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Over the first month of Donald Trump’s second term, there was no real question as to who was leading the quasi-governmental Department of Government Efficiency. The president had tapped Elon Musk, his top campaign donor, to oversee the DOGE operation, and the billionaire had sparked widespread political and legal controversies with his efforts.
In mid-February, however, the White House claimed in a court filing that Musk wasn’t actually leading the DOGE initiative. Rather, according to the filing, the Republican megadonor was simply a presidential advisor, with no real authority whatsoever.
In the days and weeks that followed, the president and his administration took a variety of steps that appeared to wildly contradict the claim they presented to a federal judge. Indeed, as recently as a few days ago, Trump touted Musk during a national address, telling Congress and the nation that DOGE is “headed by” the billionaire — a fact, the president added, that “everybody” appreciates. (Not surprisingly, the president’s rhetoric led to a new court filing.)
While questions about the nature of Musk’s job will likely continue, there are also new questions about the scope of his remit. Indeed, as NBC News reported, Trump’s most generous campaign contributor suddenly appears to have a bit less power than he did when the week began.
President Donald Trump said he told his Cabinet secretaries during a meeting Thursday that staffing decisions will be left up to them, not Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Trump said he instructed Cabinet members to work alongside DOGE on spending and workforce reductions while clarifying that final job cuts will be at the discretion of the department leaders.
Whether there was an actual, formal White House Cabinet meeting is unclear. No such meeting was on the official schedule, and no photographs or video footage of a gathering in the West Wing’s Cabinet room have emerged. It’s likely, in other words, that the president had a more informal conversation with his megadonor and Cabinet secretaries.
Regardless, amid a public backlash, Democratic pushback and even some Republican consternation, there’s reason to believe Trump just took his first step to clip Musk’s wings. As The New York Times summarized, “President Trump said on Thursday that the next phase of his plan to cut the federal work force would be conducted with a ‘scalpel’ rather than a ‘hatchet’ in what appeared to be a step aimed at restraining Elon Musk.”
As part of the revised process, Cabinet secretaries — many of whom have reportedly been in the dark about Musk’s antics — have reportedly been told they will be responsible for making cuts, not DOGE and its representatives.
Seemingly aware of the controversies surrounding mass DOGE firings, Trump told reporters, “I want the Cabinet members to keep good people. ... I don’t want to see a big cut where good people are cut.” He added that his directive to secretaries was: “Keep all the people you want, all the people that you need.”
There was, however, a catch.
“If they don’t cut,” the president said, “then Elon will do the cutting.”
That’s notable because, according to White House lawyers, Musk doesn’t have the legal authority to do any cutting, and because it is a reminder that while Trump appeared to curb Musk’s powers for the first time, the effort was modest, not sweeping.
It was a notable step, but it was also a relatively small step.