The New York Times: Saying ‘No’ to Musk

Some cabinet officials are showing a glimmer of willingness to check the billionaire’s power.

The New York Times / Jess Bidgood Saying ‘No’ to Musk - The New York Times

They have laid off their own workers. They have reshuffled their departments’ priorities. They have taken aim at D.E.I. But, after weeks of walking in lock step with the White House, some cabinet officials and other high-level Trump appointees have balked at a directive from Elon Musk. 

The episode — which began on Saturday with a demand by Musk, posted on X, that federal employees either sum up a week’s worth of their accomplishments by email or resign — morphed into a rare display of defiance in the highest ranks of the administration. And it became something of an effort to rein in Musk's power in real time.

Senior officials at the State Department, the F.B.I., the Energy Department and other agencies told their employees to hold off on responding to Musk’s message. Some of the agencies refusing to comply are run by close Trump allies like Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Pam Bondi.

Those officials didn’t specifically confront Musk. A note that went to some employees at the Justice Department said they should ignore the request “due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the department’s work,” according to an email obtained by my colleague Cecilia Kang.

And the spat over an email is far less intense than the dissent from some rank-and-file workers that my colleagues Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac and Nikole Hannah-Jones covered over the weekend.

But inherent in those agency leaders’ refusal to comply was a clear message: My agency reports to me, not to Elon Musk.

Trump, who sometimes encourages his advisers to duke it out in public, has done little to settle the matter. He praised Musk’s message today, and said employees who don’t answer would be “sort of semi-fired, or you’re fired.” But around the same time, my colleague Michael Shear wrote, the Office of Personnel Management told agencies that responding to the email is now voluntary.

Is that clear?

As we’ve noted before, Musk has been benefiting from the confusing, amorphous nature of his role. He was not confirmed by the Senate and he has no job description. It is not clear whether or not he will attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

But the internal resistance to his message suggests there is at least some willingness among cabinet members to define his role by saying what he can’t do.

Some of the voters flooding Republicans’ town halls to complain about the Trump administration’s early moves are specifically citing Musk.

Meanwhile, he lost a battle in the fight over access to government data. A federal judge barred his team from student loan databases.

And it is not just a court throwing up roadblocks. After Musk told federal workers to send an email explaining their work or resign, several members of President Trump’s cabinet told their employees to ignore it. We’ve got more on the confusion and division below.

Musk on defense

Musk’s X feed suggests he is feeling the pushback. My colleague Kate Conger explains. On Monday, Musk shared posts that pointed to a poll showing Americans broadly support a “full-scale effort” to eliminate waste and fraud in government.

Musk claimed this was an endorsement of his work: “Polls show that @DOGE is overwhelmingly POPULAR and that government spending should be reduced by at least $1 trillion!!” he wrote.

Musk also tried to brush off his controversial missive to workers across the federal government as overblown. “Absurd that a 5 min email generates this level of concern!,” he posted, along with a video featuring Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman, talking about slashing the ranks of the federal government.

Musk also seemed concerned with showing off his support from the one voter who matters most: Trump. He shared clips from today’s news conference, in which the president praised Musk’s work.

“Great President,” Musk wrote in response.