Tesla chief executive Elon Musk (left) waves as he walks with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (right) and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles as they depart the White House in Washington DC. Photo / AFP
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk (left) waves as he walks with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (right) and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles as they depart the White House in Washington DC. Photo / AFP
Elon Musk was accused of lying by Donald Trump’s Cabinet members over Doge layoffs.
Sean Duffy and Doug Collins clashed with Musk about air traffic and veterans affairs staffing cuts.
Trump concluded the meeting by allowing Cabinet secretaries to decide on staffing, emphasising precision over broad cuts.
In an extraordinary confrontation on Friday, which took place in front of the President, two members of Trump’s administration clashed with the world’s richest manover Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) layoffs.
Sean Duffy, the Department of Transport Secretary, was enraged by Musk’s attempts to cull air traffic controllers despite the national shortage.
He accused Musk, the government efficiency tsar, of firing personnel who should not have been laid off, which Musk denied.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Photo / AFP
Duffy is understood to have slid a spreadsheet across a desk in front of the President, to allege Musk was not telling the truth about the scale of his cutbacks, the Telegraph understands.
The exchange ended with the President ordering Duffy to hire staff from MIT as air traffic controllers because the role requires “geniuses”, the New York Times reported.
While the President watched on, Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, pointedly claimed operations were being cancelled in Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals because of Musk’s Doge cuts.
Elon Musk stands as he is recognised by US President Donald Trump during Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. Photo / AFP
Marco Rubio privately infuriated with Musk
When Musk denied this, Collins demanded that Doge should be strategic about its cuts and not wield a blunt instrument to cleave off staff in his department, to which the President agreed.
“Trump called the meeting and then he backed his Cabinet guys. Collins and Duffy called him [Musk] a liar to his face, in front of the President.”
Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who has been privately infuriated with Musk for weeks, is also said to have aired his grievances.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26. Photo / AFP
Seated diagonally opposite the Secretary of State, the tech billionaire accused Rubio of failing to slash his staff, according to the New York Times.
Rubio had fired “nobody”, Musk is said to have told the Secretary of State, scornfully insinuating that the only person he had fired was a staff member from Doge.
Rubio in turn pointed out the more than 1500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts.
Musk told Rubio he was “good on TV”. After the heated confrontation dragged on, Trump is said to have intervened to defend the Secretary of State, who he said was doing a “great job”.
‘Scalpel rather than hatchet’
The President concluded the extraordinary encounter, which is the first sign of disruption among his ranks, by telling his Cabinet secretaries that decisions on staffing would be left up to them, not Musk.
In a post on social media after the meeting, Trump said: “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.
“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’,” Trump added.
Trump is facing mounting legal disputes over Musk’s attempts to centralise management of the government workforce and bypass the traditional role of Congress to carry out executive actions.
Musk and his team are accused of burrowing into agencies, accessing sensitive data and firing career officials with their demands.
Top officials, including at the Social Security Administration, abruptly stepped down after refusing to comply with Musk’s team.
Tens of thousands of workers accepted an offer to resign early and more are facing potential layoffs.
Tesla cheif executive Elon Musk (second from right) and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (right) follow US President Donald Trump out of the Oval Office. Photo / AFP
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: “President Trump said this was a great and productive meeting among members of his team to discuss cost-cutting measures and staffing across the federal government.
“Everyone is working as one team to help President Trump deliver on his promise to make our Government more efficient.”
Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the State Department, told the New York Times: “Secretary Rubio considered the meeting an open and productive discussion with a dynamic team that is united in achieving the same goal: making America great again.”
A Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman said: “As President Trump has said, it’s important to increase efficiency and reduce bureaucracy while keeping in place the best and most productive federal employees. VA is working with Doge and the rest of the administration to do just that.”
Writing on X, Duffy said: “Doge is doing incredible work helping agencies identity inefficiencies as well as advising us as we work on the critical upgrades to our air traffic control system. During the Cabinet meeting, I discussed the importance of safety, particularly at the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and with air traffic controllers.
“The President’s approach of a scalpel versus a hatchet and better co-ordination between secretaries and Doge is the right approach to revolutionising the way our Government is run.”
