Trump Tightens Leash on Elon Musk and DOGE: It’s Time for ‘Scalpel Rather Than Hatchet’

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The days of Elon Musk and the DOGE squad running roughshod through federal government agencies seem to be coming to an end. President Donald Trump met with his Cabinet Thursday and — with Musk in the room — announced a shift back to a “scalpel” strategy for government cuts rather than “hatchet.”

Trump and Musk’s efforts with DOGE have been highly controversial, as an email demanding all federal workers justify their continued employment, massive layoffs, and Musk’s conflicts of interest have all raised eyebrows.

Multiple lawsuits have already been filed challenging the creation of DOGE, its activities, access to sensitive government data and files, and Musk’s role. The Supreme Court has already smacked down a DOGE-led effort to cut off vast swaths of foreign aid funding, ruling that about $2 billion for contracted work that had already been completed could not be withheld. The ambiguity of Musk’s specific job title and how much power he has is another major legal issue; Trump’s comment in his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk” has already been cited in several of the pending court cases as contradicting the denials by Trump administration attorneys.

Adding to the pressure on the White House is the outrage over layoffs that is coming from Republican members of Congress and other conservative voices, for example, concerning the many veterans employed by the federal government. Ever sensitive to poll numbers, Musk’s cratering popularity seems likely to have played a factor in Trump’s decision to sideline the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

In a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon Trump wrote that it was time to impose “cost cutting” by using a “scalpel” instead of a “hatchet” — perhaps a rebuke to Musk’s chainsaw-wielding antics at CPAC last month. In the post, Trump wrote that he had just had “a very positive” meeting with his Cabinet secretaries and Musk and declared they were all on the same page:

The Golden Age of America has just begun! Over the past six weeks, our Administration has delivered on promises like no Administration before it, always putting America First! DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing. As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the “scalpel” rather than the “hatchet.” The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.

We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people. We’re going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done. The relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary. They all want to get to the exact same place, which is, simply, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Politico’s Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney had more details on that meeting, writing that Trump had “convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.”

From the Politico report:

According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.

…The president’s message represents the first significant move to narrow Musk’s mandate. According to Trump’s new guidance, DOGE and its staff should play an advisory role — but Cabinet secretaries should make final decisions on personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation.

Musk joined the conversation and indicated he was on board with Trump’s directive. According to one person familiar with the meeting, Musk acknowledged that DOGE had made some missteps — a message he shared earlier this week with members of Congress.

Trump stressed that he wants to keep good people in government and not eject capable federal workers en masse, according to one of the officials. It is unclear whether the new guidance will result in laid off workers getting rehired.

As of Thursday afternoon, Musk’s pinned tweet is still one from March 4 with a stylized image of him from CPAC, holding the chainsaw and with the label “The Dogefather” behind him.

“Making govt waste an offer it can’t refuse,” reads the caption.