Trump signs order forcing agencies to work with DOGE
Billionaire Elon Musk joined President Donald Trump in the oval office Tuesday as the president signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to work with Muskโs Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
The order will require federal agencies to work with DOGE to significantly reduce their labor force.
A White House fact sheet, first reported by Semafor, says the order requires agencies hire โno more than one employee for every four employeesโ that are fired, with some exceptions, including for public safety and law enforcement.
DOGE and Musk have dominated the news cycle since Trump took office by exposing an onslaught of controversial federal spending, most notably as USAID, an agency that has been all but destroyed since Trump took office.
While with his young son Lil X, Musk spoke to reporters about DOGEโs efforts to instill what he calls โcommon sense controlsโ on federal spending.
“If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives, by the form of the President, the Senate, and the House, then we donโt live in a democracy,โ Musk said. โWe live in a bureaucracy.”
The national debt is on track to hit $37 trillion this year, and interest payments on the debt are now one of the largest federal expenses.
Trump touted the cuts to corruption and โkickbacksโ in the government when speaking to reporters.
โThe public gets it,โ Trump said.
Musk responded to criticisms that the agency cuts are a โhostile takeover.โ
โThe people voted for major government reform and thatโs what the people are going to get,โ Musk said. โThatโs what democracy is all about.โ