It was not immediately clear whether Musk, his team and the administration intended to comply with the court’s order. In a separate legal challenge, a judge had already ruled that DOGE’s access to the system should be limited to two staffers – one of whom was, on the same day, forced to resign for racist posts.
After Vice President J.D. Vance said the staffer should be reinstated, arguing everybody makes mistakes, Trump was asked for his view on the matter. “I don’t know about the particular thing but if the vice president said that … I’m with the vice president,” Trump said.
Musk quickly announced the 25-year-old staff member would be brought back. “To err is human, to forgive divine,” he said.
President Donald Trump has tasked Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency with reducing the size and cost of the bureaucracy.Credit: Bloomberg
Separately, a court in Massachusetts paused the Trump administration’s offer to buy out federal employees by promising to pay them until the end of September if they resigned by February 6. About 60,000 workers had signed up for the deal, US media reported, quoting administration officials.
The White House greeted the pause optimistically, saying it was grateful to the judge for extending the deadline. Senior Trump aide Stephen Miller indicated the administration’s next move would involve forced sackings from the bureaucracy, starting with those who wanted to work from home.
“Of course, if people refuse to come back to the office, they’re going to be laid off,” he told Fox News. “Why would federal taxpayers be subsidising Netflix-watching at home for so-called federal workers? How can you call yourself a federal worker if you never show up at the office?”
Miller also brushed off criticism from Democrats that Musk, an unelected billionaire with vast and complex business interests, had been given unfettered power with no accountability.
Musk was an employee who served the elected president, Miller said, implementing an agenda for which the American people voted in November.
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