scour U.S. government agencies. Standing alongside Trump, Musk asserted that his panel’s operations are transparent and accountable.
"All of our activities are posted on the X platform and on the DOGE webpage, which are part of the Musk empire," Musk said. "Every action we take is completely transparent." He added that he consults with Trump on a daily basis, and that all actions are taken at the president’s behest.
To date, DOGE has provided no information about who it employs, where it operates, or what actions it takes within government agencies. It has released limited findings, disclosing only dollar figures for alleged cost savings within specific agencies, with scant details.
The Musk-led panel was tasked by the Trump administration to uncover waste and corruption within U.S. agencies. It has no statutory authorization from Congress. According to Trump, the effort has already identified billions of dollars in wasteful spending and corruption. He claimed that too many government workers are overpaid at the expense of taxpayers.
Musk alleged that officials within the now-defunct U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had received bribes. "You had people" in the bureaucracy who managed to "accumulate tens of millions of dollars of net worth while they were in that position," he said. He later made the bizarre claim that some welfare recipients are 150 years old.
The measures are projected to cut government spending by one trillion U.S. dollars, approximately 15% of total U.S. federal spending. Neither Trump nor Musk provided evidence to support these claims.
A wave of lawsuits from state attorneys general and labor unions has challenged DOGE’s actions. Early court rulings have partially blocked aspects of the purge, with preliminary injunctions. Trump’s appeal of one such ruling was denied Tuesday by a Boston appeals court, ordering the administration to release all frozen expenditures while the case is being decided.
Musk promptly took to his X platform to lash out at the judge responsible for the ruling. "We should at least try and fire this lame judge. The idea that a lifetime appointment as a judge creates a class of people who can never be fired regardless of how badly they do their job is ridiculous!" Musk wrote. He also propagated claims that the country was being destroyed by a "judicial coup."
Musk’s actions have already resulted in the partial shutdown of USAID, which is set to be dramatically reduced in size and is now being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has also organized a mass buyout program, offering voluntary buyouts to government workers in exchange for severance packages.
Critics fear that Trump’s actions are a means to purge government employees at all levels who are not loyal to him, replacing them with loyalists. In this way, the president would regain control over the bureaucracy. Supporters, including Musk, defend the strategy, arguing that the majority of U.S. voters elected him to aggressively shake up the bureaucracy, among other changes.
