President Trump and Elon Musk defend federal government downsizing
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Thousands of federal government employees have been given pink slips in the first month of the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief, billionaire Elon Musk, are defending those cuts in their first joint interview with Fox News.
"I think all we're really trying to do here is restore the will of the people through the president and and what we're finding is that there's an unelected bureaucracy," Musk said.
The White House insists that DOGE is advising agencies, but that the final decisions on who gets cut rests with agency leaders or secretaries.
And those cuts have created confusion, like at the USDA, where CBS News confirmed some veterinarians and animal health technicians working on the bird flu outbreak were accidentaly fired. The agency said it's now working to rescind the dismissal letters.
Outside the CDC in Atlanta, protestors sounded off against cuts impacting more than 1,000 newer employees there.
Democratic lawmakers worry about potential impact to the public, especially with cuts to agencies like the FAA.
In the Fox News interview, President Trump insisted benefits such as Social Security are safe.
Late Tuesday, a federal judge ruled the court could not immediately block DOGE's efforts to access federal computer systems without "clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm," but acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations from states filing the lawsuit.
The Trump administration has said DOGE is focusing next on the Department of Defense, with representaives visiting the Pentagon weighing cuts at the federal government's largest agency.
