Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says Elon Musk got DOGE ‘backward’
Summary
Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce who recruited Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has publicly criticised Musk’s rapid staff cuts at the agency, saying Musk “got that backward.” Lutnick argues waste, fraud and abuse should have been targeted first and that personnel reductions should have been handled more gradually and strategically.
Key Points
- Lutnick recruited Musk to head DOGE with a mandate to cut $1 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse.
- Lutnick said Musk modelled his approach on the swift staff cuts he made at Twitter (now X), and that this was the wrong application for government.
- Musk reportedly fired roughly 200,000 federal workers while at DOGE, a move widely criticised by management experts.
- Lutnick highlighted examples of alleged waste — such as a $7.4bn Biden-era semiconductor grant to a private nonprofit — saying spending cuts should have prioritised such waste first.
- The once-close relationship between Lutnick and Musk has cooled amid public disagreements over how DOGE’s cuts were executed.
Content Summary
Lutnick told Axios that Musk adopted the same rapid-fire staff-reduction playbook he used at Twitter, believing it would work for government. Lutnick disagreed, saying that an immediate, across-the-board personnel purge was “backward” compared with a focus on trimming waste, fraud and abuse first and letting cabinet secretaries study and implement measured staff changes over time.
Previously, Lutnick publicly praised Musk and said he set Musk up with the role at DOGE after meeting him in October 2024, setting an ambitious goal of cutting $1 trillion. But after Musk’s tenure — which saw massive federal layoffs — Lutnick has shifted to a more critical public stance.
Context and Relevance
This story matters for anyone following public-administration reform, federal budgeting and the role of private-sector leaders in government. The clash highlights tensions between rapid private-sector-style restructuring and the complexities of trimming a large public workforce without disrupting essential services.
It also ties into broader debates about accountability for large federal grants and programmes, and whether headline staff cuts actually address root causes of wasteful spending.
Author style
Punchy: We skimmed the politics and pulled out the bits that matter — who said what, why it matters, and the figures involved.
Why should I read this?
Short version: Lutnick — who put Musk in charge of DOGE — now says Musk handled the firings the wrong way. If you care about how government reform is actually being implemented (and whether big cuts fix the problem or just make headlines), this gives you the quick take without the spin.
