President Donald Trump is ordering Cabinet secretaries to use a "scalpel" not a "hatchet" when dealing with staffing cuts at the agencies. The news comes after a meeting to discuss next steps for the Department of Government Efficiency, which is being managed and directed by Elon Musk.
"The Golden Age of America has just begun! Over the past six weeks, our Administration has delivered on promises like no Administration before it, always putting America First! DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing," Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday afternoon. "As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the “scalpel” rather than the “hatchet.” The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level."
President Trump: "I want the cabinet members to keep good people...We're gonna be watching them. Elon and the group are gonna be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better and if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting." pic.twitter.com/W9Xvp2tRff
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 6, 2025
"We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one. It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people," Trump continued. We’re going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done. The relationships between everybody in that room are extraordinary. They all want to get to the exact same place, which is, simply, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
In recent days a number of federal employees who were laid off through extensive DOGE cuts have been rehired.
Elon Musk and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.
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