Adding to the dysfunction, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has set a loose target of slashing as many as 200,000 jobs from the Pentagon’s civilian work force of 750,000, a level of cuts Mr. Hegseth has warned would cripple some critical functions within the department, three current and former defense officials said.
Publicly, Mr. Hegseth has welcomed Mr. Musk and his team to the Pentagon and even promoted some of the savings that they have said they have found.
In private, he and Mr. Musk’s team have sparred over cuts to civilians who work in military hospitals, shipyards, munitions factories and schools. A senior official representing Mr. Musk’s effort in the Pentagon was recently replaced because Mr. Musk believed he wasn’t willing to make deep enough cuts, defense officials said. This month, Mr. Musk and Mr. Hegseth met at the White House to try to hash out their differences, according to current and former defense officials.
It wasn’t clear whether the two had come to an agreement.
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