The Blubber

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is signing an executive order granting tech billionaire Elon Musk expanded authority over the federal workforce, further boosting Musk’s growing political influence.

Standing next to Musk in the Oval Office, Trump praised the work of Musk’s office, known as the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency Service (DOGE), and said he wanted Musk to take on an even larger role. This comes despite ongoing lawsuits from labor unions and Democratic state attorneys general challenging whether DOGE is acting within legal boundaries.

The executive order directs federal agencies to "coordinate and consult" with DOGE on workforce reductions and hiring restrictions, according to a summary from the White House. Agencies will be required to "develop plans for large-scale reductions in force" and limit hiring to "essential positions only."

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, retains his private-sector roles while serving as a "special government employee," a temporary status that exempts him from some disclosure rules that apply to full-time government officials. Wearing an all-black "Make America Great Again" hat, Musk attended the announcement with one of his 11 children by his side.

During a 30-minute, informal press briefing, Trump and Musk answered questions from reporters but offered few details about the alleged fraud and waste Musk claims DOGE has uncovered. Musk has repeatedly spoken on social media about instances of supposed government mismanagement, but many of his examples have lacked specifics or supporting evidence. On Monday, DOGE’s account on X claimed it had terminated 89 contracts worth $881 million but did not specify the nature of those contracts or why they were deemed wasteful.

Some of Musk’s claims have faced scrutiny from independent fact-checkers. For example, his assertion that the U.S. spent $50 million on condoms for the Gaza Strip was criticized for lacking evidence.

Asked about the fact-checks, Musk admitted that some of his claims were inaccurate. "Nobody’s going to bat a thousand," he said, brushing off the criticism. (Earlier in the day, Musk had been posting phallic jokes on X.)

Musk also mentioned working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reinstate funding for Ebola and HIV prevention programs after initially pausing them as part of broader spending cuts. He called the temporary halt a "mistake" and promised to correct errors quickly. "We will make mistakes, but we also fix the mistakes very quickly," he added.

Neither Trump nor Musk addressed concerns about potential constitutional violations, such as bypassing Congress to close federal agencies or refusing to spend funds already appropriated by lawmakers. Among DOGE’s targets for elimination are the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Department of Education.