Trump holds meeting to define Musk’s job

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of pushback regarding the actual role and powers of Elon Musk.

I have reported my recommendations repeatedly, and I am going to take a bow because Trump more or less just told his cabinet what I have been saying since the outset.

Musk Hits the Ground Running

So, we all know that Musk got DOGE started very aggressively.

There were two things that Musk did right out of the gate to set the tone for what DOGE was going to be about.

First, there was the letter that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent out to government employees asking them to outline their achievements for the week. Musk mischaracterized the letter, saying that their refusal to answer would be considered a resignation, when the actual letter did not reflect that.

Second was the USAID alleged fraud and waste, with Musk announcing a bunch of cuts. Musk kept going, and I kept calling him out.

Stepping on Toes

In several reports, I had addressed that I thought Musk was stepping on toes and Trump needed to get control of this quickly before the media ran with it.

My opinion was that Musk needed to offer recommendations, nothing more, and that he should not be firing employees based on a response to an email.

The fact of the matter is that Trump has everyone he wanted in place, which means they should be evaluating talent, positions, and programs, then make the final call on cuts.

Musk’s job, in my opinion, was to look over line items and efficiency, highlight these items, then bring his concerns to the respective secretaries and directors for action. But that action should be their call, else why even have them in place.

Reining in Musk

This week, Trump held a brief cabinet meeting to outline Musk’s duties once and for all, something that should have taken place from Day One.

Trump was very clear, stating, “Now that we have my cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing. As the Secretaries learn about and understand the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain and who will go.”

Trump added, “As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet.’ The combination of them, Elon, DOGE and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.”

That is exactly what needed to be said to put this idea that Musk is making final decisions to rest. As I stated before, I don’t really blame Musk because he is not someone who is used to answering to anyone. This just needed to be made clear to him that he was overstepping his bounds. Musk can take the slap on the wrist, and I am just glad that Trump gave it to him before bad feelings developed among the cabinet against him. I expect this will put the issue to rest.