After taking the recent buyout offer, some employees were fired, a source said.
President Donald Trump's administration, including Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is continuing its sweeping effort to cut much of the federal government -- but it's being met with legal challenges.
Trump is also making his second administration's first forays on the diplomatic front with calls to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on ending the 3-year-old war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
And a day after Hamas released more hostages taken when it attacked Israel in October 2023, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the militant organization needs to be "eliminated."
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday afternoon that enforces DOGE’s work and enables Musk to implement his plans of reducing the federal government and increasing workplace efficiency.
According to a White House fact sheet, the order seeks to "significantly reduce the size of government" and will undertake "large-scale" job reductions.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Musk says he is not in a conflict of interest with the Pentagon despite the contracts he has with the Department of Defense.
When pressed by ABC News’ Rachel Scott about whether his investigation into the DOD presents a conflict of interest due to his personal contracts with the Pentagon, Musk said, “No.”
"No, because you have to look at the individual contract and say, first of all, I'm not the one, you know, filing the contract. It's people at SpaceX," he said, referring to his aerospace comapany.
A reporter asked Musk about a comment he made claiming $50 million was spent by the federal government to give condoms to Gaza and Hamas, when it fact it was sent to a province in Mozambique named Gaza as part of an HIV prevention measure.
The reporter asked Musk for assurances that his words could be trusted.
"Some of the things I say may be incorrect and should be corrected. Nobody's batting 1.000," Musk responded. "We all make mistakes, but we'll act to quickly correct any mistakes."
Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly made that false claim over the last couple of weeks.
Musk, however, defended his position that such humanitarian programs needed to be curtailed.
"I'm not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere. Frankly, I'm not sure that's something Americans would be really excited about," he said. "If it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza, I'm like, 'OK, that's not as bad, but still, you know, why are we doing that?'"
When asked who Musk works closely with when making decisions, the billionaire replied that he works "with agency heads" and "there are certain checks in place."
He added that they are sure to check in with the president to make sure they are following his wishes.
“I talk to Trump almost every day,” he added.
