President Donald Trump is directing his Cabinet secretaries to be “very precise” as they cut agency staffing in coordination with Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE team.
Trump said that his agency bosses will make cuts with a “‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet’” and will be “very precise as to who will remain, and who will go” as they learn about the people working in their departments.
The president’s comments on the platform Truth Social came Thursday after he met with most of his Cabinet secretaries and with Musk.
In that meeting, Trump told his team that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to make unilateral decisions on staffing and policy, POLITICO reported Thursday, citing two administration officials.
The move follows a federal court ruling last week that the Office of Personnel Management broke the law when it ordered other agencies to terminate thousands of “probationary” employees.
OPM issued an updated guidance memo stating that agencies “have ultimate decisionmaking authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions.”
Trump referred to the meeting as “very positive” and said the “relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary.”
“It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people,” Trump said, adding that he plans to host those meetings every two weeks “until that aspect of this very necessary job is done.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced the launch of a governmentwide investigation into the Musk-led DOGE operations across the government.
In a series of letters sent to agency leaders across the government, Connolly is requesting documents and communications pertaining to DOGE’s work.
Among the records Connolly is requesting from agencies is a “full and complete list and detailed description of any personnel actions taken or recommended by Elon Musk, DOGE, DOGE staff, DOGE Team members, or individuals working on DOGE-related activities.”
Connolly asked for responses by March 14.
“The actions of employees operating under the ‘DOGE’ moniker have thus far been shielded from transparency and accountability, but this cannot continue,” Connolly wrote. “The American public has a right to know how Musk’s DOGE teams are operating and how the actions of DOGE employees undermine lifesaving services, expose sensitive taxpayer data, and contribute to other unlawful activity.”
Reporter Hannah Northey contributed.
