Trump’s Budget Hawk Takes Over the DOGE Agenda. First Up: the Military.

During Trump’s cabinet meeting last month, members of the president’s team applauded Musk for his work on DOGE in what appeared to be a farewell of sorts. The president told the Tesla CEO he was “invited to stay as long as you want—at some point he wants to get back home to his cars.”

Democrats have assailed the Trump administration’s budget proposal and use of DOGE to downsize the federal government, arguing that it undermines congressional authority, and have attempted in vain to force Musk to appear before Congress. “Mr. Musk needs to testify before our committee—he needs to testify on what was done,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee.