Trump, Trying To Temper His DOGE Chief, Tells Him To Take a ‘Scalpel’ Rather Than a ‘Hatchet’ to Executive Branch

Republicans are crossing their fingers that Elon Musk doesn’t throw another fit and sink another government funding deal once the bill is released this weekend — something the Department of Government Efficiency chief did back in December. Fears about another freakout from the world’s richest man comes even as President Trump is telling Mr. Musk to take a “scalpel” to his efforts. Republicans and Democrats have for weeks been working on a spending bill that would keep the government open through September, though it is already running into problems in the lower chamber. Members of the House Freedom Caucus and the conservative Study Committee have already said they won’t vote for a “clean” continuing resolution which simply extends government funding at current levels through the end of the fiscal year. Senator Hoeven, who is a member of the Appropriations Committee, told The New York Sun on Thursday that the bipartisan spending bill should be unveiled sometime this weekend, which is exactly when Mr. Musk could whip up a frenzy of opposition to the legislation. In December, Mr. Musk went on a tirade against the spending agreement Speaker Johnson struck with Democrats, leading Mr. Trump himself to call on lawmakers to drop the bill just days before the shutdown deadline. Some GOP lawmakers worry such a thing could happen again. “The last thing we need is someone other than anybody that’s trying to unify us. Don’t give us a third objective. If you do, then we’ll have a non-event,” Senator Tillis said, meaning a shutdown. “He’s hit a few speed bumps,” Mr. Tillis said of Mr. Musk. Mr. Hoeven told the Sun that the March 14 deadline will be “a real test” for Mr. Musk and Republicans’ ability to get conservative policy results after Mr. Musk met with GOP senators at their weekly lunch on Wednesday. “We didn’t really talk about that,” Mr. Hoeven said of keeping Mr. Musk in the loop on the funding deal. “We’ll just have to see.”The chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Senator Boozman, says that Mr. Musk is trying to improve communication channels with lawmakers, though he isn’t sure the world’s richest man won’t be upset by some of what he sees in the bill. “As far as being on board, it depends on the issue, the circumstances and all that,” he says. “I hope we don’t shut down,” Mr. Boozman added with a laugh. At their lunch with Mr. Musk on Wednesday, lawmakers tried to steer the DOGE chief toward letting them do their jobs in cutting costs rather than having him do his mad dash through the executive branch, much of which has been blocked by federal judges. The Senate’s budget chief, Senator Graham, told reporters after the lunch that lawmakers had to inform him about how they could cut money from the budget while avoiding the 60-vote threshold filibuster. Mr. Graham told members of the press that Mr. Musk did some kind of small dance when Senator Paul informed the billionaire about how the budget process actually worked. “What we’ve gotta do is capture their work product, put it in a bill, and vote on it. … I’m urging them to come up with a rescission package,” Mr. Graham said, referring to a legislative proposal that would allow Congress to cancel funds that were previously appropriated. That kind of legislation only requires 51 votes — not the typical 60 in order to avoid the filibuster. “He was like, so happy. He didn’t know it,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. Musk learning about the rescission process. “He was going like this,” Mr. Graham said, mimicking Mr. Musk’s apparent movements by swaying back and forth while pumping his fists in the air.Senator Hawley also confirmed to reporters that the lawmakers’ pitch to the DOGE chief was well-received. “He was elated, I think, about that. He didn’t realize it could be done at 51 rather than 60,” Mr. Hawley told reporters of lawmakers informing Mr. Musk that it was their job to cut the budget. “He was like, ‘Oh, what a great idea!’”The president, too, is seemingly trying to pull back Mr. Musk from running afoul of the law. At a meeting with his Cabinet on Thursday, Mr. Trump instructed his administration to take a “scalpel” to their departments rather than a “hatchet.”“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 president wrote on Truth Social. “The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.”

Trump, Trying To Temper His DOGE Chief, Tells Him To Take a ‘Scalpel’ Rather Than a ‘Hatchet’ to Executive Branch

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