Elon Musk and other members of DOGE emphasized Thursday that the cuts they’ve made to the federal government have actually been quite normal and a product of common-sense policies.
Amid unprecedented cuts to employees, grants, contracts and offices across federal government agencies, Musk and seven DOGE employees made the case to Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday that their intrusion into almost every part of the executive branch has simply paralleled procedures happening in other sectors around the country.
“We’re talking about elementary financial controls that are necessary for any company to function,” Musk said in an interview on Baier’s show, “Special Report.”
The DOGE leaders suggested several times that their cuts to the federal government were inspired by routine practices that happen in households, corporations, retail stores, tech support and other everyday staples of society.
There was a reference to the sleek shopping experience that Apple provides: “We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store-like experience — beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems,” said Joe Gebbia, the head of DOGE’s effort to digitize federal government retirement documents.
And Tom Krause, Musk’s choice to lead DOGE efforts at the Treasury Department, said DOGE is just doing what families and business executives do.
“What we’re doing is we’re applying public company standards to the federal government,” Krause said. “What we’re doing is what any household would do.”
At the end of the day, Musk said, DOGE’s job boils down to “fixing the computers.”
The team that was assembled for the Fox News appearance was all men; missing was Amy Gleason, the administrator who the White House said last month was leading DOGE. Gleason, who was not mentioned in relation to DOGE leadership before the White House announcement and has rarely been brought up since, wasn’t mentioned during the interview.
DOGE’s cuts have swept through federal agencies in recent weeks, and many of the reductions have been aimed at pushing forward President Donald Trump’s agenda. The cuts have included on-the-spot firings of full-time Health and Human Services employees, closures of crucial safety offices and terminations of funding for ongoing COVID-19 relief projects.
As lawmakers, federal employees and advocates have expressed alarm about what the cuts could mean for vulnerable populations and key research, Musk and the other DOGE heads said Thursday that concern isn’t warranted.
“Almost no one has gotten fired,” Musk said.
Anthony Armstrong, who leads DOGE’s presence at the Office of Personnel Management — the entity leading reductions in workforce and other personnel changes as part of DOGE’s cuts — said that less than 1% of federal employees have been fired under DOGE directives.
“There’s a very heavy focus on being generous, being caring, being compassionate and treating everyone with dignity and respect. And if you look at how people have started to leave the government, it is largely through voluntary means,” Armstrong said.
More than 100,000 federal workers have been fired so far, according to a CNN tracker. At some agencies, like the Education Department, more than half the employees have been fired. Last month, Musk threatened to fire federal workers who didn’t follow guidance — created by DOGE and enforced by the Office of Personnel Management — to send a weekly email listing five things they accomplished at work.
Musk admitted in the interview that DOGE’s descent on agencies was a little bit unorthodox.
“This is a revolution, and I think it might be the biggest revolution in government since the original revolution,” Musk told Baier.
But he was quick to dispute that taking an axe to federal funding through the executive branch is unconstitutional. Multiple lawsuits allege that Musk and DOGE have violated Congress’ power of the purse in making funding cuts, and one federal judge ruled last week that DOGE’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development was unconstitutional.
“It’s not contrary to Congress to avoid waste and fraud, it is consistent with the law and consistent with Congress,” Musk said, adding that DOGE is “trying to keep Congress as informed as possible” about its work in the executive branch.
He also went out of his way to praise Trump.
“I’ve yet to see him do anything mean or anything that is wrong,” Musk said of Trump in a one-on-one segment with Baier. Earlier on the show, Musk said the “success of DOGE is only possible with President Trump and with the outstanding cabinet that he selected.”
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Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.