Elon Musk, once considered a close and reliable partner of the White House, is now experiencing a very public distancing from one of his former allies in government. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who had previously collaborated with Musk during the Tesla executive’s tenure as the prominent figurehead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has recently voiced significant disapproval regarding the manner in which Musk implemented mass dismissals within that federal agency.
In a candid interview broadcast on *The Axios Show* this past Friday, Lutnick explained to host Mike Allen that Musk had essentially mirrored at DOGE the same drastic approach he used at Twitter—now rebranded as X—where the billionaire famously eliminated approximately 80 percent of the company’s staff in rapid succession. According to Lutnick, Musk appeared to believe that this model of aggressive downsizing, which he had deemed effective in the private sector, could be successfully transplanted into the realm of government bureaucracy. However, Lutnick cautioned that such an assumption was deeply misguided.
Reflecting on Musk’s methods, Lutnick remarked that he felt Musk had been swayed by outside influences and competing agendas. He acknowledged that government institutions could indeed operate with a leaner workforce, perhaps 10 to 15 percent smaller without jeopardizing essential services. Yet, instead of enacting broad and indiscriminate cuts, Lutnick argued that it would have been far more prudent to empower cabinet secretaries to thoroughly evaluate their departments before determining where reductions could be responsibly made. This, he emphasized, would have allowed the government to target inefficiencies without destabilizing critical operations.
Lutnick further contended that the real opportunity for budgetary discipline lay not in sweeping layoffs of federal employees but in the careful elimination of unnecessary or mismanaged programs. As an illustration, he pointed to a Biden-era initiative in which $7.4 billion was allocated to a private nonprofit organization for semiconductor research—a figure he criticized as emblematic of the “waste, fraud, and abuse” that he believes plague federal spending. By highlighting this example, Lutnick underscored his conviction that genuine fiscal responsibility requires focusing on eliminating extravagant expenditures rather than of indiscriminately cutting human capital.
“You have to recognize,” Lutnick explained, “that when you think about the sheer monetary scale of $7.4 billion, one cannot help but consider how many people’s salaries could equate to that. The priority should have been channeling scrutiny toward the pervasive issues of inefficiency and waste. Employee reductions can be introduced gradually and thoughtfully over time, but instead, Musk reversed those priorities.”
This growing divergence between the two men is striking, particularly given their once-close working relationship. Musk, prior to his highly public falling-out with the president, had been entrusted with a significant role within the administration, effectively serving as a high-profile aide with broad influence. Yet Lutnick’s commentary reveals how profoundly his perspective has shifted since those days.
Earlier in the year, for instance, Lutnick shared on Fox News’ *Jesse Watters Primetime* that he personally orchestrated Musk’s entry into this government role. He recounted traveling to Texas in October 2024 to meet directly with Musk, ultimately persuading him to accept a mission focused on cutting $1 trillion in waste, fraud, and abuse from federal programs. According to Lutnick, their agreement was explicit: structural reforms would not only save an extraordinary sum but also generate an additional trillion dollars in revenue through the elimination of tax loopholes. Together, they envisioned this financial realignment as the cornerstone of their broader objective to achieve a balanced budget under former President Donald Trump.
In March, NBC’s Kristen Welker pressed Lutnick during an on-air interview with a probing question: who, in practice, was actually running the Department of Government Efficiency—Lutnick himself, or Elon Musk? Lutnick responded with admiration for Musk’s talents, claiming to have the privilege of partnering with arguably the greatest businessman and technologist of the modern era. He asserted that it was, in fact, a blessing to have Musk by his side, signaling publicly how highly he once regarded Musk’s involvement.
Yet despite such glowing earlier endorsements, the consequences of Musk’s tenure at DOGE have garnered sharp criticism. During his management, Musk oversaw the firing of at least 200,000 federal workers, a staggering number that drew pointed rebukes from experts in organizational leadership and public administration. These critics warned that Musk’s methodology, born of his private-sector instincts, was ill-suited to the complexities and responsibilities of governing a public workforce.
As of now, neither the Department of Commerce nor Musk’s representatives have issued any response to requests for comment regarding Lutnick’s remarks. This silence only deepens the intrigue surrounding the dramatic rift between the influential government figure and the billionaire entrepreneur, whose partnership once promised sweeping governmental reform but has now devolved into division, criticism, and very public disillusionment.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/howard-lutnick-says-elon-musk-got-doge-backward-federal-worker2025-9
