Elon Musk joined Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the US president signed an executive order allowing the tech billionaire to make large-scale reductions in the federal workforce.
As head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory group, Mr Musk says he wants to add “common sense controls” to government and ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely.
The executive order requires government agencies to work with DOGE, in some cases so they can be “eliminated or combined because their functions aren’t required by law”.
In addition, the agencies have been told to “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service”, with exceptions for immigration, law enforcement and public safety.
Answering reporters’ questions in the Oval Office, Mr Musk was asked to respond to accusations he is orchestrating a “hostile takeover” of government in a non-transparent way.
The Tesla CEO and owner of X said “the public voted for major government reform… and they’re going to get what they voted for. And that’s what democracy is all about”.
“We have this unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has in a lot of ways, currently more power than any elected representative,” he added, while stood alongside his son X Æ A-12.
British steel ‘absolutely has a future’ despite US tariffs, says deputy PM Angela Rayner
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth works out with marines ahead of first NATO meeting
Trump signs order reversing US move to ban plastic straws as he declares paper ones ‘don’t work’
Mr Musk also spoke about what he described as a lack of Treasury controls. “Your tax dollars need to be spent wisely on things that matter to the people… it’s just common sense. It’s not draconian or radical”.
When challenged about what checks and balances are in place to ensure accountability for Mr Musk, who is unelected, he replied: “We are trying to be as transparent as possible… I don’t know of a case where an organisation has been more transparent”.
👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈
Another reporter raised the possibility of conflicts of interest, pointing out Mr Musk has received billions of dollars in federal contracts.
“All of our actions are fully public,” he says, adding that he fully expects to be “scrutinised nonstop” – comparing it to “a daily proctologist exam” – but also admitting “we will make mistakes, but we’ll also fix the mistakes very quickly”.
US correspondent
This was the most awkward news conference starring the most awkward man, with his son picking his nose.
It was quite a remarkable event. The president of the US was justifying a full-scale assault on the federal government in the Oval Office with Elon Musk by his side.
There was little in the way of accountability, even if the country did vote for Donald Trump.
Nobody saw Elon Musk coming. Nobody saw the half dozen young men that have been sent into these federal agencies to sack people by the thousands.
Musk’s description of bureaucracy as an unconstitutional branch of government is “a stretch to say the least”.
Over many years, the will of the people has been to construct a bureaucracy to deal with their interests, whether that’s social security payments or high finance.
At the same time, team Trump is attempting to “railroad” their legislation through the courts despite the objections of judges.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Musk posted an attack aimed at judges who have issued rulings that paused Mr Trump’s executive actions.
“Democracy in America is being destroyed by judicial coup,” Mr Musk wrote on X.
The president voiced a similar complaint in the Oval Office alongside Mr Musk.
Follow our channel and never miss an update.
Read more from Sky News:
Kanye blocked from selling swastika T-shirts
‘Historic blow’ landed against Sicilian mafia
Russia releases American teacher from prison
“We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, we don’t want you to do that,” he said.
“So maybe we have to look at the judges, because that’s very serious. I think it’s a very serious violation.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Mr Trump also held discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House.
The president repeated his pledge to “take Gaza” and move its residents to Jordan and Egypt, something the king has rejected.
