On February 26, Trump held the first cabinet meeting of his 2.0 term. Non-cabinet member Musk's team respects federal employees.
was appointed by Trump to attend the meeting.
Musk, wearing a black T-shirt with the words 'Technical Support,' sat behind cabinet members, indicating that he would not participate in power struggles, but only provide 'technical support.'
During this time, Musk's layoffs and budget cuts have conflicted with several departments. High-level Republicans in the U.S. have rarely publicly criticized Musk. On the 25th, Senate Majority Leader Toon urged Musk and his team in the 'Efficiency Department.'
"s team respects federal employees. Toon suggested that Musk hand over the decision to cut federal personnel to cabinet members of President Trump, who are directly responsible for various departments and agencies.
(The Washington Post)
Reports indicate that as tensions rose between Musk and several senior government officials, Trump sided with the billionaire during the first cabinet meeting of his second term, who is attempting to significantly reduce the number of federal government employees.
Trump wants to use this cabinet meeting to support Musk, whom he admires the most and believes has the strongest execution capabilities.
Musk also needs such an occasion to communicate with cabinet members; otherwise, reform will be difficult to promote.
Musk strongly praised Trump and his team, claiming that President Trump has assembled the best cabinet in history, consisting of remarkable individuals, and that he believes there has never been such a talented team.
Musk said: "We simply cannot afford a $2 trillion deficit. Currently, the interest on the national debt exceeds the spending of the Department of Defense. If this situation continues, this country will essentially go bankrupt."
In response to the efficiency department's directive for federal employees to list their work from last week via email, this directive faced opposition from over a dozen federal agencies. Musk called it merely a "situation assessment" that was "misunderstood as a performance evaluation." Musk explained that the DOGE team would use these emails to determine the number of deceased individuals or "phantom employees" among the federally paid employees. He stated he would send another email to federal employees. When people questioned whether Musk had the right to fire those who did not comply with his email directive, Trump tried to quell the controversy, expressing support for the initiative and claiming that "everyone present is very supportive" of it. The president also added: "If anyone does not support it, I hope they will step forward and say so." With Musk being so trusted by the boss, no one dared to oppose him.
Trump called for continued massive layoffs and praised Secretary of State Rubio for his significant cuts. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency immediately announced a 65% reduction in staff.
The meeting also discussed cutting government spending, immigration issues, the economy, and the war in Ukraine.
That evening, the White House sent a document to all federal agencies, requiring them to submit plans for "significant layoffs" by March 13. The White House also asked federal agencies to consider relocating from Washington D.C. and the Washington metropolitan area to lower-cost regions, with proposals due by April 14.
This round of layoffs is a supplement to the layoffs already conducted by the efficiency department, primarily targeting probationary employees. Earlier this month, multiple agencies had already laid off nearly 10,000 federal employees.
In addition, about 75,000 federal employees accepted the White House's proposal to voluntarily leave in the fall.
Trump has embarked on a path of crazy layoffs and spending cuts, with the Trump administration stating it will cancel over 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts, and its headquarters has already been turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
$DOGE
