Federal employees are coming to grips with a Trump 2.0 reality: Elon Musk is now a part of their lives.
In the weeks since President-elect Donald Trump named Musk the head of a government-chopping initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy have plastered the internet with plans to downsize agencies and disrupt bureaucratic business as usual.
This week’s Musk-fueled revolt over a federal spending bill — and the ensuing threat of a government shutdown — signaled that his sway isn’t limited to social media tirades. And while the scope of the effort still isn’t clear, federal workers soon to be in DOGE’s crosshairs are already paying close attention to Musk’s public pronouncements.
“I think we all are very cognizant of the fact that he’s going to be involved in our future,” an Interior Department career official said of Musk. Federal employees quoted in this story were granted anonymity to protect them from reprisal.
