Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of federal employee oversight has left Washington scrambling to make sense of his mixed messages.
Even Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)—a vocal supporter of government efficiency—admitted Musk may have gone too far after his confusing and contradictory orders to millions of government workers.
During a CNN interview with John Berman, Malliotakis was confronted with the timeline of Musk’s erratic directives—and even she struggled to defend the billionaire’s approach.
A Wild Timeline of Conflicting Orders
Berman laid out the baffling series of events that left federal employees unsure of whether they still had jobs:
- Saturday – Musk’s team emailed two million federal employees, demanding they justify their jobs or be fired. A non-response would be treated as a resignation.
- Monday – The Trump administration backtracked, claiming responses were actually voluntary.
- Tuesday (7 p.m.) – Musk flipped again, tweeting that employees would get “one more chance”, but failure to respond “a second time will result in termination.”
Berman summed up the chaos:
“So, you’ll definitely get fired. You definitely won’t get fired. You’ll definitely get fired. Do you know which one it is?”
Malliotakis, caught in the middle, admitted:
“I think there’s definitely a lack of coordination here.”
Musk vs. The White House?
The congresswoman suggested that Musk is making major decisions without approval from the Trump administration—forcing the White House to scramble and fix his mistakes.
“We’re seeing Mr. Musk make some decisions that perhaps the White House is not aware of, or that they don’t approve of, and then they have to go back and fix it,” Malliotakis said.
Despite her criticism, she argued that it’s not unreasonable to ask employees to justify their work, saying:
“It’s perfectly appropriate for an employer to ask what an employee has accomplished.”
Musk’s ‘Rash Decisions’ Spark Concerns
Malliotakis walked a fine line, defending Musk’s efforts to cut government waste, while warning that his actions are reckless and happening too fast.
“I think it’s a good endeavor for Mr. Musk to be looking for waste and spending that could be eliminated. And he’s done a good job with a lot of it,” she said. “But some of this is happening too fast and furiously. There are rash decisions being made.”
She stressed that agency heads—not an outsider like Musk—should be leading efficiency efforts:
“The secretaries are the ones who should be looking within their federal agency… I feel like there should be more involvement here from the secretaries looking within their own agencies, as opposed to an outsider.”
“Musk Went Too Far” – A Rare Republican Criticism
Berman pressed her further, asking if Musk had overstepped his role.
“It sounds like you think Musk went too far in this one case.”
After some hesitation, Malliotakis finally admitted:
“Well, yes, I do.”
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