Elon Musk’s Oval Office address showed why he’s a menacing foe for the federal government and why President Donald Trump is playing with fire by ceding him so much power.

Elon Musk, the head of President Donald Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency, was at the White House for Trump’s signing of an executive order directing federal employees to work with DOGE to cut the size of the government’s workforce.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk has long railed against the U.S. government, saying a crushing number of federal investigations and safety programs have stymied Tesla, his electric car company, and its efforts to create fleets of robotaxis and other self-driving automobiles.

President Trump has empowered Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, to gut the federal bureaucracy. Here's 5 ways he's starting to carry it out.

Elon Musk has long railed against the U.S. government, saying a crushing number of federal investigations and safety programs have stymied Tesla, his electric car company, and its efforts to create self-driving automobiles.

The president let the spotlight in the Oval Office go to his billionaire friend/budget slasher, who cited blank checks and 150-year-old Social Security beneficiaries to justify purging the federal work force.

A judge extended his pause Monday on the Trump administration’s plan to slash the federal workforce through mass buyouts, hours after a different judge ruled the government had violated an order to stop freezing federal funds—the latest in a slew of legal actions as Democrats and others fight President Donald Trump and cost-cutting czar Elon Musk in court.

Elon Musk joined Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday as the president signed an executive order to shrink the federal government. The latest order directs DOGE to drastically reduce staffing in federal agencies.