Trump, Musk defend DOGE's work: 'We found fraud and abuse'

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and Elon Musk came together in the White House on Tuesday for Trump to sign an executive order concerning the billionaire’s work leading the Department of Government Efficiency andwanting federal agencies to work with him. 

The Associated Press reviewed a White House fact sheet on the order, which is intended to advance Musk’s work slashing spending with his Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk made his first public comments about his work overseeing DOGE.

Trump put Musk in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency to help eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in spending and trim the more than 2 million-person federal workforce.

RELATED: 19 states sue to stop DOGE from accessing Americans’ personal data

Trump, Musk defend the work of DOGE

What they're saying:

Musk said there are some good people in the federal bureaucracy, but that they need to be accountable. He called the bureaucracy an "unelected" fourth branch of government and said the budget deficit must be addressed.

He also said he wants to add "common-sense controls" to the federal spending adding taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely and that to cut the waste is not "draconian."

"Transparency is what builds trust," he said.

He also pushed back against critics who have accused him of mounting a hostile takeover of the government.

"The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get," he said. "That’s what democracy is all about."

"We're talking about billions of dollars that we've already found. We found fraud and abuse," Trump added. 

RELATED: Judge blocks DOGE access to sensitive Treasury Department payment system records

"We have a case in New York where a hotel is paid $59 million…because it's housing migrants, illegal migrants are all illegal, I believe," Trump added. However, according to the New York Times, the "the federal money had been properly allocated by FEMA under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last year, adding that it was not a disaster relief grant and had not been spent on luxury hotels."

What is DOGE?

The backstory:

DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, is Trump's special commission tasked with slashing federal spending.

Trump said it would "provide advice and guidance from outside of government."

DOGE was originally headed by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who jointly vowed to cut billions from the federal budget and usher in "mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy."

But Ramaswamy left DOGE this week as he mulls a run for governor of Ohio.

Much of DOGE’s work is happening behind the scenes. Team members have shown up at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies. Their arrival is never publicly announced, and career staff members are looking over their shoulders for unfamiliar faces in the hallways.

Making the new entity part of the government could allow it to more easily access information across agencies. The agency can also potentially do much of its work behind closed doors, even as some regulations on governmental disclosure will persist.

For instance, the Executive Office of the President is generally not subject to many Freedom of Information Act requirements. But it is covered by the Presidential Records Act, which means its records must be maintained.

Opposition to DOGE

The other side:

Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Trump has allowed Musk to "exert unprecedented power and authority over government systems" with "maximal secrecy and little-to-no accountability."

A lawsuit filed in federal court moments after Trump took office alleged that, by already operating in the months leading up to the start of the administration, DOGE violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. That’s a 1972 measure mandating that advisory and other private committees in the executive branch follow public disclosure rules on staffing and their activities.

The groups behind that lawsuit, which include good government advocates and watchdog organizations, are now reviewing Trump’s order integrating DOGE into the government.