Musk Made DOGE Cuts 'Backward,' Lutnick Says

Now that Elon Musk is out of town, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sees where the head of DOGE went wrong in trying to reduce the size of government. Musk "got caught up in other people's objectives," Lutnick said, sending him down the path of making the firing of federal employees his priority, per the Washington Post. "The focus should have been on cutting the waste, fraud and abuse, and the people you could do over time," he said. "I thought he got that backward." The comments were made in an interview with Axios co-founder Mike Allen that was published Friday.

Musk had disagreements with other Trump appointees before leaving the administration, and Cabinet members at times walked back his plans for their agencies. Lutnick said he still believes government could be smaller, but not that way: "Let the cabinet secretaries go in, study their place and make the proper cuts." But though the world's richest man has abandoned the project, the Department of Government Efficiency remains in business and so could adjust its approach. "DOGE is still pursuing that waste, fraud and abuse and I think it'll be effective," Lutnick said, per Axios. "Less effective than I would've hoped, but I think it's still going to be effective in cutting the waste, fraud and abuse."