Top Treasury officials have complained about disruption. The secretary of state has pushed back on staff cuts. Inside the Education and Health and Human Services departments, political appointees have been informed - not consulted - about canceled grants and contracts,

Musk initially set the ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget, but has since admitted that DOGE probably will not find that level of savings.

The decision to fire Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot, broke a tradition in which the Joint Chiefs chairman remains in place with a new president.