Employees of the Department of Government Efficiency are worried Elon Musk‘s infamous chainsaw to government waste may come for them after his falling out with Donald Trump.
Musk and Trump’s bromance showed signs of unraveling when the SpaceX boss departed the White House but their differences were made apparent publicly over the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’
The ex-‘First Buddy’ has spent the days since torching the relationship, everything from publicly slamming Trump’s spending bill to claiming the president is in The Epstein Files (which he quietly later deleted).
Trump has also knifed a key Musk ally by pulling his nomination to become NASA administrator.
That has many of those who remain at the Department of Government Efficiency worried that they may ‘get DOGE’d’ themselves, as group chats between employees have reportedly lit up wondering where their future in government lies.
As former DOGE software engineer Sahil Lavingia said, he and many of the people attempting to streamline the government were already allies or employees of Musk.
‘I worry with Elon gone, no one will join, and it will just slowly fade away,’ Lavingia told the Wall Street Journal.
Even if they remain, without Musk, the organization that claimed it has already cut $180 billion in government waste may never be the same.
Employees of the Department of Government Efficiency are worried Elon Musk ‘s infamous chainsaw to government waste may come for them after his falling out with Donald Trump
Even before their feud went public, Trump (pictured right) knifed a key Musk ally by pulling his nomination to become NASA administrator
‘Working there felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain, and it’ll just fall back down if the work doesn’t continue,’ Lavingia added.
For now, the Trump White House remains proud of the department’s work and looks for it to continue.
‘Trump’s success through DOGE is undisputed, and [the president’s] work will continue to yield historic results,’ spokesperson Harrison Fields said.
However, sources told WSJ that many are worried that at the very least, DOGE will see massive staffing cuts without Musk’s protection.
Russell Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, seemed to confirm that they are now at the mercy of whomever is in charge of the department that they were hired to cut waste from.
‘Cabinet agencies that are in charge of the DOGE consultants that work for them are fundamentally in control of DOGE,’ he told Congress earlier this week.
The fallout between Trump and Musk – who were political allies for a little less than a year – started in recent weeks when the billionaire started resisting Republicans’ ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ arguing that the spending wiped out DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts.
However, there were signs of the strain between the two on the day Musk left the White House, as Trump pulled the nomination for Jared Isaacman to be the new NASA administrator despite reports he was a shoe-in for confirmation.
With Musk no longer in the White House to protect them, DOGE employees are worried that they may ‘get DOGE’d’ themselves
Former DOGE employee Sahil Lavingia (pictured left) said he and many of the people attempting to streamline the government were already allies or employees of Musk, making them vulnerable now that he’s left the White House
Isaacman, 42, had his nomination pulled after a ‘thorough review’ of his ‘prior associations,’ Trump said.
He believes the nomination was withdrawn to coincide with his friend Musk parting ways with the administration and was pushed for by Sergio Gor, an anti-Musk White House official.
Then, on Thursday, when Trump was supposed to be hosting the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, he was asked about Musk’s recent criticism.
From there the dam broke. ‘Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will any more, I was surprised,’ Trump told reporters.
The president suggested that Musk was angry – not over the bill ballooning the deficit – but because the Trump administration has pulled back on electric vehicle mandates, which negatively impacted Tesla, and replaced the Musk-approved nominee to lead NASA, which could hinder SpaceX’s government contracts.
‘And you know, Elon’s upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles, and they’re having a hard time the electric vehicles and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy,’ Trump said. ‘I know that disturbed him.’
Musk posted to X as Trump’s Q&A with reporters was ongoing. ‘Whatever,’ the billionaire wrote.
‘Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,’ he advised.
Jared Isaacman (pictured) believes his nomination was pulled the same day as Musk’s departure from the White House by an administration official who hated the Tesla CEO
‘In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that [is] both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!’ Musk continued.
‘Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.’
The spat quickly turned personal with Musk then posting that Trump would have lost the 2024 election had it not been for the world’s richest man – him.
Musk publicly endorsed Trump on the heels of the July 13th assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania and poured around $290 million into the Republican’s campaign.
The billionaire also joined Trump on the campaign trail when he returned to the site of the Butler shooting in early October, a month before Election Day.
After his meeting with Merz, Trump continued to throw punches online. He asserted that he had asked Musk to leave his administration and said he was ‘CRAZY!’
‘Elon was “wearing thin,” I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!’ Trump wrote.
It was after that post that he then threatened to pull SpaceX and Tesla’s government contracts.
Musk then taunted Trump to act. ‘This just gets better and better,’ he wrote. ‘Go ahead, make my day …’
In a follow-up post, Musk said he would ‘begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.’
Trump continued his ‘crazy’ remarks on Friday when speaking with CNN Anchor and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash.
He said: ‘I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem.’
The tech billionaire also claimed Trump appeared in files relating to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a post on his social media platform X as the pair traded blows in a sensational public row.
Musk gave no evidence for the claim, which has since been deleted, and the White House dismissed the allegation.
On Sunday, Trump said his relationship with Musk was over and rejected the idea of repairing their relationship.
