Trump Orders Plans for Large Scale Work Force Cuts and Expands Musks Power

President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing agency officials to draw up plans for “large scale” cuts to the federal work force and further empowered the billionaire Elon Musk and his team to approve which career officials are hired in the future.The order gives the so-called Department of Government Efficiency vast reach over the shape of the Civil Service as the Trump administration tries to sharply cut the number of employees working for the federal government.It states that, aside from agencies involved in functions like law enforcement and immigration enforcement, executive branch departments will need hiring approval from an official working with Mr.

Musk’s team.Each federal agency, with some exceptions, will be allowed to “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart” after a hiring freeze is lifted, according to Mr.Trump’s order.

New career hires would have to be made in consultation with a “DOGE Team Lead,” the order stated.It also said that agencies should not fill career positions that Mr.

Musk’s team deems unnecessary, unless an agency head — not a member of Mr.Musk’s initiative — decides that those positions should be filled.The “work force optimization initiative” was signed by Mr.

Trump shortly before he and Mr.Musk spent roughly 30 minutes defending the drastic overhaul in front of reporters in the Oval Office.

Mr.Musk, the world’s richest person, has moved rapidly to force change in Washington, an effort he asserted on Tuesday would benefit the public.In the first three weeks of the new Trump administration, Mr.

Musk’s team has inserted itself into at least 19 agencies, according to a tally by The New York Times, where it has begun identifying programs to cut....