Elon Musk appeared with President Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday. He described the Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a long-needed effort of “rightsizing” the government.
The SpaceX and Tesla billionaire brought his son “X” with him. He wore a black coat and “Make America Great Again” hat.
Musk is in charge of the massive government audit, as the newly appointed head of the Department of DOGE. He addressed reporters for the first time amid his aggressive cost-cutting efforts across the federal government.
On the same day, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to coordinate with DOGE to “shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions,” according to a White House fact sheet.
He stated that his team is reviewing federal employees who appear to have high net worths despite low salaries, claiming—without providing evidence—that some may be “getting wealthier at the taxpayer expense.”
“There needs to be a lot of people working for the federal government, but not as many as currently,” Musk added.
Rightsizing Begins on DOGE Website
DOGE’s official government website was updated on Wednesday to include a feed of posts from X, sections displaying publicly available data on the government workforce, and a message promising an update on “savings” by Valentine’s Day, which falls on Friday.
