Fiasco for Musk as Trump Aides Suddenly Defy Him amid New GOP “Panic”

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

House Republicans are suddenly facing angry voter revolts back at home over Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Some of them are reportedly in a “panic” about DOGE’s increasingly destructive cuts and firings. Meanwhile, Musk just ordered federal employees to list their accomplishments or risk termination. But some senior Trump administration officials defied Musk, telling employees they had no obligation to respond. What if Musk’s DOGE effort is shaping up as a full blown fiasco for President Trump and the GOP? How should Democrats capitalize? We talked to Leah Greenberg, a co-founder of Indivisible, about what she’s seeing on the ground, what the prospects are for mobilizing a sustained opposition, and what comes next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:55.1	This is the daily blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
1:13.1	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:18.3	Numerous House Republicans are suddenly facing angry voter revolts back at home over Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
1:28.9	Some of these Republicans are reportedly in a panic about some of the cuts coming from Doge. Meanwhile, over the weekend,
1:34.7	Elon Musk ordered federal employees to send in an email listing their accomplishments over
1:39.7	the last week or risk being fired. What followed was funny. Some senior Trump administration officials
1:46.6	defied Musk, telling their employees they had no obligation to respond. So what if Musk's
1:53.4	doge effort is shaping up as a full-blown fiasco for President Trump and the GOP? How should Democrats
1:59.7	capitalize on this to mobilize voters?
2:01.6	Leah Greenberg, a co-founder of Indivisible, has been tirelessly working to galvanize public opposition to everything Musk is doing, so we invited her on to talk about what's next. Good to talk to you again, Leah. Great to be here. So we're seeing lots of voter anger at town halls right now.
2:20.4	GOP Congressman Rich McCormick was hammered in its Georgia district over the cuts to government.
2:25.7	One man denounced the cuts as radical and extremist and sloppy to loud cheers.
2:31.2	Representative Scott Fitzgerald in Wisconsin and Kevin Hearn in Oklahoma were pressed by
2:36.3	angry constituents to say whether they'll ever ask Musk top questions before Congress. There's
	...

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