The daily DOGE drumbeat continues apace, and the strategy behind the “legacy” media’s reporting is now plainly apparent. They want to drive a wedge between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Consider ABC’s report in its entirety, as aired on ABC World New Tonight on Thursday, March 6th, 2025 (click “expand” to view transcript):
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
3/6/25
6:41 PM
DAVID MUIR: Now to those major cuts, federal workers losing their jobs, at The White House today, a remarkable moment. President Trump called a meeting of his Cabinet secretaries, Elon Musk was there, and he told his Cabinet they choose who actually goes, not Elon Musk. Here's Mary Bruce.
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, after weeks of tense town meetings --
MEMBER OF CONGRESS: What DOGE is really trying to do -- [ booing ]
BRUCE: Public backlash to Elon Musk's chainsaw approach to mass firings, President Trump tonight telling his Cabinet secretaries they're in charge of who gets cut from their agencies, not Musk. Just two days ago, Trump showering Musk with praise.
TRUMP: And to that end, I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE. Perhaps you've heard of it. Perhaps. [ Applause and boos] Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.
BRUCE: But tonight, a tacit admission that Musk's approach has gone too far. Trump saying Cabinet secretaries need to decide who stays and who goes, using the scalpel, rather than the hatchet. He told them as much today in a closed door Cabinet meeting with Musk there in the room.
TRUMP: So, I had a meeting, and I said, I want the Cabinet members go first, keep all the people you want, everybody that you need. When we have good people, those -- that's precious, it's very important, and we want them to keep the good people.
BRUCE: Musk is polarizing. 49% of Americans disapprove of the job he's doing, while 34% approve. He's ordered government workers to send emails listing their weekly accomplishments, and his team is the driving force behind mass layoffs. The president now saying he wants a more targeted approach.
TRUMP: Elon has been really teaching everybody about the numbers that you can do, but what I want is- I want the numbers, but I also want to keep the good people.
BRUCE: It comes as Elon Musk's approach is certainly rubbing some people the wrong way, and now some Republican members on The Hill are saying publicly that he is complicating their lives and warning that he may be making mistakes, and hurting innocent Americans in the process. David.
MUIR: Mary Bruce at The White House tonight. Mary, thank you.
Within a matter of seconds after anchor David Muir’s lengthy introduction, Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce hypes the AstroTurf town hall protests, and suggests they are driving impetus to “curtail” Musk by shifting the responsibility for firings to the Cabinet agencies. But the reality is, this is where such authority has always been.
But somehow this is presented as a reining in of DOGE. Nothing could be further from reality.
NBC takes a similar approach, focusing on the shift to cabinet agencies- albeit still going through the effort of doing a rundown on the news events of the day. Here’s how they covered DOGE:
DONALD TRUMP: I want the Cabinet members to keep good people. I don't want to see a big cut where a lot of good people are cut.
GUTIERREZ: The president posting, “DOGE has been an incredible success,” but for future downsizing, “Cabinet secretaries will be in charge and can be very precise as to when will remain and who will go, using a scalpel instead of a hatchet.” The new limits on Musk come after some Cabinet members told their employees not to respond to Musk's directives to list their accomplishments.
TRUMP: Elon and the group are going to be watching them. If they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.
Executive authority over executive agencies is portrayed as some novel concept, but it really isn’t. This is little more than an effort to protect a powerful Democrat special interest group- government employees. This is the approach that the CBS Evening News took when covering cuts at the VA. From that reporting, comes this nugget:
ROB HAMM: I believe we are going to overcome this. I believe, when you start to piss off veterans, we rise together. We should rise together. When we as a country send people to war, we have a sacred obligation to take care of them when they come home. Full stop.
With the media’s assent, the American people are gaslit into believing that the sacred duty to defend our veterans includes the provision of a lifetime government job. That is simply not the case. This entire angle is also crafted with the intent of wedging Musk away from Trump, who enjoyed broad veteran support en route to his Election Night victory.
The media have little left in their quiver beyond trying to separate Musk and Trump. DOGE coverage in general has sought to ramp the hysteria to 11, even if it is unburdened by the truth.
Click “expand” to view transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective newscasts on Thursday, March 6th, 2025:
CBS EVENING NEWS
3/6/25
6:34 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: The mass firing of federal workers is starting to come into focus. A report out today says more than 62,000 U.S. government jobs were cut in February. That brought the overall job losses to 172,000, the highest total for any month since the pandemic. The Department of Government Efficiency, which is behind the firings, does not put out a complete accounting, but our teams here at CBS News have found that cuts by DOGE have affected at least 18 federal departments and agencies. The Social Security Administration said last Friday it is cutting about 7,000 workers. The Department of Defense announced plans to cut about 5400 probationary employees. And in the most significant job reduction so far, an internal memo from the Department of Veterans Affairs revealed the VA plans to cut 15% of its workforce by the end of September. Carter Evans in Los Angeles spoke to a combat veteran who is worried about the impact of the VA cuts.
ROB HAMM: You know, these are my two meritorious service medals.
CARTER EVANS: U.S. Army veteran Rob Hamm was 18 when terrorists attacked on 9/11.
HAMM: I remember watching it and just feeling like, whoa, this world is changed, and it's violent and scary.
EVANS: And you felt like you needed to do something?
HAMM: I did.
EVANS: He served several tours in Afghanistan as a paratrooper and combat photographer. His unit often close to highly toxic pits used to burn waste.
HAMM: I definitely had some chest stuff when I came back.
EVANS: Are you worried that it might become an issue?
HAMM: When I look at the statistics, the odds of me getting some kind of related cancer that I will need help from the VA is very high.
EVANS: Hamm had produced videos for the va documenting medical professionals caring for cancer patients and treating homeless veterans.
HAMM: Rolling back the level of employees that cover all of these different services is going to impact care, 100%.
DOUG COLLINS: Look, the VA was never perfect, and it will never be perfect.
EVANS: A message posted on X by VA Secretary Doug Collins explained the massive layoffs authorized by DOGE Which rank the number of VA employees by 72,000.
COLLINS: We will be making major changes, so get used to it. Right now, VA's biggest problem is that its bureaucracy and inefficiencies are getting in the way of customer convenience and service to veterans.
EVANS: The va has been plagued by scandals in recent years, but the agency did have someone overseeing the organization. Inspector general Michael Missal was fired.
MICHAEL MISSAL: We identified fraud, waste, and abuse every day of the year. It's really hard to come in and just start cutting positions without really understanding the implications of those cuts.
HAMM: I believe we are going to overcome this. I believe, when you start to piss off veterans, we rise together. We should rise together. When we as a country send people to war, we have a sacred obligation to take care of them when they come home. Full stop.
DICKERSON: And Carter Evans tells us many of the new VA employees were hired during the Biden administration to provide services under the PACT Act. It expanded benefits for soldiers who, like Rob Hamm, were exposed to toxins.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
3/6/25
6:35 PM
TOM LLAMAS: Now to President Trump's efforts to downsize the government. And the new limits he's placing tonight on Elon Musk. Trump saying he wants to cut the federal workforce down with a scalpel, not a hatchet. Gabe Gutierrez tonight with the late developments at The White House.
GABE GUTIERREZ: Two weeks after Elon Musk waved a chainsaw that symbolizes the Department of Government Efficiency's plans to cut federal spending, tonight, President Trump says he wants a more measured approach.
DONALD TRUMP: I want the Cabinet members to keep good people. I don't want to see a big cut where a lot of good people are cut.
GUTIERREZ: The president posting, “DOGE has been an incredible success,” but for future downsizing, “Cabinet secretaries will be in charge and can be very precise as to when will remain and who will go, using a scalpel instead of a hatchet.” The new limits on Musk come after some Cabinet members told their employees not to respond to Musk's directives to list their accomplishments.
TRUMP: Elon and the group are going to be watching them. If they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.
GUTIERREZ: The president also saying today he spoke with advisers about eliminating the Department of Education.
TRUMP: Well, I want to just do it. We're starting the process. We’re trying to get the schools back into the states. Let the states run the schools.
GUTIERREZ: Education is already largely run by state and local governments, just 8% of funding comes from the feds, but the department distributes billions of federal dollars to schools and manages federal student loans. The president says scrapping it would mean that responsibility might fall to other agencies.
TRUMP: I don't think the education should be handling the loans. That’s not their business.
GUTIERREZ: He argues abolishing the department could help bring up lower test scores by sending federal money back to states in block grants. In Louisiana, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley supports that idea.
CADE BRUMLEY: We would welcome the opportunity here within the state of Louisiana to have more control and more say over the way in which students are educated.
GUTIERREZ: While Heather Stanbaugh, a high school teacher in rural Ohio, worries any loss of federal funds would harm low-income families.
HEATHER STANBAUGH: Any number of those teachers, those aides that work with those students every day, if we can't find a way to recoup those funds, they are in absolute jeopardy.
GUTIERREZ: The president cannot wipe out an entire federal agency without Congress, but the administration may look for ways to defund specific programs instead.
MIKE JOHNSON: Will Representative Green present himself to the well?
GUTIERREZ: On Capitol Hill, tensions over the administration's agenda are boiling over.
JOHNSON: The House will come to order. The House will come to order.
GUTIERREZ: Today, all Republicans and ten Democrats voted to censure Texas Democrat Al Green for heckling President Trump during his address on Tuesday. Chaos erupting on the House floor.
LLAMAS: And Gabe, tonight, I know there's new headlines and videos out of Ukraine. Officials say a Russian missile struck a hotel there, killing four people. And now I know you have new reporting about those Trump efforts for a ceasefire.
GUTIERREZ: Yes, Tom. U.S. And Ukrainian officials are now set to meet next week in Saudi Arabia to discuss the framework for a cease-fire with Russia and late tonight, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy saying he'll go- after that explosive confrontation last week here at The White House. Tom.
LLAMAS: Gabe Gutierrez with that major new development. Gabe, we thank you for that.
