Elon Musk spoke to President Donald Trump next to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
From Elon MuskSecret government cuts efforts, Doge, Already promoted the highest officials Ministry of Education Even those recently appointed by President Donald Trump — rearrange furniture from their own offices and set up white noise machines to remove their sounds, the agency said.
Acting Education Secretary Denise Carter was found sitting outside the main leader’s suite last week and was deprived of her office, a staff member said. Meanwhile, sources told CNBC that James Bergeron moved into the office under the leadership of secretary James Bergeron because Doge staff were occupying it.
“They took over top real estate; they took over themselves at home,” an official told CNBC. “It’s that attitude, ‘We can do whatever we want.'”
February 1, 2025, views of the U.S. Department of Education Building in Washington, DC, USA.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
The source of this story was granted anonymity because they feared they were named retribution.
After taking over the agency’s VIP office on the seventh floor of Washington, D.C., the task force representatives were called the Department of Government Efficiency and then searching for office equipment around the building to “moving into their yards” department staff told CNBC.
When asked about work arrangements and office space, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Madi Biedermann told CNBC: “Doge employees are federal employees. They have vowed to have the necessary – effective, effective and responsible for taxpayers.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to demolish the Ministry of Education. As a congressional authorized agency, the department cannot be eliminated without Congress’ approval.
But at the same time, Musk and his Doge Team You can slowly starve it to death.
A White House spokesman did not answer CNBC’s questions about the Department of Education’s workflow.
Trump’s nominee leads the Ministry of Education, Linda McMahona confirmation hearing will be held on Thursday.
Education department officials described tensions between the Governor’s team and department leaders – including Republicans arriving in the department to help implement Conservative Education Agenda.
Asked about the workplace dynamics, Bidman said the Governor’s staff “is working with department staff. Nothing is inappropriate or evil happening.”
However, according to employees, the Governor’s team appears to be competing against each other to get a big title for the budget cut.
On Monday, the title was really big: The “$881 million” contract with the education department was cancelled.
This competitive element of Governor’s cost-cutting work may be attributed in part to rules governing employment of Doge employees.
Most goalkeeper workers are designated as “special government employees,” a category that makes them relevant to certain federal disclosure requirements. But in exchange, the status limits the number of days that can be worked per year to 130.
The Governors team works, they have about four months to do all the cuts. After that, these institutions will be left to deal with the consequences.
Doge’s demands are changing
Every day, members of the Governor’s team are “secret”, one current staff member said. “They didn’t talk.”
Some employees said they thought they needed physical staff, and one official described the overall atmosphere of the team as “daunting.”
Two employees told CNBC that employees’ constant shifts in demand for how much money they need to cut are confusing and scaring employees.
More importantly, they say, the requirements of the Jogg team appear to be arbitrary and not rooted in any political or policy objectives.
In many cases, the Governor’s team will not tell department staff what contracts they need to cancel.
Instead, a number was provided to staff, usually in person rather than in writing, and was told to cut so much money from the plan. Other times, they received a percentage of the funds and were told to cut so much.
One employee recalls that the demand for Doge employees cut 80% of the funds for websites and services that support federal student loan applications.
Mark Kantrowitz, a higher education expert, said about 17 million families use federal student aid or FAFSA’s free application to apply for university aid each year.
