Musk, joined by his son X as he stood next to President Donald Trump, defended the work that he and DOGE, which he is the head of, have done over the past three weeks, citing how “the people voted for major government reform,” and he is working with Trump to give voters this. York, the Washington Examiner’s chief political correspondent, argued that Musk attempted to “regularize” DOGE’s work with the voters, as “nothing really systematic” has been told to the public thus far.
“So yesterday, you had Elon Musk himself, pretty extraordinary scene, showing up in the Oval Office to explain, in broad terms, what they were trying to do, and President Trump also signed an executive order yesterday ordering DOGE and the federal agencies to work together in a more systematic way, and hopefully that will also mean releasing more about what they’re doing,” York assessed on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “‘They cut this program, that program, they found this crazy grant, that crazy grant,’ more systematically show and explain to the American people what’s going on.”
York also reflected on a post from DOGE’s X account, which revealed how federal employee retirements are done by hand at a Pennsylvania mine and how the process takes multiple months to complete. York agreed with Musk that this process is “so far removed” and out of date from how the retirement process would operate in a modern age, and addressing this is “certainly” something worth doing.
Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process… pic.twitter.com/dXCTgpAWLs
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 11, 2025
“And remember, DOGE is Department of Government Efficiency, that doesn’t mean just firing people,” York said. “It means actually doing the job better, and that’s a great example.”
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The topic of Democratic lawmakers seeking to resist Musk and DOGE’s work to downsize the government was also addressed, and York assessed that these lawmakers have made Musk “the main target” after finding their footing since Trump’s inauguration. He added that this tactic of working against DOGE and defending “some of the most unpopular parts of the federal government” is what Democrats “really think” is a winning matter for them and that it is a matter of waiting to see how this plays out for the party.
However, not all Democrats are seeking to work against Musk and DOGE, as some have urged both to look into the Defense Department’s “oversized budget.” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), for instance, pushed back against Republicans and their proposal for a $150 billion increase to the defense budget, arguing that increasing it “does not make us safer.”
