Members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are getting ready to take on a bigger role in limiting the influence of Department of Government Efficiency employees on the federal government once Elon Musk steps back, news agency Reuters reported.
DOGE was formed when Trump became president and has been led by Musk. The department’s primary mission was to reduce government expenditures by limiting the number of employees, cancelling contracts, and reducing services.
The plan reduced the deficit but also made DOGE unpopular amongst most veteran government workers.
Musk also announced he will soon be limiting his work with the government to one or two days a week so that he can give some time to his company, Tesla. His part-time government assignment is also coming to an end at the end of May.
Musk’s presence in Washington provided Trump’s administration with a public figure to represent cost-cutting initiatives. But now that Musk has recused himself, cabinet secretaries should regain authority over budget making, firing, and hiring, all areas where they felt DOGE encroached too much.
“Cabinet secretaries have consistently pushed for greater control over budgetary decisions,” quoting a source, Reuters reported.
“Without Musk’s high-profile presence, their efforts to implement targeted spending cuts are likely to move forward with fewer obstacles.”
POWER STRUGGLES AND STAFF CHANGES INSIDE DOGE
Tensions within the Trump government had been brewing for months. During a March cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confronted Musk, accusing him of meddling with USAID. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also questioned the safety implications of proposed layoffs of air traffic controllers.
With Musk leaving, these internal conflicts are likely to ease up, and the cabinet will now be given more autonomy to make decisions without requiring Musk’s go-ahead.
This shift will also impact DOGE’s young engineers that Musk has recruited to perform work there. These engineers, who were short on experience when it came to government, would now have their jobs diminished and their choices questioned more closely.
Despite these shifts, the White House says the direction of DOGE will not change.
“The way DOGE has been designed is that the Cabinet already has that autonomy over spending cuts. DOGE has just been an element of the agency,” said White House spokesman Harrison Fields. “There will be no changes. DOGE is running effortlessly. In a way it’s almost on cruise control.”
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