Up First from NPR
Limiting Musk's Powers; VA Employees On DOGE Emails; No Cure For Long COVID
Sat, 08 Mar 2025
President Trump says that his Cabinet secretaries are actually supposed to be the ones to make staffing decisions, not Elon Musk and his DOGE entity. Also, we hear from employees at the Veterans Health Administration about how they feel about DOGE emails asking them to spell out what they did last week. Plus, a look at where things stand on the treatment of Long COVID.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What changes are being proposed to staffing decisions in the U.S. government?
President Trump now says his cabinet secretaries will be the ones to make staffing decisions, not Elon Musk and his Doge entity.
But is that how things are really going to work?
I'm Scott Simon.
I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News.
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.
That's what the president said, but there have already been some big cuts. We'll look at who's actually calling the shots.
We'll also hear how federal employees at one agency feel about those efforts.
Plus, five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll look at the efforts to treat long COVID.
So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.
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Chapter 2: How are VA employees reacting to Elon Musk's oversight emails?
President Trump said he wants his captain secretaries to work with Elon Musk on staffing decisions.
it almost sounds like he might be stripping some of that power away from Musk and his Doge entity.
But Izzy, NPR senior editor and correspondent Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us.
Good to be with you, Scott.
Well, what are we seeing? Are they putting a leash on that doge?
It's been sold that way, like it's Trump siding with his cabinet over Musk. But if you listen to that clip we just heard, it still seems that Musk gets to come along batting clean up and deciding whether the cabinet secretaries and other Senate-confirmed officials have done enough. So who decides what's enough? Is it Musk or is it Trump himself? And do we know whether that's really a difference?
The New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan have reported that there have been clashes between Musk and members of the cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, both of whom were reported to have been scolded by Musk for not cutting enough and for having too many DEI hires still working for their departments.
Is the Department of Government efficiency a potential political liability for congressional Republicans? Because after all, federal jobs are getting cut in their states.
Yes, that's right. It's not a clear liability yet, at least not for Republicans in Congress, because as we saw on Tuesday night at the State of the Union, Musk is still a hero to Trump fans, both in Congress and beyond. Musk still polls well among Trump supporters. But the Musk stock may have seen its peak, Scott. We will see how the cuts to Veterans Affairs staffing, for example, go down.
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Chapter 3: What are the ongoing challenges with treating Long COVID?
Andrea, did the mental health workers with whom you spoke answer their emails, list their accomplishments?
Yeah, they did because the VA told them they should respond. And in fact, they told me it's not hard writing down, you know, a few things about what they did, a few sentences about what they did. But they do see it as just one more thing getting in the way of their work, which is helping veterans deal with these really tough problems.
And it's coming at a time when there's been so much upheaval in the federal government. You know, the VA this week announced deep cuts ahead. And a psychologist I talked to said patients are themselves worried. She has patients asking her, are you going to be here next week or next month? And she says she's spending a lot of time calming their nerves instead of focusing on their treatments.
So the stress that mental health workers are feeling isn't all about the emails.
Yeah. Well, I spoke with a Harvard Business School professor about this. Her name is Amy Edmondson, and she's a social psychologist. She says you have to think about the context when you consider the impact of these emails that originated with Elon Musk.
Think about it. You're in your job and suddenly you're getting an email from someone who's not your boss and not your peer, not your subordinate, not someone that you normally interact with to do your job. What's under it?
And the people I talk to, Scott, say they're doing the best they can to keep it together for their patients. But one psychiatrist told me she's anxious and irritable and she finds herself doing things like doom scrolling the Internet, which she knows is not good. In fact, it's something she tells her own patients not to do.
What does the Trump administration say?
Well, we asked the White House to comment on what we've heard from these VA employees and we haven't heard back. We do know that President Trump supports Elon Musk's effort to gather these weekly responses. The president has repeatedly said there are some workers in the federal government who aren't doing a good job and shouldn't be there.
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