Republicans in Congress have repeatedly said they’re broadly fans of Elon Musk’s efforts to cut government waste. But the tech billionaire’s latest move to drastically slash the federal workforce in the name of reducing government spending is wearing thin on lawmakers.
“Did not look very well coordinated,” GOP Sen. James Lankford said. “Several agencies immediately stepped out and said, ‘Hey, not not us, not our people.’ And so we’re trying to figure out, where was that, where did that come from and why did that go out that way?”
Sen. Thom Tillis said “the managers of these agencies need to start asking those questions.” But he stressed that he was fine with having non-agency heads press those issues “before you get people confirmed.”
“If I’m a confirmed member of the administration, and somebody else is asking about my staff, then I’d have a problem with that,” Tillis said. “It’s called line of control.”
The email sent on Saturday from the Office of Personnel Management — de facto human resources for federal employees — commanded recipients to respond with a list of five things they accomplished the previous week by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
Musk, who’s amassed massive power in Trump’s second administration despite having not been elected nor worked in government nor confirmed to any appointment, posted on X that workers who did not oblige would soon be looking for work elsewhere.
But multiple agency heads — including fierce Trump loyalists like FBI director Kash Patel — instructed their employees not to engage, citing privacy or other concerns. An email sent later on Monday from OPM told employees to defer to their supervisors, not Musk.
It’s led to a whirlwind of confusion for government employees. And it comes after weeks of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency gutting agencies.
Musk’s initiative has embedded itself in several government agencies, while working to shutter multiple offices. Both the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have been stripped to the frame, with thousands of workers eliminated and others told to remain at home. Other agencies, including the departments of Defense, Energy and Veterans Affairs, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, have experienced layoffs as part of DOGE’s search for savings.
Those efforts have triggered numerous lawsuits, however, both for accessing the personal data of U.S. citizens and for terminating a mass of government employees. Those efforts to push back are certain to continue.
DOGE has made a substantial impact on the workforce, and many Republicans have lauded the work. Sen. Bernie Moreno, for one, insisted that federal workers “are cheering it on, honestly” and that “the people who are being identified are people who aren’t doing a good job” or “didn’t have much of a meaningful impact.”
Sen. Josh Hawley said his guess on the OPM strategy is that Trump is “maybe trying to push his cabinet secretaries a little bit.”
“Because Musk is kind of stirring things up,” Hawley added. “And some of them are like, ‘OK … we don’t want him to do our own personnel, so we’ll do it.’”
Still, some Republicans stressed the need for a level of decorum with workers — including Senate GOP Leader John Thune.
“All employees need to be treated in a respectful and dignified way,” Thune told reporters on Monday. “I think they are trying as best they can to figure out how to proceed, how to find ways to achieve savings in government, find efficiencies and make government cost less and hopefully be more effective and efficient.”
Thune added that he sees the OPM push as an effort to “create at least some transparency and accountability with respect to the federal workforce,” while acknowledging that “DOGE is using some different tactics in doing that.”
Senators aren’t the only members acknowledging DOGE’s “act now, think later” approach has its limitations. While Musk is a fan favorite of House Republicans, some can’t help but admit the road has been rough.
“There’s some bumps along the way, but I think most people think government needs to be shaken up,” Rep. Tom Cole told NOTUS. But, Cole pointed out, Trump’s penchant for picking up the phone and listening when lawmakers have an issue is something that, in this instance, could help resolve some of the headaches. For instance: federal workers being mistakenly fired, then rehired.
“We’ve found that when you bring things to the administration’s attention, quite often you get a favorable response,” Cole said. “That would be one of those areas.”
All the carnage caused by the email is a bit of an overreaction, according to Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Cassidy, a Republican who voted to convict Trump in the president’s second impeachment trial, said he doesn’t think Musk’s threat “has to be taken ominously, because it can be so easily managed.”
But when asked by a reporter about whether it’d be alarming for workers in that situation, Cassidy replied, “I suppose.”
“There’s a wonderful scripture,” Cassidy added while climbing into his car after Monday night votes: “‘Let the day’s own troubles be sufficient for the day.’ Write down five things you’ve done, send it off and you’re good. Assume what your direct supervisor said. Don’t worry about it.”
A staffer interjected that the senator needed to be on his way, and the car door closed.
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Ursula Perano is a reporter at NOTUS. Ben T.N. Mause is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.