Thus giving those sitting the room a shit sandwich to chew on while the ‘ole’ Man President Trump sat there …..
Grown people confirmed by the US Senate listening to a Rich Guy, that IS leading Trump around by the nose, who does have to justify himself to anyone else and IS pissinga LOT of people off….
Dept. and Agency heads and what staff they have will have to deal with operational holes, personnel shortages, lawmakes and judges rulings…
Stuff Musk and Trump don’t care about….
And off course MEDIA….
There IS a Tug-of-War brewing…...
A Musk tongue lashing in the White House won’t stop the power struggle from continuing….
Elon Musk at the first meeting of President Trump’s Cabinet defended his email demanding all federal workers report their accomplishments to his office, calling it a “pulse check” and saying anyone with a heart beat and neurons could complete it.
Musk said he asked all federal employees to send in emails on their accomplishments as proof people who are collecting paychecks are actually working. Musk has argued his efforts are rooted in eliminating waste and fraud in the government.
He said the email was not a personnel review “but a pulse review” and that anyone who was not dead could answer it.
“There are fictional individuals collecting paychecks,” Musk said of the government, though he did not offer specific evidence that people are fraudulently getting paychecks. “Are they alive and can they write an email?”
Musk, the world’s richest man, was dominant at the opening of the Cabinet meeting, offering a number of sharp comments toward the federal workforce while standing and taking questions from the press.
Musk, who is not a member of Trump’s formal Cabinet, did so as Trump’s Cabinet secretaries sat at their desks in the White House’s Roosevelt Room.
It was impossible to tell how much some of the Cabinet members agreed or disagree with Musk’s comments through their facial expressions and body language, though any public disagreements with Trump would be unexpected.
“Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw them out of here,” Trump asked the room at one point, eliciting some chuckles….
…
Moments before the Cabinet meeting, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent a memo directing agencies across government to turn over plans for widespread layoffs of federal employees by March 13.
It provided more specific guidance after a Feb. 11 executive order from Trump mandating layoffs, requiring agencies to break down their plans for a reduction in force and broader restructuring of their agencies….
Trump Cabinet vs Musk…..
But Musk has fought back, publicly condemning those who resisted and calling for federal employees to face a second order to explain their work accomplishments. His DOGE team, meanwhile, escalated its multipronged assault on the bureaucracy, preparing for a new round of even more sweeping layoffs and moving to cancel additional grants and other forms of federal spending, according to interviews with more than three dozen government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private deliberations…
…
The developments brought into increasing public view the extraordinary tug-of-war between the president’s billionaire surrogate and the other senior Trump aides who will have to execute Musk’s vision of drastically shrinking the U.S. government. Musk has previously faced setbacks from federal courts but now is running into new sources of opposition — including some Republicans in Congress — as he races to remake the U.S. government in ways some critics call illegal…
…
“Let’s be realistic: What we saw over the last week was a huge rebuke of Elon,” said a former Trump administration official who remains in close contact with current officials. “Trump’s Cabinet is finally beginning to realize the power of holding Senate-confirmed positions, which require a huge amount of political capital to replace.”
Several senior Trump officials said they had little to no warning of the Office of Personnel Management’s bullet-points email before Musk’s X post on Saturday — and then were deluged within minutes by questions from their own teams about how to respond. The officials also recounted spending much of the weekend strategizing over the OPM’s authority and what would happen if their agencies lost more workers….
…
The scope of Musk’s authority will ultimately be decided by President Donald Trump, who has given mixed signals. In recent days, he has repeatedly affirmed his support for Musk — saying on social media that he wants him to “GET MORE AGGRESSIVE” — but refrained, at least thus far, from mandating his Cabinet secretaries to comply with every dictate, such as the email requiring federal employees to provide a bulleted list of five things they had achieved in the previous week.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated to reporters that Cabinet secretaries have discretion over whether their employees need to answer Musk’s email, even as she sought to downplay tensions among the president’s top advisers. Leavitt also said more than 1 million employees had replied to the email.
“The president defers to his Cabinet secretaries, who he’s obviously entrusted to pursue the guidance relative to their specific workforce,” Leavitt said….
Note…
A mutiny by Trump’s Dept and Agencies Hedas WOULD essential shut down the Amereican Government…
Something of a romote chance….Right?
Note….
We have learned that some of Musk’s people have quit on him…..
I don’t see a “ mutiny.”
Trump’s Cabinet is composed is composed of a bunch of spineless ,worthless yes men and women who will do his bidding.
Trump supports Musk.
That’s all that matters