Tech billionaire Elon Musk and U.S President Donald Trump presented a united front in the Oval Office on Tuesday, just before Trump handed Musk additional power.
Trump signed an executive order directing federal departments to report to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency Service as they reduce the government workforce. According to the order, all recruits must be approved by a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency, and no more than one person will be employed for every four who go.
“By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself,” Trump wrote in the order.
But DOGE and Musk’s actions to curtail government spending, which Congress controls, have already led to several lawsuits and court orders, the end result of which remains unclear.
Musk was dressed in dark colours with a “Make America Great Again” hat on and accompanied by one of his 11 children.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is the richest man in the world with a current net worth of $378.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Musk is serving under Trump as a “special government employee,” a designation that does not require him to make his financial disclosure visible to the public.
DOGE, which aims to cut spending by snuffing out purported waste and bureaucracy, has swept through the government and forced the shutdown of numerous federal contracts and agencies.
Trump said in the Oval Office that if he needs Congress to vote to approve his administration’s efforts to reshape the government, that would be fine with him.
