Elon Musk’s DOGE Fields Doxxing Claims, Cabinet Restrictions and Steve Wozniak’s Criticism

• Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s DOGE have had another eventful month.
• The DOGE is responsible for cutting waste and inefficiency from U.S. public services.
• The cost-cutting department continues to fuel concerns inside and outside the White House.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has had another eventful month, as the department continues to fuel lawsuits and concerns from inside and outside the White House.

As of the time of reporting, DOGE has laid off 32,970 government employees, according to layoffs.io.

Cabinet Restrictions

On March 7, Trump told his Cabinet secretaries that final staffing decisions should be up to them, not Musk and DOGE, Reuters reported.

Although Cabinet members should work alongside the cost-cutting team, the President instructed that firings and other decisions should be left to members of the White House.

“We just had a meeting with most of the Secretaries, Elon, and others, and it was a very positive one,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people.”

“As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,'” Trump added.

However, Trump told reporters that Musk could step in if department heads do not make sufficient cuts. “If they can cut, it’s better. If they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting,” Trump said.

Steve Wozniak Fires at Trump, Musk and DOGE

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has spoken out against Musk and the role DOGE has taken within the White House.

Talking to CNBC on March 4, Wozniak claimed the department was taking a “sledgehammer” approach to cost-cutting.

“I definitely think that we should look for inefficiencies in government, but pretty much have a huge department that analyzes bit by bit by bit,” Wozniak said. “Just mass firings … it’s not good for a business to run that way.”

The Apple co-founder claimed that inefficiencies should be found “more surgically” to “find out what works and what doesn’t.”

Musk Claims Employees Are Being Doxxed

Last month, Musk claimed that the public disclosure of DOGE’s employees was illegally violating their privacy.

The names of six employees who made up DOGE were posted on X in February, revealing a group of individuals under 26 years old.

This sparked instant backlash, with many concerned that the team with no high-level experience had access to the U.S. Treasury and other sensitive departments.

Musk quickly took to X to respond, writing, “You have committed a crime.”

Following this, more DOGE employee names and email addresses were posted online by a professor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic who posted a list of over 30 DOGE employees on X rival, Bluesky.

Edward R. Martin Jr., Trump’s U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, claimed he would investigate and track down anyone who has broken the law.

“If people are discovered to have broken the law or even acted simply unethically, we will investigate them and we will chase them to the end of the Earth to hold them accountable,” he wrote in a letter to DOGE last month.

However, there is no law in the U.S. prohibiting the reporting of the names of individuals with a government-affiliated task force.