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The intense exchange unfolded during the meeting where Trump made it clear: the Cabinet heads, not the Elon Musk-led DOGE, will have the final say on staffing and policy at their agencies.
DOGE head Elon Musk, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio | File Image/AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Billionaire White House adviser Elon Musk clashed on Friday (IST) during an explosive Cabinet meeting, in the presence of President Donald Trump, over the extent of staff cuts Rubio had implemented.
The intense exchange unfolded during the meeting where Trump made it clear: the Cabinet heads, not the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will have the final say on staffing and policy at their agencies.
According to The New York Times, Musk, tasked by Trump to reduce federal workforce and government spending, accused Rubio of having fired “nobody” and resisting Musk’s push for large staff reductions.
“You haven’t fired anyone,” Musk told Rubio, mockingly adding that the only person he had fired was a staff member from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Rubio had been reportedly angry with Musk for weeks after his team dismantled the United States Agency for International Development, which was under Rubio’s control. But at Thursday’s cabinet meeting with President Trump and about 20 others—Rubio finally voiced his frustrations.
Pushing back, Rubio accused Musk of “not being truthful.” Highlighting that 1,500 State Department employees had taken early retirement buyouts, Rubio said, “Didn’t they count as layoffs?”
Rubio asked sarcastically whether Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again.
Trump Denies Clash Report
Trump denied the report on Friday when asked about it during a session with reporters in the Oval Office. “No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker,” he told a reporter who asked about the report.
“Elon gets along great with Marco and they’re both doing a fantastic job,” he said.
Trump added: “Marco has done unbelievably as Secretary of State. And Elon is a unique guy and has done a fantastic job.”
The meeting was convened following complaints about the Musk operation’s blunt-force approach from agency heads to top White House officials, including chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The White House Office of Legislative Affairs has been inundated with calls in recent days from frustrated Republican members of Congress all over the country, some of whom have faced anger from constituents at home.
