After President Donald Trump assigned Elon Musk the power to fire federal workers, he has now relegated him to the role of “advisor” or “supervisor” of cabinet secretaries, as they will be the ones carrying out the cuts in each of the government departments.
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The decision was announced this Thursday by President Trump, while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, as reported by La Vanguardia.
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The measure comes after last week’s ruling by federal district judge in San Francisco, William Alsup, who determined that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does not have the authority to hire or fire any employee. This office was operating under the directions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.
Since taking office, the world’s richest man has begun threatening to dismiss workers from various departments of the United States Government, claiming that there are employees who do very little work.
Now, the authority for decisions regarding staff cuts lies with the cabinet secretaries, but this does not completely remove Musk’s power, as the secretaries will be under his “surveillance.”
“We will be watching them, and Elon and his team will also be watching them. If they can make cuts, great; if they don’t, then Elon will take care of making them,” Trump stated.
Federal budget cuts will no longer be made with Elon Musk’s “axe”
Through his social network Truth Social, President Trump emphasized that the cuts will no longer be made with Elon Musk’s “hatchet,” but with the “scalpel” of the secretaries of each section of his cabinet, as the latter have a more direct relationship with their different departments.
“Now that we have my cabinet in place, I have instructed the secretaries and leaders (of government agencies) to work with DOGE on cost reduction and staffing measures,” said Trump, highlighting “incredible success” in DOGE’s work with Musk.
He continued: “As secretaries get to know and understand the people who work for the different departments, they can be very precise about who will stay and who will go.”
It emphasized that although it is important to reduce staff to appropriate levels, they also know that they must retain the best and most productive workers.
“I want the cabinet members to stay with the good people and those who don’t do their job well, who are unreliable, who don’t show up to work... can be fired,” stated the President.