Musk’s ‘slash and burn’ approach faces pushback

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn approach to the US government is facing mounting challenges from Democrats and federal employees.

Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been sued by public sector unions, workers, and retirees in a series of lawsuits that together “amount to the opening shots in an emerging legal battle over the constitutional order,” The New York Times wrote. On Thursday, a judge signed a temporary order to limit the sharing of sensitive Treasury Department data after several labor unions sued to block Musk and his allies from accessing the Treasury payments portal, which dispenses federal funds to millions of Americans through programs like Social Security and Medicaid.

The pushback comes as the administration is currently falling short of its target for slashing personnel through voluntary measures, with just 40,000 taking up the offer of a deferred resignation as the deadline arrived Thursday — a federal judge temporarily blocked the deadline hours before it was due to take effect so that further litigation could take place. Federal workers appeared reluctant to take up the offer because of uncertainty over whether they will actually be paid through September as promised, The Wall Street Journal reported.