Republicans on Capitol Hill are divided over tech billionaire Elon Musk being the public face of President Trump\u2019s aggressive bid to shrink the government, with some souring on Musk\u2019s prominent role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several GOP senators worry that having an unelected billionaire crow about slashing federal jobs, which happen to employ a lot of people in their home states, is not a good look when inflation remains a major problem and many Americans are having trouble making ends meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/strong> (R-S.D.), have defended having the political outsider take the lead in reforming federal agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But other GOP colleagues are grumbling that the execution has been \u201cflawed,\u201d as Musk has shuttered agencies and pressured workers to resign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One GOP senator said Musk\u2019s buyout effort<\/strong> offering more than seven months of severance was \u201cpoorly executed,\u201d and his latest attempt to slim federal agencies by pushing a reduction in force has failed to consider how it might impact federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they\u2019re just looking to reduce numbers \u2014 it\u2019s not efficiency, it\u2019s not output. It\u2019s, \u2018We just need bodies gone.\u2019 And I don\u2019t know that\u2019s the metric that you use,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GOP senator also reacted angrily to Musk\u2019s call for a \u201cwave of judicial impeachments\u201d <\/strong>in response to federal judges putting holds on Trump\u2019s executive orders and actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWrong, wrong, wrong. Get him out of the White House. Get him out, the sooner the better,\u201d the senator added. \u201cEvery day that he\u2019s there, he seems more destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polls show Musk is highly unpopular with independent and moderate voters<\/strong>, who could be key to Republican senators winning reelection in battleground states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Economist\/YouGov poll of 1,595 adult citizens conducted Feb. 9-11 found that surveyed independents disapproved of Musk\u2019s handling of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by 18 points<\/strong>, with 31 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n