It’s not his fault. Billionaire Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he is not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers, including veterans, as pushes to downsize the government. Instead, he said in private talks this week that those decisions are left to the various federal agencies. The message from one of President Donald Trump’s most influential advisers came as Republicans publicly support Musk’s work at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency digging up waste, fraud and abuse but are privately raising questions as personnel cuts ripple through communities across the nation. “Elon doesn’t fire people,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., after a dinner-time pizza meeting with Musk in the basement of the Capitol. “He doesn’t have hiring and firing authority,” added Hudson, who leads the House Republicans’ campaign arm. “The president’s empowered him to go uncover this information, that’s it.” It’s a remarkable shift of emphasis away from the chainsaw-wielding tech entrepreneur whose vast power has made him an admired, revered and deeply feared figure in the second Trump administration. The Republican president weighed in Thursday after a Cabinet meeting, saying he has instructed department secretaries to work with DOGE but to “be very precise” about which workers will stay or go. “We say the ‘scalpel; rather than the ’hatchet,” Trump said on social media. ”It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people” He said Musk and Cabinet officials will meet every two weeks to advance their cost-cutting goals. The comments come amid mounting legal disputes over Musk’s attempts to centralize management of the government workforce and bypass the traditional role of Congress to appropriate federal dollars. For example, the White House’s Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to fire probationary workers, who lack full civil service protection. The scorched-earth approach led to deep cuts that have occasionally been reversed, such as when workers on nuclear weapons programs were brought back on the job. A federal judge in San Francisco expressed concerns that layoffs violated the law, leading administration officials to insist that it was individual agencies — not Musk or the Office of Personnel Management — calling the shots. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said Musk told lawmakers that “some of the folks that were the probationary people, he didn’t fire them, they were actually supposedly fired by the agencies —and they messed up.” Did Musk actually say “they messed up?” “Well, if they were in fact, you know, critical people, and the agency did the firing, then yeah, they messed up,” Gimenez said. “But not him.” Musk and his team have burrowed into agencies, accessing sensitive data and rattling career officials with their demands. Top officials, including at the Social Security Administration, abruptly stepped down after refusing to comply with Musk’s team. Tens of thousands of workers accepted an offer to resign early and more are facing potential layoffs. “We’re making good progress,” Musk said late Wednesday as he dashed through the halls of the Capitol. The richest person in the world, Musk is known as a driven, demanding executive who is willing to take bold risks, often with great rewards. His enterprises include the rocket company SpaceX, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and social media platform […]