CORRECTED-US politics newsletter - DOGE days

Corrects in fifth paragraph to 'Monday' from 'Tuesday' and 'agencies' from 'employees'; deletes the word 'increasingly' in seventh paragraph

By James Oliphant

Feb 27 (Reuters) - There is “shock and awe” and “flooding the zone.” And then there’s just plain chaos.

After issuing a fusillade of executive orders in a bid to quickly implement their agenda, the best plans of President Donald Trump and his government-slashing adviser, Elon Musk, have for the moment gone somewhat awry, derailed by a combination of intra-agency confusion and federal court intervention.

I’m James Oliphant, national political correspondent for Reuters, and I promise this email won’t ask you to list five things you’ve done lately or justify your job. All you have to do is read it.

Musk’s latest gambit to shrink the size of the federal footprint was an email last weekend that demanded all federal employees summarize the work they performed over the preceding week or risk being axed.

The sudden demand had an ad hoc, back-of-the-napkin feel to it and spawned confusion and turmoil across the federal bureaucracy with some agencies telling workers to comply and others, perhaps mindful of security issues, said to keep things in-house. By Monday, the government’s human-resources office had to issue a directive telling agencies they could ignore it.

That did not deter Musk, or for that matter, Trump, both of whom insisted at Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday that employees ultimately will have to respond to Musk’s requests to keep their jobs. Trump suggested that there are scores of government workers who “don’t exist.”

Whether Musk’s demand is legal remains to be seen, but courts are slowing the billionaire’s roll.

Federal judges have temporarily blocked Musk and his DOGE team from access to payment systems at the U.S. Treasury and sensitive data at the Department of Education. A judge ordered the administration to distribute foreign aid it had frozen. Another blocked the administration’s freeze on loans and grants.

Judges want to know what exactly Musk’s role at DOGE is. Meanwhile, Musk took to his social media site X to complain about “activist” judges and suggested the ones who get in his way should be impeached.

The job cuts have taken on a haphazard quality. In some cases, the government has scrambled to re-hire workers who perform critical functions like nuclear weapons oversight and bird flu response.

Musk and Trump are not slowing down, however. The administration is laying the groundwork for widespread layoffs.

Speaking of mixed signals, it remains unclear where exactly the White House stands in regard to the conflict in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron visited on Monday and while there were lots of good vibes shared, there were notable differences between the two men in their approach to the war, now in its third year.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is working hard to make sure he’s not left out of peace talks between the U.S. and Russia and plans to sign an agreement giving the U.S. proceeds from the mining of rare minerals in his country. Even so, Trump is holding out on providing security guarantees, leaving everyone guessing where he’s going from here.

That seems to be just the way he likes it.

THE VIEW FROM CAPE TOWN:

With Trump threatening tariffs against both allies and rivals, Japan called for “free, open” trade and for countries to adopt “predictable” economic policies at a meeting of the G20 in South Africa. However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wasn’t there to hear the remarks. He skipped the gathering.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

February 28: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy scheduled to visit White House

March 4: Trump gives address to joint session of Congress

March 14: Funding for federal agencies expires and a partial shutdown begins if lawmakers fail to act

THE WHO, WHAT AND WHEN:

These countries could lose the most, if the U.S. stops aid

Why the US exceptionalism trade is faltering

What US social spending programs could be hit by Trump tax cuts