Republican senators expressed their concerns about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to freezing federal spending and cutting government jobs during a private meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday.
Some Republican senators gathered in the historic Mansfield Room outside the Senate chamber to complain about what they see as a lack of transparency about Musk and his engineering team’s work at federal agencies.
According to sources familiar with the meeting, they raised concerns about cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which laid off 1,400 employees on Monday, and claimed Musk’s team had not responded to their requests for information.
“Every day’s another surprise,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) bombshells.
“It would be better to allow Cabinet secretaries to carefully review their departments and then make surgical, strategic decisions on what programs and people should be cut and then come back to Congress for approval,” according to her.
Collins argued that a methodical approach to government reform was preferable to Musk’s “sledgehammer approach.”
A second Republican senator stated that colleagues expressed concerns about Musk’s leadership of DOGE and shared stories about how funding freezes and firings affected constituents.
“They were presenting some of the compelling stories and some of them shared about terminations at VA hospitals and how it impacted constituents and how there was no answer” provided by Musk’s staff, the senator said.
“Another question was, ‘Who do we bring it to when we have these issues?'” the informant said.
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) is one of the Republican senators looking for answers. He told The Hill that he is investigating whether the firing of 2,400 probationary VA employees will have an impact on veteran services.
“We’re asking that question,” he said. “We want to know [which] positions are affected. We have been assured that it has no impact on direct care, but we are seeking additional information.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs is providing the committee that information, but we haven’t gotten everything that we’ve wanted,” the senator said.
Moran stated that he wants to hear from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) about which positions are being eliminated and how this will affect federal services and benefits.
Wiles acknowledged the Republican senators’ concerns and urged them to contact her directly if they encountered any issues as a result of Musk’s sweep through the federal workforce.
“She’s been very responsive,” Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) said. “Some guys wanted to know, ‘OK, in terms of DOGE, who do you call in the cabinet? “Or should we call her?”
Hoeven stated that Musk has hired a team of engineers who are “coming in and finding things” to cut at various federal agencies, “but they’re not communicators.”
“She understands that she and the agencies must work with us to address the various issues that arise,” he said of Wiles’ message to Republican senators.
Musk dominated Trump’s first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, defending his email demanding that all federal employees report on their accomplishments.
Though Musk is not a member of Trump’s Cabinet, the president allowed the billionaire to speak first and express himself freely.
At one point, Trump interrupted, “Elon, let the Cabinet speak for a second.”
Musk spoke with Trump’s departmental leaders shortly after the OMB and OPM issued a memo instructing agencies to conduct a governmentwide reduction in force and report their plans for mass layoffs by March 13.
Some Republican senators believe Musk should take a step back and let Trump’s Cabinet officials decide whether layoffs are consistent with their other priorities.
And they want to know how Musk and his team plan to reshape the federal workforce.
“I think it’s always going to help if we’re going to get more information on the method,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who mentioned that some of his GOP colleagues plan to visit the White House on Thursday to learn more about DOGE.
“I do think briefings help us,” he added.
Tillis suggested that Musk and DOGE serve as advisers to Trump’s Cabinet officials rather than making major policy decisions themselves.
“We’re talking about governmental entities, which are extremely complex. That is why I believe DOGE will soon transition to serving as an adviser to these Senate-confirmed agency heads,” he said. “Otherwise, I’ve got a real problem.
“If I get confirmed as the head of an agency, a Cabinet-level position, [and] I’ve got somebody else that is pretending — or that is acting as my boss, that’s a real problem,” said the minister. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to have all those employees thinking that you’re looking out for the agencies and their best interests.”
Tillis stated that if Trump’s Cabinet officials “want to be viewed as the heads of these agencies,” they must balance Musk’s recommendations for staff reductions with their missions to provide services and advance US interests.
“They need to say, ‘This is all good stuff, but now it has to fit into the context of everything else I’m doing to run this agency, not just efficiencies.'” Because you still have to keep the lights on and provide adequate service levels to the people you’re tasked with serving,” he explained.
Some Republican senators say they are receiving complaints from constituents who are concerned about the potential freezing of federal grants or the loss of their jobs.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) urged Musk on Tuesday to treat federal employees “respectfully.”
“I think that any process you undergo where you’re trying to find efficiencies, if that involves reductions in force, it needs to be done in a respectful way, obviously respectful of the people involved,” he told reporters.
