Elon Musk stood alongside Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the president signed a sweeping executive order aimed at slashing the federal workforce.
The move, which empowers Musk’s advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has ignited a heated debate over transparency and control in Washington.
Under the new order, federal agencies must collaborate with DOGE, with some potentially facing elimination or consolidation if their functions are deemed legally unnecessary.
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The order also imposes strict hiring restrictions, mandating that agencies hire just one new employee for every four who leave, with limited exceptions for immigration, law enforcement, and public safety.
Musk Pushes Back on ‘Hostile Takeover’ Claims
As he carried his four-year-old son, X Æ A-12, on his shoulders, Musk was asked whether he was staging a “hostile takeover” of the U.S. government through non-transparent means. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO dismissed the concerns, framing his involvement as a democratic mandate for reform.
“The public voted for major government reform… and they’re going to get what they voted for. And that’s what democracy is all about,” Musk stated.
He went on to criticize what he called an “unelected, unconstitutional fourth branch of government”—the federal bureaucracy—which, he argued, holds more power than elected officials.
When pressed on whether his own role lacked oversight, Musk insisted that DOGE is committed to transparency.
“We are trying to be as transparent as possible… I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent,” he said, adding that he expects “nonstop scrutiny”, comparing it to “a daily proctologist exam.”
Trump and Musk Align Against Judicial Challenges
As Musk fielded questions, his son stood beside Trump, at times holding onto the Resolute Desk. The president took a moment to acknowledge the child, saying, “X, are you okay? This is X, and he is a great guy. High IQ. A high IQ individual.”
Earlier in the day, Musk sparked controversy with a post on X, formerly Twitter, criticizing judges who have blocked Trump’s executive actions, accusing them of leading a “judicial coup.”
Trump echoed this frustration in the Oval Office, stating, “We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, ‘We don’t want you to do that.’”
The president also doubled down on his controversial pledge to ‘take Gaza’ and relocate its residents to Jordan and Egypt, a plan firmly rejected by King Abdullah of Jordan.
With Musk’s growing influence in Trump’s administration, critics continue to question how much power an unelected billionaire should wield in shaping the U.S. government.
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