White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed reporters on Wednesday, explaining why Elon Musk will be at President Trump’s first Cabinet meeting, even though he is not part of the Cabinet.
“When it comes to Musk, he works with the Cabinet secretaries and their staff every day to find waste, fraud, and abuse in their agencies,” Leavitt said when asked why Musk was attending the meeting. “All the Cabinet secretaries follow the advice and direction from Musk’s DOGE,” she added.
Leavitt also noted that the secretaries “work alongside” DOGE and provided more details about the meeting.
“Cabinet members will share updates on what they’re doing at their agencies, including their policies and fulfilling the promises President Trump made during the campaign,” she said.
Musk’s presence in Trump’s cabinet meeting comes as Republicans in Congress look for ways to slash federal spending to fund an ambitious tax-cut plan.
Trump has already frozen foreign aid and let go of over 20,000 federal workers in an effort to cut $1 trillion from the government’s $6.7 trillion budget. He is also pushing Congress to pass tax cuts, which would decrease government revenue by trillions of dollars over the next decade, potentially making the national debt worse.
After a narrow vote in the House of Representatives late Tuesday, Republicans are now considering cutting health and food aid for the poor to make up for these tax cuts.
Musk’s attempts to cut spending have caused disruptions in government work, including halting construction projects and freezing scientific research across the country. Some senior members of Trump’s team were caught off guard by Musk’s Saturday email demanding that the 2.3 million federal employees justify their jobs. Some agencies instructed employees to ignore the request.
Musk, however, is still pushing for workers to respond. Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the request was “somewhat voluntary,” but also noted, “if you don’t answer, I guess you get fired.”
Despite these efforts, government spending has continued to rise. A Reuters analysis shows the government spent $710 billion in Musk’s first month in office, up 13% from last year. This increase is mostly due to growing interest payments on the country’s $36 trillion debt and higher health and retirement costs for an aging population.
On Tuesday, 21 workers from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned, saying they did not want to help cut public services or put Americans’ personal information at risk.
Musk’s team has sought access to sensitive records, including payments, health, tax, and personnel data, raising privacy and security concerns.
On Tuesday, Musk criticized federal judges who have blocked his team from accessing certain sensitive data at the Treasury Department, Education Department, and the Office of Personnel Management.
“The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges,” Musk wrote on X. “No one is above the law, including judges.”
To impeach a federal judge, a two-thirds majority in the Senate would be required, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
