As tech billionaire Elon Musk expands his influence over more than a dozen U.S. federal agencies, frustration is rising among some senior aides to President Donald Trump, who want more coordination from Musk\u2019s team as he shrinks the U.S. government, according to four people familiar with the tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and her team sometimes felt out of the loop as Musk\u2019s so-called Government Efficiency Department seeks to lay off thousands of federal workers, gain access to confidential data, and disrupt operations, the sources said. One of them said Wiles and some of her top aides recently discussed these issues with Musk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Musk predicted alignment between himself, his tight-knit DOGE staff, and Trump. But the hidden tension in the relationship with some White House officials highlights the potential difficulties for Trump in balancing his core team with Musk\u2019s DOGE staff as they upend agencies in a broad restructuring that has challenged Congressional authority and faced a series of lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a recent conversation, Wiles and her staff delivered a message to Musk: \u201cWe need to send a message about all of this. We need to loop in,\u201d a source familiar with the situation said. Reuters could not determine the exact date of their discussion or what changes, if any, Musk made after that conversation. The source added that Trump himself continues to speak positively about Musk in front of donors and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk did not respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment on the situation. An official familiar with the matter dismissed the description of tension, noting that initial \u201coperational delays\u201d had been smoothed out. According to the official, Musk sends Wiles reports at the end of each day, and they communicate by phone almost every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official also added that it was Musk\u2019s idea to hold a press conference on Tuesday in the Oval Office with his four-year-old son X by his side. \u201cHe showed up with his kid. We rolled with it,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday, Trump issued an order that expands Musk\u2019s power over the federal bureaucracy, requiring federal agencies to cooperate with DOGE in making significant workforce cuts and limiting hiring. The order calls for DOGE to appoint a \u201cteam leader\u201d at each government agency who will oversee all hiring decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is one team,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Levitt told reporters on Wednesday. \u201cElon Musk is serving at the request of the president, just like everyone else on this team. He receives directives directly from the president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Oval Office press conference, where Trump was standing next to him, Musk defended his role as an unelected official who has been granted unprecedented power by the Republican president to dismantle parts of the U.S. government. He told reporters that he talks to Trump almost daily, noting that his work is in the public\u2019s and democracy\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople voted for big government reform, and that\u2019s what people are going to get,\u201d Musk said. \u201cAll of our actions are as transparent as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, DOGE operates in deep secrecy. The organization provides almost no information about whom it is hiring, where it is working, and what actions it is taking in government agencies. It releases little information about its activities, only citing dollar figures for proposed cuts in specific agencies and few specifics. DOGE has stunned federal workers by sending its members to at least 15 agencies and gaining access to confidential data. As a \u201cspecial government employee,\u201d Musk\u2019s financial disclosure documents will not be made public, the White House said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One source noted that Wiles is not upset about Musk\u2019s efforts to liquidate government agencies and cut the federal workforce, but more about his approach. Wiles, one of two co-chairs of Trump\u2019s 2024 re-election campaign, wants Musk and DOGE to inform her team and work in a more organized manner, the source, who is directly familiar with the matter, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some frustration, but to say it\u2019s a schism,\u201d the person noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fourth source, a close associate of senior White House officials, described the friction as more serious and said Wiles\u2019 subordinates had expressed discomfort with information Musk posted on his social media platform X before it was cleared by senior White House staff. \u201cThey will definitely find out about it on Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4581,"template":"","class_list":["post-4576","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n