LIVE | Trump’s record-breaking flurry of executive orders

Donald trump

The newly launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and backed by President Donald Trump — is shaking up Washington.

With a mission to slash federal spending, Musk and his team are enforcing aggressive cost-cutting measures, including workforce reductions and agency downsizing.

As legal battles mount and critics question the transparency of DOGE’s operations, African Insider will keep you updated on how this initiative unfolds and what it means for the future of US governance.

Stay tuned for the latest developments.

Since returning to the White House on January 20, Donald Trump has signed a whopping 79 executive orders touching on issues from foreign policy to transgender rights.

With his Republican Party only holding narrow majorities in Congress, and seeking to move quickly to remake the US government, Trump has brandished his pen as a weapon targeting trade, civil rights and federal bureaucracy.

No US president has signed so many executive actions so quickly since 1937, according to the Federal Register, which has published the orders made since that date.

Trump has met fierce resistance. By February 27, 16 of the orders had been challenged in court, according to monitoring by Just Security at the New York University School of Law.

Here is a look at the main issues targeted by the 47th president of the United States.

Economy and trade 

Customs duties, support for fossil fuels, creation of a sovereign fund: the economy is one of Trump’s biggest priorities, with 27 related orders so far, according to an AFP count.

Twelve concern trade and customs duties, such as threats of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 10 percent levies — for now — on Chinese goods.

He also ordered a “national energy emergency” among other moves to keep his campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.

The billionaire, who says the green energy transition is a “scam”, has also signed orders against electric cars, wind projects, and dumping paper straws in favour of plastic.

Diversity and gender 

No less than 14 orders concern diversity and gender, casualties of Trump’s crusade against transgender people and his crackdown on programmes targeting racism, sexism and inequality in the workplace.

Among the measures adopted: the recognition of only male and female genders, the exclusion of transgender people from the military and restrictions on gender transition procedures for under 19s. These orders are all being challenged in court.

Other orders ban government agencies and the army from all positive discrimination based on race or gender when hiring.

Immigration 

Another priority, immigration, is covered by 15 orders.

One signed in January put a halt to refugee admissions, calling them “detrimental to the interests of the United States”.

The administration then froze funding for organisations in the refugee program. A US court has since blocked the order.

Trump also signed an order seeking to reinterpret the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which decrees anyone born on US soil is a citizen.

That has ignited a legal battle which could go all the way to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

In his 77th order signed Saturday, Trump made English the official language of the United States.

DOGE

Six of Trump’s executive orders have given authority to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Elon Musk, his cost-cutter-in-chief.

One of the latest orders calls for the “deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state.”

Health 

A total of 13 orders concern health.

One of Trump’s first moves after taking office was to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization and rescind orders issued under his predecessor Joe Biden that protected access to abortion pills and abortion data privacy.

He also signed orders reinstating members of the armed forces who had been fired for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and banned all federal subsidies for schools imposing Covid jabs.

Technology 

Trump has signed 10 decrees on technology, including two on cryptocurrencies and three on artificial intelligence.

He has been closely advised by Musk, the boss of SpaceX and Tesla, whose companies hold government contracts worth billions, despite concerns about conflicts of interest. AFP

A second email asking US federal workers to justify their jobs was sent on Friday, as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to slash spending, media outlets reported.

It came a week after Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by Trump to downsize the government, engineered a first mass email to the federal government’s two million employees, ordering them to justify their work or risk being fired.

The message, sent from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the government’s HR department, had created confusion among an already anxious workforce, as multiple federal agencies told staff to ignore it.

Friday’s email once again asked staff to respond with around five bullet points describing what they accomplished in the past week and added that it would become a weekly task.

The second round of emails started going out late Friday, The New York Times, NPR and CBS News reported, stating that they had seen copies of the second message.

The email had the subject line, “What did you do last week? Part II” and went out to workers at various agencies, including the FBI, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

Musk, whom Trump put in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory body, tasking him with slashing public spending and tackling alleged waste and corruption, has not commented on X about the new emails.

Unlike with the first email, the second message also asked workers to send their list of accomplishments by the end of Monday on a weekly basis going forward.

It also said workers whose activities are classified or sensitive could simply respond with “All of my activities are sensitive.”

CBS reported that this time the OPM had tasked individual agencies to send the email themselves, adding that each department could decide whether to do so.

Musk had previously said the original email “was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.”

Trump in a message on his social media platform Truth Social had praised Musk for “doing a great job”, but said “I would like to see him get more aggressive.” – AFP

Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump to downsize the US government, suggested Thursday that members of Congress should get salary increases as a way to discourage corruption.

Although the tech billionaire is officially only an advisor, Trump has bestowed him with enormous power to cut federal spending and bureaucracy, as part of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“It might make sense to increase compensation for Congress and senior government employees to reduce the forcing function for corruption, as the latter might be as much as 1,000 times more expensive to the public,” Musk posted on his social media platform X.

Lawmakers in both parties are typically wary of the optics of large pay rises but acknowledge that competitive salaries are the best way of ensuring that the less well-off can serve.

The first draft of a short-term government funding bill that Musk helped defeat in December would have allowed for a modest salary increase by reenacting an automatic cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers.

Congress has been blocking the adjustments every year since 2009.

Musk argued against the provision, claiming falsely that it would mean a lavish 40 percent rise, and it was removed from the package.

The real increase for members of both chambers would have been about $6,600 per year, or 3.8 percent.

Their $174,000 annual salary has been frozen for 15 years but is still far more than the average household income.

Musk, the world’s richest person, spoke about the controversial DOGE program at Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” the tech tycoon said, adding that he was “taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats.”

‘Musk in charge’ 

One-third of his DOGE staff resigned in protest on Tuesday after he engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work.

Cabinet members have voiced frustration over the DOGE emails, according to US media, but Trump insisted that his team was “thrilled” with Musk.

The operation has been shrouded in mystery, with the government only naming its administrator this week, after weeks of DOGE announcements of firings, aid freezes and other cuts that angered critics.

Amy Gleason, a former official at the US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator, a White House official said, without revealing when she was formally appointed.

The White House argued in a court filing last week that Musk doesn’t even work for DOGE, let alone lead it, despite Trump repeatedly implying that Musk is in charge.

“I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” Trump said in a speech in Miami as recently as last week. “Thank you, Elon, for doing it.”

Musk — who was not accompanied by Gleason – met Republicans in the Senate’s DOGE Caucus at the White House on Thursday to brief them on the task force’s work.

Mike Lee, a hardline Trumpist, posted on social media that Musk had clarified that DOGE personnel “have no authority to fire federal workers or cancel federal contracts or payments.”

“Rather, they make recommendations to department heads and other executive-branch personnel who have such authority,” he added.

“Those most inclined to demagogue @DOGE are attributing to @DOGE authority it does not have.” – AFP

 

 

In the first month DOGE uncovered $182 million worth of HHS contracts meant entirely for administrative expenses, including $168,000 for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum.

The United States has slashed its multi-year aid contracts by 92 percent, as it sought around $60 billion in savings in development and overseas humanitarian programs, the State Department said Wednesday.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office, demanding a 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid to give his administration time to review overseas spending, with an eye to gutting programs not aligned with his “America First” agenda.

A federal judge had given the Trump administration on Tuesday less than two days to unfreeze all aid after a previous court order issued nearly two weeks earlier went ignored.

But the Trump administration filed an emergency petition to the US Supreme Court, which issued an administrative stay late Wednesday, pausing the lower court’s order.

“At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary (Marco) Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda — a 92 percent reduction,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

The administration’s review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.

It also looked at more than 9,100 grants involving foreign assistance, valued at more than $15.9 billion.

Following the review, 4,100 grants worth almost $4.4 billion were targeted to be eliminated, a 28 percent reduction.

“These commonsense eliminations will allow the bureaus, along with their contracting and grants officers, to focus on remaining programs, find additional efficiencies and tailor subsequent programs more closely to the Administration’s America First priorities,” the State Department statement said.

USAID distributes US humanitarian aid around the world, with health and emergency programs in around 120 countries.

Programs that were not cut included food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria, and support for countries including Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, among others, the State Department spokesperson said.

Late Wednesday, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued the administrative stay, which grants the Trump administration temporary reprieve from having to unfreeze around $2 billion in payments for overdue foreign aid.

The decision also gives the court more time to consider the matter.

‘Bankrupt’ without cuts 

USAID, created after a bill passed by Congress in 1961, had a workforce of more than 10,000 employees before the freeze, which sparked shock and dismay among personnel.

During his election campaign, Trump promised to slash federal government spending and bureaucracy, a task he bestowed upon his top donor and close advisor Elon Musk, as part of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump has said USAID was “run by radical lunatics” while Musk has described it as a “criminal organization” needing to be put “through the woodchipper.”

The agency announced on February 23 that it was laying off 1,600 of its employees in the United States and placing most of the remaining staff on administrative leave.

Musk, the world’s richest person, spoke about the controversial DOGE program at Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” the tech tycoon told cabinet members, adding that he was “taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats.”

One-third of his DOGE staff resigned in protest on Tuesday after he engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work or risk being fired.

US media reported that some cabinet members had expressed frustration over the DOGE emails, but Trump insisted at the cabinet meeting that his team was “thrilled” with Musk.

Trump also signed an executive order on Wednesday broadening DOGE’s power to review federal spending on contracts, grants and loans.

The order said it “commences a transformation in Federal spending” and called for a number of changes, including a “credit card freeze.”

“To the maximum extent permitted by law, all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen for 30 days from the date of this order.”

The freeze does not extend to staff in critical services such as “disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits.” – AFP

The United States has dramatically cut the budgets of overseas development and aid programs, with multi-year contracts pared down by 92 percent, or $54 billion, the State Department said Wednesday.

On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding a freeze on all US foreign aid for 90 days. The pause aimed to allow the administration to review overseas spending with an eye to gutting programs not aligned with Trump’s “America First” agenda.

The review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.

“At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary (Marco) Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda — a 92 percent reduction,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

The review also looked at more than 9,100 grants involving foreign assistance, valued at more than $15.9 billion.

At the conclusion of the review, 4,100 grants worth almost $4.4 billion were targeted to be eliminated, a 28 percent reduction.

“These commonsense eliminations will allow the bureaus, along with their contracting and grants officers, to focus on remaining programs, find additional efficiencies and tailor subsequent programs more closely to the Administration’s America First priorities,” the State Department statement said.

Programs that were not cut included food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria and support for countries including Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, among others, the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, a federal judge  gave the Trump administration less than two days to unfreeze all aid, after a previous court order issued nearly two weeks earlier went ignored.

The Trump administration filed a petition to put a hold on the lower court order, which was granted by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts late Wednesday, according to US media reports.

USAID, created after a bill passed by Congress in 1961, had a workforce of more than 10,000 employees prior to the freeze, which sparked shock and dismay among personnel.

The agency announced on February 23 that it was laying off 1,600 of its employees in the United States and placing most of the remaining staff on administrative leave.

During his election campaign, Trump promised to slash federal government spending and bureaucracy, a task he bestowed upon his top donor and close advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, as part of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). – AFP

Trump to convene first cabinet meeting, including Musk

US President Donald Trump is set on Wednesday to convene his first Cabinet meeting since returning to office last month, in an effort to further his agenda with most of his nominees now having been confirmed by Congress.

Billionaire supporter and advisor Elon Musk, tasked with overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has sought to fire thousands of federal workers, will be among those in attendance at the meeting.

Despite Musk’s lack of ministerial portfolio or formal decision-making authority, he is classified as a “special government employee” and “senior adviser to the president” by heading DOGE, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Musk, Trump’s top donor during the 2024 presidential campaign, will not be the only controversial member of the Trump administration at the meeting.

Among the most contentious are Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has espoused conspiracy theories, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has faced allegations of sexual assault.

The US Senate has approved all of Trump’s cabinet picks so far, despite outcry from Democrats over their trackrecords and lack of experience.

Trump’s Republican Party holds a narrow majority in the Senate, and the refusal of more than a couple Senators to vote against Trump’s picks shows his iron grip on the party, where dissenters have largely quit or been cowed.

Former Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell was the sole Republican dissenter to Kennedy’s confirmation as health secretary, an appointment that caused alarm among the medical community over his history of promoting vaccine misinformation and vows suspend research on infectious diseases.

A few Trump cabinet appointees still await confirmation by the Senate, including Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former congresswoman, and Linda McMahon, who helmed the Small Business Administration for part of Trump’s first term.

Musk, meanwhile, has already been dealing with upheaval within DOGE. One-third of his staff resigned in protest on Tuesday, days after he engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work or risk being fired.

Government departments on Monday largely told staff to either ignore the DOGE-inspired email or downplayed the risks of not answering it.

So far, thousands of mainly probationary workers – employees who are recently hired, promoted or otherwise changed roles – have been terminated since Trump’s inauguration. – AFP

One-third of Musk’s DOGE staff resign in protest

Roughly a third of staffers at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have resigned in protest, saying that they will not push through demanded changes that put the country at risk.

“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” 21 staffers of DOGE wrote in a letter, seen by AFP on Tuesday, to White House chief of staff Susan Wiles.

“However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments,” they added.

The workers initially worked for the United States Digital Service, which was transformed into DOGE after President Donald Trump took office on January 20th, with Musk effectively taking over the department.

Musk is the political force behind DOGE, with a small group of employees faithful to the multi-billionaire being dispatched across government and working toward gutting federal staffing and spending.

While Musk is not the formal administrator of DOGE, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO is nonetheless directing operations and will even attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The world’s wealthiest person and a top Trump donor, Musk has no ministerial portfolio or formal decision-making authority but has status as a “special government employee” and “senior adviser to the president.”

He downplayed the significance of the departures, saying that the workers were “political holdovers” who worked remotely and refused to return to the office as ordered by Trump.

“They would have been fired had they not resigned,” he added on X, the platform he owns.

The signatories describe a chaotic transition process that began on January 21 with hastily conducted interviews by unidentified individuals wearing White House visitor badges.

The interviewers questioned staff about political loyalty, attempted to create division among team members, and displayed “limited technical ability.”

Tensions escalated on February 14 when approximately one-third of USDS staff were abruptly terminated via anonymous email.

The dismissed employees had been working on modernizing critical government systems including Social Security, veterans’ services, tax filing, healthcare, and disaster relief platforms, the letter said.

“Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of their technology expertise makes critical systems and Americans’ data less safe,” the letter stated.

The employees explicitly refused to participate in what they described as efforts to “compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services.”

Software for firing 

The USDS was established in 2014 during Barack Obama’s administration and has historically operated as a non-partisan technology unit tasked with improving government digital services.

The mass resignation came days after Musk engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work in an email or risk being fired.

Government departments on Monday largely told staff to either ignore the DOGE-inspired email or downplayed the risks of not answering it.

According to Wired magazine, engineers at DOGE are working on new software that could assist mass firings of federal workers across the government.

So far, thousands of mainly probationary workers — employees who are recently hired, promoted, or otherwise changed roles — have been terminated since Trump’s inauguration.

The new software would streamline the dismissal process, known as a reduction in force, for firing federal workers with stronger civil service protections. – AFP

Fake video of Trump sucking Musk’s toes prompts investigation

An AI-generated video of US President Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk’s feet was shown inside the headquarters of a US government department, prompting an investigation, a spokesperson said.

The video was “briefly” played on screens at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday, the New York Times reported.

It criticized Trump’s close relationship with Musk, the world’s richest person, who has been put in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and tasked with cutting federal staffing and spending.

An inscription that read “Long Live the Real King” was superimposed over the video, referencing a message Trump posted on his Truth Social platform to celebrate his government’s nixing of the New York City congestion pricing plan.

A HUD spokesperson said on social media that the stunt was “abusing taxpayer resources” and that the department was planning to investigate and fire those responsible.

The looping footage appears to have been produced using artificial intelligence.

It came on the same day as Musk’s deadline for federal workers to explain their work achievements in an email.

The deadline passed with much confusion among an already anxious workforce after several US federal agencies — including some led by prominent Trump loyalists — told staff to ignore the email, at least temporarily.

Musk told US federal workers they had “another chance” to justify their work or lose their jobs in a post on his social media platform X on Monday.

In response to the video, the Democrat House Committee on Financial Services said in a post on X: “Not all heroes wear capes.”

Musk gives federal workers ‘another chance’ to justify jobs

Elon Musk said US federal workers had “another chance” to justify their work or lose their jobs, as the original deadline passed Tuesday with staff at multiple federal agencies told to disregard his request.

Musk, the world’s richest person and President Donald Trump’s biggest donor, had originally given federal government employees until the end of Monday to explain their work achievements in an email.

The demand represents the latest challenge from Musk against government workers as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) works toward gutting federal staffing and spending.

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk said Monday evening on X, which he owns.

“Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he added, without providing a new deadline.

The deadline came and went with much confusion among an already anxious workforce after several US federal agencies — including some led by prominent Trump loyalists — told staff to ignore the email, at least temporarily.

Referring to his original email request, Musk said it had been “utterly trivial… yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers.”

DOGE, a wide-ranging entity run by the tech entrepreneur, has faced increasing resistance on multiple fronts to its cost-cutting campaign, including court rulings and some pressure from lawmakers.

More than two million federal employees received an email on Saturday from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — the government’s HR department — giving them until 11:59 pm Monday to submit “approximately 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”

The message followed Musk’s post on X that “all federal workers” would receive the email and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

As confusion over what to make of the threat spread, Trump had defended Musk’s Saturday message, calling it “ingenious” as it would expose whether “people are working.”

“If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working,” Trump told reporters.

Non-responders would be “sort of semi-fired” or fired, Trump added without explaining his thinking further.

Musk on Monday said Saturday’s email “was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.”

“This mess will get sorted out this week. Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don’t get it yet, but they will,” he added on X.

‘Increase accountability’ 

On Sunday, the Defense Department posted a note requesting staff “pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.'”

US media reported that Trump administration-appointed officials at the FBI, the State Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also instructed staff not to respond directly.

Cyber security seemed to be a key concern, with staff at the Department of Health and Human Services told to “assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors” and that they should “tailor your response accordingly.”

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, workers were told their answers would stay within the department, at least for the present, and that an answer was not mandatory, according to an email to staff.

Meanwhile, workers at the Treasury Department were directed to comply with Musk’s request as it “reflects an effort to increase accountability by the federal workforce, just as there is in the private sector,” said an email sent to Treasury staff, seen by AFP.

As confusion spread across the federal workforce, speaking anonymously, an administration official had told Politico that employees should defer to their agencies on how to respond to the email.

‘Dose of compassion’ 

Unions quickly opposed Musk’s request, with the largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), vowing to challenge any unlawful terminations.

Several recent polls indicate that most Americans disapprove of the disruption to the nationwide federal workforce.

Concern has begun to emerge on Capitol Hill from Trump’s own Republican party, which controls both the House and the Senate.

“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, ‘Please put a dose of compassion in this,'” said Senator John Curtis of Utah, whose state has 33,000 federal employees.

“These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages,” Curtis said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Dozens of lawsuits against Musk’s threats or demands have yielded mixed results, with some requests for immediate halts to his executive orders being denied by judges.

One federal judge on Monday barred the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management from sharing sensitive information with the Musk-led department. – AFP

Employees of the US federal government on Monday faced a deadline imposed by Elon Musk that required them to explain their work achievements in an email or potentially lose their jobs.

The demand represents the latest challenge from Musk against government workers as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) works toward gutting federal staffing and spending.

DOGE is a wide-ranging entity run by the tech entrepreneur and world’s richest person, though its cost-cutting campaign has faced increasing resistance on multiple fronts, including court rulings and some pressure from lawmakers.

On Saturday, more than two million federal employees received an email from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — the government’s HR department — giving them until 11:59 pm Monday to submit “approximately 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”

The message followed Musk’s post on X, which he owns, that “all federal workers” would receive the email and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

As the deadline neared and confusion reigned on what to make of the threat, President Donald Trump defended Musk’s message, calling it “ingenious” as it would expose whether “people are working.”

“If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working,” Trump told reporters.

Non-responders would be “sort of semi-fired” or fired, Trump added without explaining his thinking further.

Musk on Monday said Saturday’s email “was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.”

“This mess will get sorted out this week. Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don’t get it yet, but they will,” he added on X.

‘Increase accountability’ 

Creating confusion among an already anxious workforce, multiple US federal agencies — including some led by prominent Trump loyalists — told staff to ignore the email, at least temporarily.

The list included the Defense Department, which posted a note requesting staff “pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.'”

US media reported that Trump administration-appointed officials at the FBI, the State Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also instructed staff not to respond directly.

Cyber security seemed to be a key concern, with staff at the Department of Health and Human Services told to “assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors” and that they should “tailor your response accordingly.”

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, workers were told their answers would stay within the department, at least for the present, and that an answer was not mandatory, according to an email to staff.

Meanwhile, workers at the Treasury Department were directed to comply with Musk’s request as it “reflects an effort to increase accountability by the federal workforce, just as there is in the private sector,” said an email sent to Treasury staff, seen by AFP.

As confusion spread across the federal workforce, speaking anonymously, an administration official told Politico that employees should defer to their agencies on how to respond to the email.

‘Dose of compassion’ 

Unions quickly opposed Musk’s request, with the largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), vowing to challenge any unlawful terminations.

Several recent polls indicate that most Americans disapprove of the disruption to the nationwide federal workforce.

Concern has begun to emerge on Capitol Hill from Trump’s own Republican party, which controls both the House and the Senate.

“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, ‘Please put a dose of compassion in this,'” said Senator John Curtis of Utah, whose state has 33,000 federal employees.

“These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages,” Curtis said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Dozens of lawsuits against Musk’s threats or demands have yielded mixed results, with some requests for immediate halts to his executive orders being denied by judges.

One federal judge on Monday barred the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management from sharing sensitive information with the Musk-led department. – AFP

Elon Musk, leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), issued an email ultimatum to federal employees demanding they report their weekly accomplishments or face potential resignation.

This directive has sparked confusion and resistance across various government agencies, with some advising employees to withhold responses due to legal and security concerns.

Critics, including lawmakers and unions, argue that Musk lacks the authority to enforce such demands, labelling the move as coercive and potentially illegal.

The situation highlights ongoing tensions within the Trump administration regarding Musk’s role and the broader implications of DOGE’s aggressive cost-cutting measures.

Multiple US federal agencies, including some led by prominent Donald Trump loyalists, have pushed back against a move by Elon Musk to force employees to explain what they had achieved at work or risk losing their jobs.

The resistance signaled a possible rift between key Trump administration figures and Musk, who has spearheaded a campaign to slash the government’s millions-strong civilian work force that has sown confusion across multiple agencies.

On Saturday, federal employees received an email seen by AFP from the US Office of Personnel Management giving them until 11:59 pm Monday to submit “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”

Not long beforehand, Musk had posted on X that “all federal workers” would receive the email and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Federal workers told AFP they had been advised not to reply immediately.

On Sunday, the Defense Department posted a note requesting that staff “pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.'”

“The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” it said in a post on X.

US media reported that Trump administration-appointed officials at the FBI, the State Department and the office of national intelligence also instructed staff not to respond directly.

The new director the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, sent a message to personnel on Saturday saying, “the FBI, through the office of the director, is in charge of all our review processes,” the New York Times wrote.

Unions also quickly pushed back, with the largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), vowing to challenge any unlawful terminations.

In a letter to the OPM on Sunday, the AFGE criticized the power given to the “unelected and unhinged” Musk and said the “email was nothing more than an irresponsible and sophomoric attempt to create confusion and bully the hard-working federal employees that serve our country.”

Trump has put Musk – the world’s richest person and the president’s biggest donor – in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory body, tasking him with slashing public spending and tackling alleged waste and corruption.

DOGE is a free-ranging entity run by the tech entrepreneur, though its cost-cutting spree has been met with pushback on several fronts and mixed court rulings. – AFP

President Donald Trump is reportedly set to appoint newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel as the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), despite opposition from Democrats and moderate Republicans.

Patel, a staunch Trump ally, is expected to shift the ATF’s focus away from firearms regulation, aligning with Trump’s campaign criticism of the agency’s treatment of gun owners, Reuters reports.

His appointment follows Attorney General Pam Bondi’s abrupt firing of the ATF’s chief counsel, Pamela Hicks, citing alleged bias against gun owners.

The move is part of a broader Trump administration trend of officials holding multiple roles, with other examples including Secretary of State Marco Rubio also overseeing USAID and Russ Vought managing both the Office of Management and Budget and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Read more

Musk says all US govt staff must justify their work or lose jobs

Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to Donald Trump, said Saturday that all US federal employees must justify their work or lose their jobs, hours after the president pushed him to be “more aggressive” in slashing government spending.

Musk – the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor – has led the effort to fire swaths of the government workforce.

“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk wrote.

According to a copy of the email provided to AFP, federal workers were asked to submit “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”

The email came from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), with the subject line “What did you do last week?”. The deadline to reply was 11:59 pm Monday, though the message did not say failure to do so would lead to termination.

The OPM did not immediately reply to AFP’s request for comment on Saturday evening.

“A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion,” Musk posted on X after issuing the deadline.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, vowed to challenge any unlawful terminations in a statement from national president Everett Kelley.

Kelley slammed Musk and the Trump administration, saying the move showed “their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”

“It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life,” he said.

Several federal employees told AFP they were advised by their agencies not to respond to the email and wait for further instruction, a recommendation echoed by the National Treasury Employees Union.

“I have so much work to do, I am not going to neglect actual patient care for this drama,” a physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs, who received the email, told AFP.

Musk later appeared to downplay the requirements of the request, writing on X that the bar is “very low” and saying, “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!”

‘More aggressive’ 

Earlier Saturday, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Musk was “doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.”

Trump has put the tech entrepreneur in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory body, tasking him with slashing public spending and tackling alleged waste and corruption.

In the latest cuts announced Friday, the US Defense Department is to reduce its civilian workforce by at least five percent starting next week.

Trump’s administration has already begun firing many other federal workers who are on probationary status.

DOGE is a free-ranging entity run by Musk, though its cost-cutting spree has been met with pushback on several fronts and mixed court rulings.

A judge on Thursday denied a union bid to temporarily halt the firing of thousands of people.

Musk said this week he would work with Trump for as long as he “can be helpful,” as the pair dismissed concerns over conflicts of interest due to the tycoon’s government contracts.

“Elon is doing a great job,” Trump told a meeting of conservative activists on Saturday, running through a list of what he said were “some of the flagrant scams” that had been uncovered.

“We love Elon, don’t we? He’s a character,” Trump added. “People said, what official position does he have? I said, ‘Patriot’.”

Musk said this week DOGE was publicizing its actions on its website and that the transparency would hold him accountable. – AFP

Pentagon says will cut civilian workforce by at least 5%

The US Defense Department will cut its civilian workforce by at least five percent starting next week, the Pentagon said Friday, as President Donald Trump continues slashing the government payroll.

Trump’s administration has already begun firing thousands of other federal workers who are on probationary status, and the cuts at the Defense Department — the largest employer in the United States — will also focus on recently hired employees.

“We anticipate reducing the department’s civilian workforce by 5-8 percent to produce efficiencies and refocus the department on the president’s priorities and restoring readiness in the force,” Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a statement.

“We expect approximately 5,400 probationary workers will be released beginning next week as part of this initial effort, after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs,” Selnick said.

The Defense Department employs more than 900,000 civilians, meaning that cuts of five percent would affect a total of more than 45,000 jobs.

A day before the announcement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video message that “it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical.”

“Common sense would tell us where we should start, right — we start with poor performers amongst our probationary employees,” Hegseth said.

Promoting ‘best and brightest’ 

“When you look at head count, we’re going to be thoughtful, but we’re also going to be aggressive, up and down the chain, to find the places where we can ensure the best and brightest are promoted based on merit.”

Hegseth also said that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would have “broad access” to root out the previous administration’s programs from the Pentagon.

DOGE will work to “find the redundancies and identify the last vestiges of Biden priorities — the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), the woke, the climate change BS – that’s not core to our mission, and we’re going to get rid of it all,” he said, referring to former president Joe Biden.

Musk – the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor – has led the effort to fire swaths of the federal workforce, sparking various legal challenges.

A US judge on Tuesday declined a request to temporarily block Musk and DOGE from firing federal employees and accessing agency data after 14 Democratic-ruled states filed suit contesting the billionaire’s legal authority.

Judge Tanya Chutkan said the plaintiffs had not sufficiently showed that they would suffer “imminent, irreparable harm” unless a temporary restraining order was issued.

And on Thursday, Judge Christopher Cooper denied a union bid to temporarily halt the sacking of federal workers, saying he lacked the jurisdiction to handle the complaint. – AFP

In a lighthearted exchange that captured social media attention, Argentina President Javier Milei presented Elon Musk with a chainsaw during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC on Thursday.

Musk, holding the chainsaw aloft, referred to it as “the chainsaw for bureaucracy”, BBCreported. 

The chainsaw was engraved with the phrase “Viva la libertad, carajo”, which translates to “Long live liberty, damn it”.

Read more

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will have “broad access” to root out previous administration programs at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday.

President Donald Trump has vowed to slash government spending and has tasked DOGE with carrying out that effort, which has seen Musk deploy the vast powers granted to him to restructure and dismantle federal agencies.

“They’re going to have broad access, obviously, with all the safeguards on classification,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X.

DOGE will work to “find the redundancies and identify the last vestiges of Biden priorities — the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), the woke, the climate change BS — that’s not core to our mission, and we’re going to get rid of it all,” he added, referring to former president Joe Biden.

The unprecedented Musk-led US government cost-cutting drive has raised conflict-of-interest questions, given that many of the targeted agencies, including the Defense Department, have regulatory oversight or other dealings with elements of the world’s richest man’s businesses.

Hegseth also took aim in the video message at US media reports from the previous day that he had ordered sweeping cuts to the Pentagon budget, saying instead that $50 billion would be spent on different priorities.

“We will move away from woke, Biden-era, non-lethal programs, and instead spend that money on President Trump’s America First, peace through strength, priorities,” Hegseth said.

“It’s refocusing and reinvesting existing funds into building a force that protects you, the American people,” he added. – AFP

Elon Musk has said he would work with US President Donald Trump for as long as he “can be helpful,” as the pair dismissed concerns over possible conflicts of interest due to the tech tycoon’s work with the White House.

“I’ll be as helpful as long as I can be helpful,” Musk said when asked in a Fox News interview alongside Trump if he expected to work with the administration for the president’s four-year term.

Trump has vowed to slash government spending since returning to office last month, with Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tasked with carrying out that effort.

Musk, the world’s richest person and leading Trump donor, has deployed vast powers granted to him by the president to restructure and dismantle federal agencies.

However, the White House has said Musk is not an official employee of DOGE and has “no formal authority to make government decisions.”

The unprecedented cost-cutting drive has raised conflict-of-interest questions, given that many of the targeted agencies have regulatory oversight on elements of Musk’s businesses.

Trump showered praise on Musk, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, in the Fox interview excerpts aired on Wednesday, calling the billionaire “brilliant,” “honest” and a “very good, solid businessman.”

He also dismissed concerns raised by critics that Musk has enormous conflicts of interest as a major government contractor.

“If there’s any conflict, he will stop it. But if he didn’t, I’d stop it. I’d see if there’s a conflict,” Trump said.

“We’re talking about big stuff, but he’s under a pretty big microscope. I mean, everybody’s watching him.

“If there’s a conflict, you’re going to be reading about it within about two minutes after the conflict,” he said.

Musk said DOGE was publicising its actions on its website and that the transparency would hold him accountable.

“The possibility of me getting away with something is zero percent,” Musk said. “I’m scrutinised to a ridiculous degree.”

Asked about Musk’s official position, Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday that the businessman was a “patriot.”

“So you know, you could call him an employee, you can call him a consultant. You can call him whatever you want. But he’s a patriot,” Trump said. – AFP

US President Donald Trump has suggested allocating part of Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting savings to give Americans direct cash payments and reduce federal debt.

Speaking at an investment summit, Trump proposed using 20% of the identified savings for public payouts and another 20% to pay down the $36 trillion national debt.

“The numbers are incredible, Elon. So many billions of dollars … hundreds of billions,” Trump said.


“We’re thinking about giving 20 percent back to the American citizens, and 20 percent down to pay back debt..

This follows a proposal by DOGE adviser James Fishback, who suggested a “DOGE dividend” that could provide $5,000 to every tax-paying household if Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saves $2 trillion by mid-2026.

Critics, including government efficiency experts, question the feasibility of such savings and warn that reducing government spending without affecting essential services is difficult. DOGE has claimed $55 billion in savings but has provided limited documentation. Experts remain skeptical about the actual impact of the initiative.

 Elon Musk has expressed interest in a proposal by investment firm CEO James Fishback to issue a $5,000 tax refund to U.S. households, funded by savings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Fishback suggested allocating 20% of DOGE’s projected $2 trillion savings to taxpayers once the program ends in 2026, Forbes reports.

Musk responded on X, saying he would check with President Donald Trump, later clarifying that the decision rests with Trump.

DOGE, created by executive order on Trump’s first day back in office, has faced criticism for aggressive cost-cutting measures and access to sensitive federal data.

It claims to have saved $55 billion so far through contract cancellations, fraud detection, and workforce reductions. The agency is currently facing multiple lawsuits challenging its authority.

Read more

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered the firing of all remaining US attorneys nominated by his predecessor Joe Biden.

“Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

“Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys,” he said.

“We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump added. “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”

Read more

In joint interview, Trump outlines Musk’s role as enforcer-in-chief

US President Donald Trump painted Elon Musk as his enforcer-in-chief Tuesday, hailing the tech billionaire’s zeal in implementing the blizzard of executive orders the president has issued since returning to office.

In a joint interview broadcast on Fox News, the two men spent substantial time singing the other’s praises and dismissing concerns that Trump is overstepping his executive powers.

Trump has signed scores of executive directives in the past three weeks, many of which have been challenged in the courts as potentially unconstitutional.

Billionaire Musk, who was Trump’s top donor during his 2024 presidential campaign, was tasked with leading the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with the declared goal of rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” in federal spending.

“One of the biggest functions of the DOGE team is just making sure that the presidential executive orders are actually carried out,” Musk told Fox News.

In the interview, Trump insisted his policies — including a wholesale onslaught on federal institutions — should be implemented without delay and said Musk was instrumental in pushing them forward.

“You write an executive order and you think it’s done, you send it out, it doesn’t get done. It doesn’t get implemented,” Trump said.

He added that Musk and the DOGE team have now become an enforcement mechanism within the federal bureaucracy to enact his administration’s agenda without anyone standing in their way — or else risk losing their jobs.

“And some guy that maybe didn’t want to do it, all of a sudden, he’s signing it,” Trump said.

‘The will of the people’ 

The Fox interview was broadcast just hours after Trump signed a sweeping executive order that sought to extend and consolidate direct White House control over federal regulatory agencies.

The order, which is likely to face legal challenges, would force agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to submit regulatory proposals to the White House for review.

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” the executive order states.

Musk found humor in his role as Trump’s executor, describing himself as a “technologist” and donning a T-shirt that read “Tech Support” for the interview.

Musk waved off criticism that he was acting as if he were the US president, saying none of Trump’s cabinet members were elected and that he views his role as facilitating Trump’s agenda.

“The president is the elected representative of the people, so it’s representing the will of the people,” Musk explained.

“And if the bureaucracy is fighting the will of the people and preventing the president from implementing what the people want, then what we live in is a bureaucracy and not a democracy.”

President Elon? 

Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration has led to public questioning of who is really in charge at the White House, though the Republican leader was quick to dismiss rumors of bad blood between the two.

“Actually, Elon called me,” Trump said. “He said, ‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.'”

But Trump expressed confidence that Americans will not be fooled by alleged efforts to strain ties between him and Musk.

“I used to think they were good at it,” Trump said, referring to the media. “They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president.”

“The people are smart,” he went on. “They get it.” – AFP

US judge declines to block Musk from accessing data, firing workers

A US judge on Tuesday declined a request to temporarily block Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from firing federal employees and accessing agency data, a victory for President Donald Trump in his bid to shrink the government workforce.

Fourteen Democratic-ruled states had filed suit last week contesting Musk’s legal authority but District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied their emergency request to pause his actions.

“Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order,” Chutkan said.

DOGE is a free-ranging entity run by Musk, the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor. The billionaire has taken an assertive role in the new administration, with his agency aiming to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending.

His plans have effectively shuttered some federal agencies, sent thousands of staff members home and sparked legal battles across the country.

In their suit, the 14 states claimed that Musk and DOGE lacked statutory authority for their actions because he had not been formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

“(Musk) exercises virtually unchecked power across the Executive Branch, making decisions about expenditures, contracts, government property, regulations, and the very existence of federal agencies,” they said.

In addition, Musk and DOGE have gained access to “sensitive data, information, systems, and technological and financial infrastructure across the federal government,” they added.

The 14 states had sought to block DOGE from accessing the data systems of the Office of Personnel Management and the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation and Commerce, and from terminating any of their employees.

‘Considerable uncertainty’ 

Chutkan, in her ruling, said “the court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents.

“But the ‘possibility’ that Defendants may take actions that irreparably harm Plaintiffs ‘is not enough,'” she said.

Musk’s cost-cutting spree has been met with legal pushback on a number of fronts and a mixed bag of rulings.

A different federal judge last week lifted a freeze he had temporarily imposed on a mass buyout plan offered by the Trump administration to federal workers.

In the mass buyout case, labor unions representing federal employees had filed suit to block the scheme masterminded by Musk to slash the size of government by encouraging federal workers to quit.

In an email titled “Fork in the Road,” the more than two million US government employees were given an offer to leave with eight months’ pay or risk being fired in future culls.

According to the White House, more than 75,000 federal employees signed on to the buyout offer from the Office of Personnel Management.

Trump’s executive actions have been challenged in dozens of court cases and the White House has accused “judges in liberal districts” of “abusing their power” to block the president’s moves.

The decisions have come from judges nominated by both Republican and Democratic presidents, including Trump himself during his first term.

Chutkan, an appointee of Democratic former president Barack Obama, presided over the now-abandoned case against Trump on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. – AFP

Elon Musk is not an official employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has “no formal authority to make government decisions”, according to a White House court filing.

The world’s richest man is widely seen as the de-facto head of DOGE, created by US President Donald Trump, which has sought drastically to reduce government spending including with thousands of job cuts.

Trump had announced in November that “the Great Elon Musk… will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’).”

According to the filing on Monday by Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration, Musk “is an employee of the White House… as a non-career Special Government Employee” and a “Senior Advisor to the President.”

“Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives,” Fisher said.

“The U.S. DOGE Service is a component of the Executive Office of the President. The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization is within the U.S. DOGE Service. Both are separate from the White House Office,” he said in the filing.

“Mr. Musk is an employee of the White House Office. He is not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization. Mr. Musk is not the Temporary Administrator,” he added.

Fisher’s filing was made in a case brought against Musk by 14 US states, including New Mexico.

In a joint interview with Musk due to be broadcast on Fox News later on Tuesday, Trump took aim at critics saying that the Tesla founder was the one running the White House.

“I think nobody in history has ever gotten more bad publicity than me… But you know what I have learned Elon? That people are smart, they get it,” Trump said in an excerpt of the interview.

Musk added: “Yeah they do actually.” – AFP

US judge refuses to block Musk’s DOGE from student data: court order

A US judge temporarily refused on Monday to block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing Education Department student data, in a minor legal victory for the world’s richest man in his blitz on public spending.

The drive by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash outgoings deemed wasteful or contrary to US President Donald Trump’s policies has run up against multiple legal challenges.

The University of California Student Association had sought to block DOGE from accessing students’ data including social security numbers, loans and tax information.

But federal Court Judge Randolph D. Moss said in his order on Monday that potential harm to students was “entirely conjectural” and that their lawsuit “provides no evidence beyond sheer speculation” that Musk’s team would “misuse or further disseminate this information”.

The order allows both sides time to gather more evidence about Musk’s handling of the data, before Judge Moss rules on whether to allow the lawsuit to advance.

DOGE is not an official government department but has sought to access data from several federal bodies.

The Tesla, SpaceX and X chief ran into controversy this month when he and his team tried accessing sensitive Treasury Department data.

An internal assessment from the Treasury called the DOGE team’s access to federal payment systems “the single biggest insider threat the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) has ever faced,” US media reported.

Meanwhile the Social Security Administration chief quit on Monday over DOGE’s requests to access Social Security recipient information, US media reported citing unnamed sources. – AFP

A White House court filing clarifies that Elon Musk is a senior adviser to President Donald Trump but has no formal decision-making authority in the administration.

Despite leading efforts to reduce government waste, Musk is not an employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and cannot make official government decisions, Reutersreports.

The filing, signed by White House official Joshua Fisher, was submitted in response to a case against Musk by the State of New Mexico.

Since Trump’s second term began, DOGE has carried out major government reforms, including mass job cuts, with Musk playing a key advisory role.

Read more

The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has announced a $10 million cut in funding for Mozambique’s male circumcision programme, part of broader cuts to 15 health support initiatives in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

This follows Musk’s previous controversial suspension of $50 million in funding for HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Gaza.

The cuts, which include critical health services such as HIV/AIDS care, have raised concerns in Mozambique, where government officials warned that the withdrawal of US aid will negatively impact healthcare programs, including the supply of medicines and the availability of health professionals.

The Mozambican government is engaging in discussions with the US to mitigate the impact and explore alternative funding sources.

Read more

Elon Musk has revealed data suggesting that millions of deceased or non-existent Americans are still listed as eligible for Social Security benefits.

According to a chart he posted, the Social Security Administration (SSA) records include over 20 million people aged 100 and above, with some entries claiming individuals as old as 360 years.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk oversees, is investigating this as a major case of government fraud.

Musk criticised the SSA for having 60 million more people in its database than the total US population, raising concerns about massive financial waste, Daily Mail reported.

While the exact number of fraudulent payments is unknown, DOGE has pledged to investigate. Musk suggested this could be “the biggest fraud in history” and vowed to target the SSA for cost-cutting reforms.

@wffnews Vampires or Fraud⁉️🧛🧛‍♀️ #greenscreen #news #fyf #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – WFF News

This follows Musk’s broader efforts to eliminate government inefficiencies under President Donald Trump’s administration, including dismantling USAID, cutting federal contracts, and shutting down diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Read more

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has raised concerns by requesting access to the US tax office’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) system, which contains sensitive financial data on millions of Americans.

The request, which includes access to the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), would allow DOGE officials to view taxpayer accounts, a privilege usually tightly controlled, AFP reports.

Privacy experts and government officials have expressed alarm, warning that granting access could compromise taxpayer security and increase risks like identity theft.

The request has not yet been approved, but it has sparked widespread concern over the potential dangers of such access.

The White House maintains that DOGE aims to address waste and fraud within the system.

Read more

The Trump administration has reversed its decision to lay off hundreds of federal employees working on nuclear weapons programs, causing confusion among staff and raising concerns from experts.

Around 350 employees from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were initially fired in a cost-cutting move by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, AP reports.

Many were working on critical nuclear issues, including warhead reassembly and managing radioactive waste sites.

The firings affected key staff members, including those at sensitive nuclear sites, raising fears about the potential impact on national security, the report said.

The acting NNSA director later rescinded the firings for most employees, except for 28, amid backlash from lawmakers and experts, warning the cuts could undermine US nuclear security and stability.

Read more

Mass protests erupted at Tesla showrooms across the U.S. as demonstrators demanded the shutdown of Elon Musk’s car empire, linking his aggressive government downsizing through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to job losses.

Organised online under #TeslaTakedown and #TeslaTakeover, the protests accused Musk of using federal cuts to fund his businesses.

International backlash followed, with activists in Germany and the UK projecting controversial images of Musk onto Tesla’s Berlin factory.

Some protests turned violent, with arson attempts in Oregon and Colorado, and a Tesla showroom in The Hague vandalized. Tesla stock dropped amid the controversy but later partially recovered.

Read more

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team is attempting to access a broad range of US taxpayer data, raising privacy concerns among Democratic lawmakers.

While DOGE has not yet accessed the data, its efforts have sparked criticism, with Rep. Gregory Meeks arguing that an unelected figure like Musk should not have such access.

In January, DOGE gained entry to the Treasury’s payment system, leading to the resignation of a senior civil servant who opposed the move. Attorneys general from 19 states and several labor unions have since filed lawsuits to block DOGE’s access, The Japan Times reports.

Senate Democrats have also accused Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of lacking transparency about DOGE’s involvement in federal payment systems.

Meanwhile, Musk’s team has begun terminating employees at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), which was recently rebranded as the U.S. DOGE Service.

Over a dozen staffers were dismissed, citing President Trump’s executive order as the reason. Remaining employees have been ordered to return to in-person work by April 15.

Read more

Elon Musk’s government downsizing team, DOGE, will visit the FAA’s Air Traffic Control command center in Virginia on Monday as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reform the system.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the visit, saying DOGE personnel will assess the current system and explore modernisation improvements, Reutersreports.

The Trump administration recently excluded air traffic controllers from a government incentive program to quit, and the FAA fired several hundred probationary employees, which unions argue will increase workload and strain an already understaffed system.

Musk defended the visit, stating that air travel safety is non-partisan and that SpaceX engineers will contribute to improvements. However, Senator Maria Cantwell has called for Musk to be barred from FAA reforms, citing conflicts of interest due to past SpaceX fines.

Read more

Trump and Elon Musk’s campaign to slash the US bureaucracy has resulted in over 9,500 federal job cuts, primarily targeting probationary employees across departments like Interior, Energy, and Veterans Affairs.

An additional 75,000 workers have taken buyouts, amounting to about 3% of the civilian workforce, Reutersreports.

The cuts, aimed at reducing government spending, have sparked bipartisan concerns, with Democrats arguing Trump is overstepping legislative authority.

Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge) has also targeted civil service protections, foreign aid, and agencies like USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Some cuts have raised alarm, including layoffs at wildfire prevention programs and the IRS ahead of tax season. Federal judges have blocked or delayed some firings, particularly in nuclear security and consumer protection.

Critics argue the cuts prioritise deregulation and corporate interests over public service, with unions suing to halt Musk and Trump’s aggressive downsizing.

Read more

Elon Musk, working closely with the Trump administration, is leading deep cuts to US government agencies through an unofficial committee called the “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge).

Musk has targeted departments like USAID, Education, and the EPA, while promoting artificial intelligence and private sector involvement in federal programmes.

Tech and defence companies, including Musk’s own SpaceX, stand to benefit from these changes, The Guardianreports. 

Critics warn of ethical conflicts, as Trump has removed government watchdogs, potentially allowing Musk to influence policies and contracts without oversight, the report says.

Watchdog groups and unions have filed lawsuits, but Musk’s role in government remains largely unchecked.

Read more

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has scrapped a $21 million US taxpayer-funded grant aimed at influencing voter turnout in India, along with other foreign aid projects totaling hundreds of millions.

The cuts, part of a broader effort to curb “questionable” overseas spending, included funding for political initiatives in Bangladesh, gender equality programs, and biodiversity conservation, NDTV World reported.

India’s ruling BJP criticised the now-cancelled grant as “external interference” and accused foreign entities, including George Soros, of influencing Indian elections.

Meanwhile, speculation continues over US involvement in Bangladesh’s recent political upheaval following the ousting of former PM Sheikh Hasina.

Read more 

A federal judge has ruled in favour of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by allowing it to access sensitive data from three federal agencies, rejecting a temporary block requested by unions and nonprofits.

Judge John Bates acknowledged concerns over DOGE’s ambiguous agency status but upheld its authority to detail staff under the Economy Act, Fox Newsreported.

Critics fear DOGE’s access to financial and medical records could compromise privacy, especially regarding investigations into Musk-owned companies.

Meanwhile, a separate ruling extended a block on DOGE’s access to Treasury Department payment systems amid legal challenges from state attorneys general.

Donald Trump has mocked what he said were media depictions of Elon Musk as the real power in the White House, saying attempts to drive a wedge between himself and the tech billionaire have failed.

“They do it all the time,” the US president says in excerpts posted Saturday from a Fox News interview to be aired Tuesday.

Speaking as if in a news anchor’s voice, Trump went on, “We have breaking news: Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting tonight…”

The Republican president is famously prickly about being outshone by anyone in his entourage, and there has been widespread speculation that Musk’s high profile could lead to his downfall.

The South African-born Musk, while nominally just the head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), has taken on extraordinarily broad powers in identifying what he says are areas of waste and then moving quickly to cut jobs and spending. – AFP

Read more 

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) held its first known meetings at the Pentagon on Friday, as the US military braces for potential multi-billion-dollar budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s government downsizing plan, Reuters reports.

Trump has tasked Musk with uncovering “hundreds of billions” in fraud and waste at the Defence Department, though critics argue Musk lacks the expertise to overhaul the military and warn that his efforts could compromise classified programmes, the report says.

Despite concerns, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has reassured the public that cuts will not weaken US military capabilities.

Meanwhile, Musk’s Pentagon contracts with SpaceX have raised conflict of interest questions.

With the Pentagon’s budget nearing $1 trillion, DOGE’s impact on defence spending remains a major point of contention.

 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced the launch of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force aimed at eliminating waste in the agency’s spending.

Turner made the announcement on Thursday.

The task force, composed of HUD employees, will regularly review expenditures and provide recommendations.

This initiative aligns with President Trump’s executive order on government efficiency, which established a presidential advisory committee led by Elon Musk and mandated each federal agency to form a DOGE team.

HUD’s task force will focus on ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently in tribal, rural, and urban communities across the U.S.

Trump orders US diplomats to speak with ‘one voice’

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the “reform” of the US diplomatic corps, effectively curtailing any dissent against his policies, as he continues his vast overhaul of the federal government.

In an executive order, Trump said that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, will “reform the Foreign Service and the administration of foreign relations to ensure faithful and effective implementation of the President’s foreign policy agenda”.

Read more 

Musk’s DOGE team raises major cyber security concerns

Young engineers deployed across the US government as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have triggered alarm throughout Washington’s security establishment.

Never before has a group of unvetted and inexperienced outsiders gained such access to the nerve centre of the US government, according to security experts.

Read more 

US judge lifts temporary freeze on Trump admin buyout plan

A US judge on Wednesday lifted his freeze on a buyout plan offered to federal workers, handing President Donald Trump a victory in his efforts to drastically slash the government workforce.

US District Judge George O’Toole, who had temporarily paused the plan last week, lifted his restraining order on the mass buyout offer.

Read more

Compiled by Betha Madhomu

Article written by