Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team took charge at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday, according to two sources. This move expands the Tesla CEO's influence within the US government. Musk wrote "CFPB RIP" on his social media account, X, on Friday. 

Republican President Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk, the world's richest person, to lead efforts to significantly reduce the size and restructure the federal government. Musk's cost-cutting plans include targeting agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has long been criticised by conservatives. In November, Musk suggested shutting down the CFPB, which oversees consumer financial products, arguing on his social media platform X that its work overlaps with other agencies. The two sources claim that three Musk aides are now "senior advisors" in the CFPB directory. Among them is computer scientist Gavin Kliger, who attended Berkeley and has supported misogynists and white supremacists online. Kliger did not immediately reply to a request for comment, and Reuters was unable to ascertain what Kliger and his associates were doing at the CFPB. 

Elon Musk mentioned that he was working to shut down USAID, the main U.S. agency responsible for development and humanitarian aid. On Friday, workers took down the USAID sign from its headquarters in downtown Washington. Meanwhile, a U.S. judge announced on Friday that he would issue a temporary but "very limited" order to prevent the Trump administration from immediately dismantling the agency. He also stated that 2,200 USAID employees would not be put on administrative leave right away. The decision followed a lawsuit filed by the largest US government workers' union and an association of foreign service workers against the Trump administration, which sought to undo the agency's liquidation. Sources told Reuters on Thursday that the government intends to retain less than 300 of USAID's more than 10,000 employees. 

Trump's lead federal prosecutor in Washington, Ed Martin, said Friday that he had opened an inquiry into government workers whom Musk has accused of threatening him and stealing property. In a letter to Musk and Steve Davis, the head of Musk's tunnelling company The Boring Company, who has been collaborating with Musk at DOGE, Martin stated, "After your referral, as is my practice, I will begin an inquiry," which was made public on X. Elon Musk and his DOGE team, mostly made up of young men, are part of Trump's larger plan to reshape the federal government. Trump aims to remove thousands of workers he sees as opponents or obstacles to his conservative "America First" agenda.

Believing the government is too large and corrupt, Trump praised Musk's team on Friday, calling them "very capable" and saying he was "very proud" of their work. He said that Musk was following his instructions and that no agency was exempt."I'll tell him to go here, go there. He does it." Trump said, mentioning that the aggressive effort was necessary to "find the corruption." Since Trump took office on January 20, aides of Elon Musk have visited multiple government agencies, often without prior notice, and attempted to access sensitive government computer systems. These unannounced visits have caused widespread concern among federal employees. At the same time, the Trump administration has offered a buyout to 2 million out of the 2.3 million federal civilian workers, leading many to consider leaving their jobs. On Thursday, a U.S. judge temporarily halted the buyout plan until at least Monday, marking an initial victory for labour unions that filed a lawsuit to block it.

According to a White House source, over 65,000 federal employees have already accepted the buyout offer even though the program was halted. Opposition Democrats and federal employee unions have criticised Trump for giving significant power to Musk, who was born in South Africa. They argue that Musk, who is not elected and seems to answer only to Trump, holds too much influence. He is classified as a "special government employee" but does not receive a government salary. A source from the Energy Department told Reuters that three members of DOGE are now part of the department. Trump's new Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, confirmed to CNBC that while these three DOGE staff members are inside the department, they do not have security clearances and cannot access nuclear weapons secrets.