Donald Trump and Elon Musk face increasing headwinds in their attempt to brutally slash federal budgets and staffing, after two judges ruled against the firing of probationary employees by Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) and public polling revealed strong disapproval of the Tesla billionaire’s work.
Nonetheless, the gathering effects of the cuts were illustrated by news that federal agencies will begin to vacate hundreds of offices across the country this summer.
Citing internal documents from the General Services Administration (GSA), the Associated Press reported that dozens of federal leases were expected to end by 30 June, with hundreds more ending in the following months.
The GSA did not comment. But the AP reported that some agencies and lawmakers have appealed to exempt specific buildings, as several face 20 or more lease cancellations, among them the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Department of Agriculture and US Geological Survey.
Lesser-known agencies facing problems include the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water supply and deals with disputes across the west, and the Railroad Retirement Board, which provides benefits for railroad workers and their survivors.
“Some agencies are saying: ‘I’m not leaving. We can’t leave,’” Chad Becker, a former GSA official who now represents building owners with government leases, told the AP. “I think there’s going to be a period of pushback, a period of disbelief. And then, if necessary, they may start working on the actual execution of a move.”
Doge says GSA has notified landlords it plans to terminate 793 leases, mostly those that can be ended within months without penalty. Doge estimates such moves will save roughly $500m over leases which in some cases continue into the 2030s.
A fraction of Musk’s publicly stated $1tn cost-cutting goal, the $500m figure does not take into account the costs of moves and closures.
“My initial reaction is this is just going to cause more chaos,” Jim Simpson, an Arizona accountant who sits on an IRS panel that advocates for taxpayers, told the AP. “There’s a lot of room to help with government efficiency, but it should be done surgically and not with a chainsaw.”
The billionaire tech mogul Musk has posed with a chainsaw – a trope borrowed from Javier Milei, the rightwing populist president of Argentina – presenting himself as a merciless opponent of government waste and inefficiency.
True to form in gleefully stirring offense – not least by giving two Nazi-style salutes during Trump’s inauguration – Musk on Thursday reposted a message that blamed government workers for atrocities carried out by 20th-century totalitarian regimes.
“Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn’t murder millions of people,” the post said. “Their public sector workers did.”
Musk did not add comment. But a new Quinnipiac University poll suggested he may have cause to consider if his gleefully abrasive behavior is helping him achieve his aims.
“Sixty per cent of voters disapprove of the way Elon Musk and … Doge are dealing with workers employed by the federal government, while 36% approve,” Quinnipiac said.
The poll also reported a “wide partisan divide”, with 77% of Republicans in favor of Musk and Doge and 16% disapproving while 96% of Democrats disapproved.
The poll also showed that 54% of all voters think Musk and Doge are damaging the country, with 40% thinking the effort is helping.
Quinnipiac also found a public split on who will be blamed for a government shutdown if one occurs after a Friday midnight deadline for passing new a spending measure.
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Quinnipiac said: “If a government shutdown does occur, 32% of voters say they would blame Democrats in Congress the most, 31% say they would blame Republicans in Congress the most, 22% say they would blame President Trump the most, and 15% did not offer an opinion.”
Senate Democrats hold the key to avoiding a shutdown, as Republicans who control the chamber 53-47 must meet a 60-vote threshold. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader, attracted widespread opprobrium from his party when he said on Thursday he would vote to pass the funding package, because in his judgment a shutdown would allow Trump and Musk to do more damage.
Schumer said: “Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have full authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise that would ever be rehired.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, two federal judges ruled against Musk and Doge.
In the US district court for the northern district of California, the judge William H Alsup ruled that fired probationary employees must be offered their jobs back. At least 30,000 such employees have been fired so far.
In a case concerning Doge firings at the departments of defense, agriculture, energy and interior, and at veterans affairs and the treasury, Alsup said the process used by Doge was a “sham”, adding: “It is sad, a sad day. Our government would fire some good employee, and say it was based on performance. When they know good and well, that’s a lie.”
In Maryland, the district judge James Bredar issued a temporary restraining order blocking firings at 18 agencies including the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to close and which said this week would cut half its workforce.
On social media, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, defended Musk’s work.
“The ‘E’ in Doge is efficiency,” he said. “It’s not elimination. It’s not extinction. We are trying to make the government do better for the American people and right-size it – the government can do a better job for the American people at a better price.”
But Bredar took aim at Musk’s tech-influenced approach: “Move fast? Fine. Break things? If that involves breaking the law, then that becomes problematic.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting
