Washington – A series of decisions revealed on Friday provided a vision of agitation that involved federal agencies since President Donald Trump and Elon Musk launched their interruption campaign, which altered how the government works large and small.
Some changes were designed to increase political control over the agencies that have historically operated with a certain degree of autonomy, such as demand Any contract exceeding $ 50,000.
Other directives increased charges for federal workers, who have already suffered insults, dismissals and threats of the president and other senior officials. For example, government credit cards issued to civilian employees in the Pentagon were altered to have A $ 1 limitdrowning your ability to work to work.
The transport security administration became another objective. The administration canceled a collective bargaining agreement With 47,000 workers who examine travelers and luggage at airports throughout the country, eliminating union protections in a possible prelude to dismissals or privatization.
Cascade developments are just a fraction of the agitation that has taken place since Trump assumed the position, but still restructured how hundreds of thousands of public servants do their work, with potentially durable consequences. The continuous vigil is much more intense than the typical whip that Washington supports when one administration yields to another, raising fundamental questions about how the government will work under a president who has seen public officials as an obstacle to their agenda.
The White House has fought with political setback on the role of musk and legal challenges They have tried to block or slow down their work. Republicans who face growing pressure in the contentious municipalities have begun to speak.
“I will admit completely, I think Elon Musk has tweeted first and thought secondly sometimes,” said representative Bill Huizenga, a Mich Republican., During a virtual meeting with voters on Friday. “It has necessarily advanced to know and understand what you legally have to do or what you are going to do.”
The federal government review is happening at the speed of lightning, which reflects years of preparation by Trump’s allies and the president’s decision to grant musk on his administration. Musk, a multimillionaire entrepreneur without prior experience in public service, has not shown interest in deceleration despite admitting that He will make mistakes In his crusade to cut the expense and reduce the workforce.
The government faces even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. Trump has addressed agencies to Prepare plans for generalized layoffsKnown as current reductions, which will probably require more limited operations in agencies that provide critical services.
The Department of Veterans Affairs could throw 80,000 employees, while the Internal Income Service and the Social Security Administration They are considering plans that would reduce their labor forces in half.
Trump has promised not to reduce the benefits of Social Security, but the Democrats argue that the dismissals would make the delivery of payments to 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.
There are also concerns that politics can interfere with Social Security. Trump has Feuded on transgender matters With the Democratic governor of Maine Janet Mills, and his administration recently said that children born in the state would no longer have a social security number assigned to birth. Instead, parents would have to request one in a local office.
Leland Dudek, the Interim Social Security Commissioner, He terminated the order on Friday.
“In retrospect, I realize that finishing these contracts created an undue burden for the people of Maine, which was not the intention,” he said in a statement. Dudek added that “as a leader, I will admit my mistakes and I will do them well.”
More than a month after Trump assumed the position, there is still confusion about Musk’s authority. In public statements and legal presentations, administration officials have insisted that Musk It doesn’t really run jug and has no direct authority over budgets.
But Trump has contradicted both statements. Said Doge on Tuesday is “headed by Elon Musk” in A stellar speech for a joint session of CongressAnd on Thursday that “Elon will make the cut” if the agency’s leaders do not reduce their expenses.
His approach has energized people like David Sacks, a risk capitalist who serves as Trump advisor on cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, who praised the administration as moving “faster than any startup of which he has been part.”
Trump denied friction reports between musk and cabinet officials, particularly the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a meeting on Thursday.
“Elon gets along very well with Marco,” said the president. The State Department had no immediate comments.
Norm Eisen, Executive President of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, an organization that has been demanding the Trump administration, said the president “made it clear that Musk and Dogs have been calling the shooting.”
Musk serves as a presidential advisor, not as an official confirmed by the Senate, who Eisen argued that he makes his role unconstitutional. He said that Trump’s comments are “an admission that the vast chaos that Musk and Dege have forged without appropriate approval and documentation are illegal, and therefore they must be completely unrolled.”
Many of the changes that sweep through Washington were lit by Trump’s executive orders. An order issued last week said agencies must develop new systems to distribute and justify payments so that they can be monitored by Doge representatives.
The EPA distributed guide intended to guarantee compliance.
“Any agreement of assistance, contract or transaction of agreement between agencies (valued at) $ 50,000 or more must receive the approval of a member of the EPA Doge team,” said the documents obtained by Associated Press.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island, the main Democrat in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said that the participation of the “team not with experience in Musk experience raises serious concerns about the inadequate external influence in the specialized decision making of the agency.”
Republicans have avoided celebrating City Council meetings with voters after critics began using them to vent their frustration.
Some protesters gathered outside the Huizanga district office in Holland, Michigan, asking him to answer questions in person.
“I would like to ask him why someone like Musk can enter and simply explode agencies without even knowing what they are doing,” said Linda Visscher, a Holland resident.
She said that increasing government efficiency was a good idea, but she doesn’t agree with “simply taking the torch.”
____
Associated Press Lolita Baldor, Matthew Daly, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Lee in Washington; Joey Cappelletti in Holland, Michigan; and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.
