Washington — President Trump is holding his first Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, convening his top advisers who are now largely in place across the executive branch.
Mr. Trump opened the meeting shortly before noon in the Cabinet Room of the White House, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seated beside him. Billionaire and senior Trump adviser Elon Musk, who is not a member of the Cabinet, is participating in the meeting, although he is not seated at the table.
The president invited Musk to speak first and share the work that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is doing. The president insisted his Cabinet officials are pleased with Musk’s work, despite sometimes conflicting guidance from Musk and federal agency heads. Musk is not formally leading the DOGE task force, but has been tasked with overseeing its work by the president.
“They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he’s doing this, and some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you for the most part I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled,” Mr. Trump said.
Musk said DOGE’s main goal is to help federal agencies address wasteful spending.
“DOGE is a support function for the president and for the agencies and departments, to help achieve those savings and to effectively find 15% in reduction in fraud and waste,” Musk said. While he said that DOGE has tried to be transparent by posting all of its savings online, a CBS News analysis found many discrepancies in its so-called “wall of receipts.”
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The Cabinet meeting comes as Musk has started to run into opposition from other top officials in his push to slash federal spending and the government’s workforce. In recent days, he has said federal employees must respond to an email by describing five things they accomplished last week or face termination, sparking confusion among federal workers. Multiple Senate-confirmed heads of departments told their employees that they could ignore the demand, which was issued by the Office of Personnel Management. As of Tuesday, the White House said more than 1 million federal employees had responded.
“Letters were sent out and I think everyone at this table is very much behind it, and if they aren’t, I want them to speak up,” Mr. Trump said during the Cabinet meeting, adding that, “in many cases, we haven’t gotten responses.”
Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday that “ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON. The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!”
When a reporter asked Musk if he’s heard of any Cabinet members who are unhappy with him, the president asked his own Cabinet members if they had anything to say. None spoke up.
“This is an incredible group of people,” Musk said of the president’s Cabinet.
Most, but not all, of Mr. Trump’s top nominees have now been confirmed by the Senate. A full Senate vote has yet to be scheduled for Rep. Elise Stefanik, his pick to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as House Republicans cannot afford to lose a vote given their razor-thin majority. Linda McMahon, Mr. Trump’s pick to run the Department of Education, also has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Trump has pledged to overhaul that department.
The president’s nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor is still in limbo, with no vote scheduled yet. And the Senate has yet to confirm Jamieson Greer as U.S. trade representative, although the Senate advanced his nomination this week, as the president imposes hefty new tariffs on allies and adversaries alike.
