Summary

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk engaged in a heated exchange during a closed-door Cabinet meeting, with Musk accusing Rubio of firing “nobody” from his department.

Rubio angrily responded by citing 1,500 State Department staff who took early retirement and sarcastically asked if Musk wanted to rehire them just to fire them again.

The argument, which also involved Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over FAA management. Duffy complained DOGE’s youngsters were trying to fire air traffic controllers, which Musk responded was a “lie.”

Following the meeting, Trump announced on Truth Social that future DOGE cuts would use a “scalpel” rather than a "hatchet.