Musk leads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which in the first weeks of Trump's administration has laid off more than 20,000 workers and offered buyouts to another 75,000, across wide swaths of the government from the Defense Department - long a top Republican priority - to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where all staff have been ordered to halt work.
The frantic pace has led the federal government in some cases to rush to rehire workers who perform critical functions like securing the nation's nuclear arsenal and trying to fight the worsening bird flu outbreak, which has caused egg prices to spike higher.
While there is bipartisan agreement that the U.S. government, which carries $36 trillion in debt, would benefit from reform, Musk's tumultuous approach has drawn widespread criticism, including from voters in some Republican areas.