WASHINGTON, Feb 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump holds his
first cabinet meeting Wednesday, joined by billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who
is in charge of radically downsizing the US government and wields more power
than anyone else in Trump's inner circle.

Musk is not part of the cabinet and did not have to go through Senate
confirmation.

Yet as the force behind his so-called Department of Government Efficiency,
the Tesla and SpaceX chief has been given a free hand to enact unprecedented
-- and brutally abrupt -- cuts to government programs and staffing.

His presence at the formal White House meeting alongside Trump's actual
department heads follows signs of growing tension within the government over
his dominance.

Trump downplayed this shortly before the meeting, posting on his social media
platform: "ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON."

"The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!" Trump wrote.

The cabinet meeting will be a chance for Trump to tout the dramatic start to
his second term, while flanked by aides openly chosen in many cases for their
lavish declarations of loyalty.

Many of these top figures were successfully confirmed by the Republican-
controlled Senate despite unusually extensive questions over their experience
or behavior.

Among the most contentious are Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi
Gabbard, who has a history of backing Kremlin talking points, and Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has faced allegations of
sexual assault.

Trump's Republican Party holds a narrow majority in the Senate, and the
refusal of more than a couple Senators to vote against Trump's picks shows
his iron grip on the party, where dissenters have largely quit or been cowed.

Former Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell was the sole Republican
dissenter to Kennedy's confirmation as health secretary, an appointment that
caused alarm among the medical community over his history of promoting
vaccine misinformation and vows to suspend research on infectious diseases.

And in a situation with no real parallel in modern US history, all of these
powerful officials are overshadowed by Musk, who helped bankroll Trump's 2024
presidential campaign.

While classified as a mere "special government employee" and "senior adviser
to the president," the South African-born tycoon is seen more often at
Trump's side than Vice President JD Vance or even First Lady Melania Trump.

As owner of the X social media platform and a key leader in the US space
program, his influence percolates through almost every corner of current
Washington politics.

However, Musk has faced some pushback to his slash-and-burn methods that have
already seen the gutting of the USAID humanitarian aid department, mass
layoffs, and menacing emails sent to all federal employees asking them to
justify their jobs.

Government departments on Monday largely told staff to either ignore the
latest email or downplayed the risks of not answering it. According to US
media reports, senior officials across the government have expressed
frustration and anger over what they see as interference in their agencies.