Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E to fire hundreds of high-level Department of Homeland Security employees

According to an NBC News report, the Trump administration is removing hundreds of top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials this week in what is described as a targeted purge of high-ranking career employees. Of course, this is led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E), which has taken control of federal workforce reductions under Trump’s second term.

The report claimed that a centralized plan has been in place for weeks, identifying high-ranking officials in every component of DHS who are set to be dismissed. The firings are expected to hit Senior Executive Service (SES) employees and General Schedule 15 (GS-15) personnel, some of the highest-ranking career officials in the federal system.

Hundreds of DHS officials to be removed under D.O.G.E orders

The removals come days after widespread firings at FEMA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) began Friday night. Those dismissals, described by an administration official as “necessary reductions in waste”, were part of a broader effort to cut down the federal workforce.

Unlike last week’s cuts, however, this latest wave of firings isn’t about downsizing. NBC says that the goal is to remove DHS officials who may be “grinding things to a halt” by resisting Trump’s policies. “These people put themselves in a terrible position, and they need to be removed,” a senior administration official reportedly told NBC.

DHS is responsible for immigration enforcement, border security, and national safety measures, making it one of the most critical agencies under Trump’s second term. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—two key divisions of DHS—have been central to Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Trump’s White House defends firings as a “necessary restructuring”

Asked whether firing senior officials could impact DHS’s ability to carry out immigration policies, a Trump administration official apparently dismissed the concern. “We are eliminating people who have actively worked against the administration’s goals,” the official said, per NBC.

DHS released a statement today that reads: “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer.”

The DHS removals follow months of behind-the-scenes restructuring, with Elon’s D.O.G.E acting as the main force behind federal workforce overhauls.

But Elon’s involvement has raised serious concerns among legal experts and economists. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, said that D.O.G.E is dismantling federal agencies on an unprecedented scale. But despite these warnings, investors and markets have barely reacted.

One reason for this, according to financial analysts, is that D.O.G.E may actually be fueling demand for U.S. government bonds. Some believe that federal spending reductions help reinforce confidence in U.S. financial assets, making the mass firings a net positive for markets.

At first, Wall Street didn’t take D.O.G.E seriously. Analysts at Barclays previously dismissed Elon’s ability to enact large-scale changes, writing: “Doge likely faces legal, process, and political obstacles. In our view, the change Doge can drive through executive action is likely less (and slower) than many investors anticipate.”

That prediction has aged poorly. Tens of thousands of civil servants have already been fired or suspended, and D.O.G.E continues to expand its power over multiple federal agencies. Democrats argue that Elon’s lack of government experience and sweeping authority could lead to long-term instability in governance.

Federal judge allows Elon’s D.O.G.E to access student data

A federal court ruling on Monday handed Elon and D.O.G.E a legal victory, rejecting an attempt to block access to student financial records from the Department of Education. The lawsuit, filed by the University of California Student Association, aimed to prevent D.O.G.E from accessing social security numbers, loan records, and tax data.

Federal Judge Randolph Moss dismissed the lawsuit’s emergency request, ruling that the alleged harm to students was “entirely conjectural”. The judge noted that no evidence was presented proving Elon’s team would misuse or leak student data.

While the case isn’t fully closed, this ruling allows Elon’s D.O.G.E to continue collecting federal student data under its review of education spending and financial aid policies. Critics worry that D.O.G.E is expanding its control into highly sensitive areas of government without clear oversight.

Meanwhile, the White House filed court documents on Monday claiming Elon is not in charge of D.O.G.E. The filing said that Elon is a Senior Advisor to the President, not the head of D.O.G.E, raising new questions about who is actually running the agency.

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