President Donald Trump will hold his first Cabinet meeting since his return to the White House last month on Wednesday. With the majority of his nominees confirmed by Congress, the meeting is meant to advance his administration’s agenda.
Among the guests is billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who is the chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk, one of Trump’s biggest donors in the 2024 campaign, has already led the charge to reduce the size of the federal workforce, resulting in thousands of layoffs. Although he has no formal ministerial portfolio, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Musk is a “special government employee” and holds the position of “senior adviser to the president.”
Controversial Appointments Cause Concerns
Musk is not the only Trump Cabinet member to have been criticized. A number of his appointments have caused controversy based on their history and policy positions. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a self-proclaimed vaccine critic, has concerned the medical community with his opposition to infectious disease research. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was once a Fox News host, has been accused of sexual assault, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has peddled conspiracy theories in the past.
Despite opposition from the Democrats, the Senate has approved all of Trump’s Cabinet appointees thus far. With a narrow majority in the Republican Party, very few have been brave enough to challenge the president’s picks. The only Republican to vote against Kennedy’s appointment was former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell due to his vaccine misinformation.
Unrest Within DOGE as Musk Faces Resignations
While Musk is an important advisory figure in Trump’s administration, his leadership of DOGE has already caused disquiet. On Tuesday, a third of his employees quit in protest after his inflammatory mass email to two million federal employees demanding they explain their jobs or risk being fired.
Government agencies have generally disregarded the directive, with several departments instructing employees to disregard the email. Nevertheless, since Trump took office, thousands of federal employees, primarily probationary employees, have been dismissed as part of Musk’s efforts to cut costs.
Cabinet Appointments Still Pending
Some of Trump’s appointees remain to be confirmed by the Senate. They include Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor and Linda McMahon, who once headed the Small Business Administration and is coming back for a second term.
As Donald Trump consolidates his grip on the executive branch, Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting will give us a glimpse of how his administration intends to proceed on major policies. With the likes of Musk present, drastic overhauls of government functions seem unavoidable.ng plans for the war-torn territory. Trump, who had earlier expressed his willingness to “take over” Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” now presented artificial intelligence-generated images of the transformation he envisioned.