Trump Praises Elon Musk, Urges Him to ‘Get More Aggressive’ in Government Efficiency Crackdown
Just one month into his presidency, President Donald Trump is ramping up efforts to challenge progressives in Washington. Over the weekend, he took to social media to commend billionaire Elon Musk for his role in exposing government waste, urging him to take an even more aggressive approach. Musk, already a key figure in Trump’s administration through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has become a prime target for Democrats.
Trump’s praise came in a post on Truth Social, where he wrote in his signature all-caps style: “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!” Musk quickly responded on X, formerly Twitter, with a simple but telling reply: “Will do, Mr. President!”
The partnership between Trump and Musk has intensified as they take aim at government inefficiencies across various sectors, from energy policies to foreign aid and illegal immigration. Musk, through DOGE, has spearheaded investigations into financial mismanagement within federal agencies, ruffling feathers within the progressive establishment. His efforts have already led to significant disruptions, particularly at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Education.
One of Musk’s latest targets is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where he claims to have uncovered a “motherlode” of fraudulent spending amounting to billions of dollars. His team at DOGE has been granted access to critical financial data from multiple federal agencies following a recent court victory. Additionally, DOGE is now preparing to receive internal data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an unprecedented development that has sparked both support and outrage.
According to a report from The New York Times, a young software engineer named Gavin Kliger, working with DOGE, will be granted access to sensitive taxpayer information as a senior adviser to the IRS’s acting commissioner. Critics argue that such access could pose risks, with former Biden administration official Lily Batchelder stating on X that she could not recall political appointees ever having direct access to IRS databases. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren have demanded further transparency, fearing the information could be used to target political adversaries or expose private citizens’ data.
Ironically, while concerns grow over potential IRS data leaks, a high-profile breach already occurred in 2021 when an IRS official leaked Musk’s own tax returns, along with those of other billionaires, to ProPublica. Despite the scrutiny, Trump remains steadfast in his support of Musk, reinforcing the mission of DOGE. White House spokesman Harrison Fields defended the initiative, stating: “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”
Meanwhile, legal challenges against Musk’s increasing authority have gained traction. A coalition of 14 Democratic state attorneys general, led by New Mexico, filed a lawsuit arguing that Musk’s role at DOGE is unconstitutional because he was not confirmed by the Senate. They sought to block DOGE from accessing seven federal agencies, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied their request for an immediate injunction, stating that they had not provided sufficient proof of “irreparable harm.”
Judge Chutkan, an Obama appointee previously involved in the now-dismissed January 6 case against Trump, did not dismiss concerns about DOGE’s unchecked power. In her ruling, she noted, “Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight.” However, she emphasized that without clear evidence of imminent harm, the court could not issue a broad temporary restraining order against DOGE.
Since Trump’s inauguration, DOGE has aggressively placed employees within federal agencies with the goal of cutting trillions in government spending. This fast-paced overhaul has fueled controversy and legal battles, solidifying Musk’s central role in the administration. With Trump urging him to take an even more aggressive stance, it is clear that the fight over government efficiency, spending, and oversight is only just beginning.