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The engagement is the latest sign of the billionaire’s expanding influence across the government, which already stretches into more than half a dozen agencies.
- Feb. 4, 2025, 5:55 p.m. ET
Officials with the Education Department told employees in the civil rights office on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team was scrutinizing the department’s operations, which could lead to further staff reductions.
In an all-hands call with the employees in the department’s Office of Civil Rights on Tuesday, Craig Trainor, the office’s acting assistant secretary, signaled that the moves were part of a broader effort by Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, to reshape the federal government.
“You probably know that DOGE — the DOGE team — is, like the other federal departments, is here working on President Trump’s promise to the American people to reform the federal bureaucracy, so we’re going to increase efficiencies in O.C.R. and Ed generally,” Mr. Trainor said, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times, referring to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The Musk team’s presence at the Education Department is the latest sign of the billionaire’s expanding government influence, which already stretches into more than half a dozen agencies. His allies have gained access to closely held financial and data systems and helped rapidly dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development in the last week.
Tuesday’s meeting at the Education Department came after other efforts by Trump appointees to realign the agency with the president’s goals, through which at least 60 employees affiliated with diversity and equity efforts were placed on paid leave indefinitely, according to their union. Among those placed on leave were several dozen people who took part in a routine diversity workshop that had been offered regularly for a decade.
The Musk team’s engagement came as the White House has been discussing the possibility of issuing an executive order to effectively shut down the Education Department, according to people familiar with the conversations.
