President Donald Trump made the surprising announcement on Thursday that his Cabinet Secretary actually runs the agency they lead – and Elon Musk isn't.
The president then added that the secretary will work with Doge (the government's efficiency department) on future spending cuts, but he said they should be “accurate” to cut jobs – using “Scapel” rather than “hand hatch.”
Trump's statement, which was first made privately during a cabinet meeting before that version was posted to the True Society, was widely interpreted as a restraint on Musk's rampage through the federal workforce, and was able to mark the end of the first phase of the DOGE project.
But a few hours later, Trump issued a kind of warning to his agency manager. “We're going to see them,” he told reporters. “Eron and the group are looking at them. And if they can cut it, it's better. And if they don't cut, Eron does the cut.”
It's less than two weeks since Trump urged Musk to “become more aggressive.” This is the demand that sparked days of chaos. Musk asked, “What did you do last week?”, claiming that not responding would involve resignation.
But on Thursday, Trump took a different tone, showing a change in his approach, at least for now.
There are several reasons for this. For one, the question of the authority that Musk has and whether his position is constitutional is the subject of several proceedings in court. The administration has engaged in some legal gameplay to try to obfuscate whether Musk is calling a shot, but a new “clearing” of his role could be done in the hopes of providing a strong defense to the judge.
Another possibility is that amid some worrying economic signs and troubles in the market, Trump has chosen to hit a little pause in both his trade war and his doge. In addition to the various substantial shocks Musk has created, along with the bad headlines he has produced, his extensive layoffs and cancellation of contracts have financial consequences.
Doge may also just run out of simple agency targets. With the USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau being semi-published, it will not be easy to tell what the next institution will be able to take the ball of destruction with restricted political outcomes. So, while Doge will probably retain its epic ambitions, rather than destroying everything right away, it will take a little more time to plot the exact details of the deep cuts they recommend.
Finally, it's too early to say this is a lasting change. Trump's governance approach often goes through a cycle in which he causes confusion, gets bored of it and pulls it back, and bores him and causes confusion again. Now he might want to hold back musk. But how does he feel in a week or two?
