©  Illustration / Courtney Jones; Greg Nash; Chip Somodevilla, Associated Press; and Adobe Stock

LAWMAKERS ARE GRAPPLING with the radical changes imposed by Elon Musk, whose provocative style has generated outrage and concern among Democrats, the federal workforce and even some Republicans, who worry his blunt force offensive could do unintended damage.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) captured the sentiment of some centrist Republicans, who worry about potential collateral damage from Musk’s slash-and-burn style.

“Efficiency in government should be a goal for every administration, agency, and federal employee,” Murkowski posted on X. “But how we achieve it also matters. By circumventing proper channels and procedures, and creating the potential to compromise the sensitive data of Americans, we create a tremendous amount of unnecessary anxiety. That is wrong. Good governance is based on trust, not fear.”

Collins said Trump has empowered Musk “far beyond” what is appropriate.

It’s been a head-spinning few weeks of lockouts, protests, lawsuits, firings and buyouts.

Here’s the latest:

• A judge extended the deadline for federal workers to accept the Trump administration’s sweeping buyouts offer. The court will weigh the merits of the bid to block the offer at a hearing Monday. More than 40,000 have resigned so far, although Democrats and federal employee unions say the buyouts are illegal.

• Trump authorized Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to make “rapid safety upgrades” to the air traffic control system. Democrats are pushing back on this, saying Musk’s interference in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) constitutes a conflict of interest due to his company SpaceX.

• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shared the names of new employees with the Office of Personnel Management on an unclassified email, potentially compromising agent identities in an apparent effort to highlight workers who would be easier to fire.

• President Trump’s Justice Department agreed to limit the number of DOGE employees with access to the Treasury’s payment system after unions sued when two “special government employees” gained access.

• Government unions are suing DOGE over fears Musk will gain access to Labor Department information.

• DOGE employees have access to payment and contract systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

• Democrats say DOGE is wreaking havoc at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Republicans are largely supportive of Musk’s efforts to downsize the government, but some are acknowledging the brute manner in which the effort is being undertaken.

“I think we certainly are always concerned when there’s a bull in the China shop, and that’s certainly something that we’re seeing here,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said on CNN.

“This is going to be messy and sloppy and not pretty, but … it’s not going to be illegal,” he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a softer tone in describing the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has become a flashpoint for Democrats, who are furious at Musk’s aggressive dismantling of the agency.

“The United States is not walking away from foreign aid,” Rubio told staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, according to CBS. “It’s not. We’re going to continue to provide foreign aid and to be involved in programs, but it has to be programs that we can defend. It has to be programs that we can explain. It has to be programs that we can justify. Otherwise, we do endanger foreign aid.”

Rubio will skip the G-20 summit in Johannesburg amid tensions between Trump, Musk and South Africa.

Democrats are irate over Musk’s actions.

“What Musk is doing is illegal,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said Musk is creating a constitutional crisis.

Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles warning that Musk’s access to government databases and payment systems “jeopardizes national security.”

Senate Democrats are demanding Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brief them “as soon as possible” on DOGE’s access to the federal payment system.  

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) acknowledged there is wasteful spending in government, but he urged Musk to be more collaborative in rooting it out.

“I think they are likely to find awful examples of wasteful spending. I don’t contest that,” he said on CNBC. “I’m sure they can legitimately offer transparency and sunlight to the American people. Just come to Congress, show us what you’re finding, and then force up or down votes.”

Political strategist David Axelrod warned Democrats against pushing all their chips in to protest the shuttering of USAID, noting that foreign disbursements are among the least popular forms of government spending.

“My heart is with the people out on the street outside USAID, but my head tells me: ‘Man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight,’” Axelrod told Politico Magazine. “When you talk about cuts, the first thing people say is: Cut foreign aid.”

💡Perspectives:

• Detroit News: Trump shouldn’t push his luck on tariffs

• The Hill: Trump and Musk are shattering the basic rules of government.

• The Liberal Patriot: How Dems can survive the next 4 years.

• The Hill: Democrats a permanent minority? 

• The Hill: Will Trump’s sovereign wealth fund really ‘Make America Great Again?’

Read more: 

• Trump claims media paid to write good stories for Democrats.

• GOP support for Musk influence with Trump falls dramatically: Poll.

• Former USAID leaders speak out.

• Bondi scraps Biden-era environmental justice enforcement policy.

• The Trump administration is suing Illinois and Chicago over their ‘sanctuary city’ laws.

   

• A second federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship, harshly condemning the administration for trying to “navigate around or simply ignore” the “rule of law.”

• A second lawsuit has been filed against President Trump regarding his executive order banning transgender people from openly serving in the military. 

• Veteran firefighters who responded to the 2023 Maui wildfires have higher levels of “forever chemicals” in their blood compared to those of shorter-term recruits, according to new research.

©  AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Senate Republicans will make the trip to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to meet with President Trump and discuss a way forward on the budget, as House Republicans struggle to reach an agreement that combines Trump’s tax cuts, spending initiatives and reduces the national debt.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Al Weaver capture the dynamics:

“House and Senate Republicans are plowing full steam ahead with conflicting strategies to enact President Trump’s sweeping agenda, putting the two conferences on a collision course. The contrasting game plans — the House’s one-bill track versus the Senate’s two-bill blueprint — have been simmering on Capitol Hill for weeks but are set to come to a head this month, an alarming sign for Republican leaders who are under intense pressure to unite and swiftly approve Trump’s legislative priorities.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has so far been unable to finalize a budget resolution. Johnson and the conservative fiscal hawks in his party are trillions of dollars apart on spending cuts after weeks of wrangling.

The government will shutdown March 14, absent an agreement.

• Democrats delayed a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Kash Patel to lead the FBI by one week. Patel is expected to be voted out of committee next Thursday.

• Russell Vought, Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget, will get a full Senate vote tonight around 7 p.m. after Democrats staged a rare overnight session to delay the vote for the person they describe as Trump’s “most dangerous nominee.”

• Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, will get a hearing next week, as Trump and Elon Musk promise to dismantle the department.

Trump said this week he wants McMahon to “put herself out of a job.”

💡Perspectives:

• The American Prospect:The GOP still has no legislative plan.

• Betsy DeVos: Shutdown the Department of Education.

• USA Today: Trump trusts parents to know what’s best for their kids.

• New York: Why Trump’s plan to kill the Education Department may fail.

• The Hill: A better way to end DEI.

Read more: 

• Here’s where Trump’s Cabinet nominees stand.

• Democrats demand answers on Trump plans for Education Department.

• GOP seeks to corner Democrats with fentanyl bill.

©  AP Photo/Evan Vucci

• President Trump plans to establish a task force led by Attorney General Pam Bondi to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”

The president said a presidential commission is needed to protect Christians from religious discrimination “in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares.”

Speaking Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump reminisced about the first assassination attempt against him, and how it provoked spiritual reflection.

“God did that, it had to be,” Trump said of the shooter missing. 

“I believed in God, but feel much more strongly about it,” he added. “Something happened.”

• Trump on Thursday doubled down on his proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate the people who live there, saying he wouldn’t need soldiers on the ground to carry out the plan.

The Hill’s Laura Kelly writes that the proposal “marked a major moving of goal posts during a critical moment of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.”

The proposal was panned by Senate Republicans, although some are praising Trump for coming up with “fresh ideas” to address the intractable conflict.

Leaders in the Middle East are lobbying against the plan, even as Israel begins preparations for a Gazan exodus.

• The Federal Aviation Administration is barring helicopters and airplanes from sharing air space over the Potomac River near the Reagan Washington National Airport after 67 people died in a Jan. 29 collision.

Trump on Thursday called for an overhaul of U.S. air traffic control systems, calling the current set-up “obsolete.”

💡Perspectives:

• The Guardian: Developer-in-chief sees dollar signs in the rubble of Gaza.

• Tablet: The end of Palestine.

• The Hill: Trump’s Gaza plan now could be a disaster for Israel.

• City Journal: America’s air-traffic control system is an international disgrace.

Read more: 

• Israel preparing for Palestinians’ departure from Gaza after Trump remarks.

• 5 takeaways as Trump’s Gaza Strip proposal reverberates.

• Ex-AOC aide launches primary challenge to Pelosi.

• ICE releasing migrant detainees as arrests exceed capacity.

• Guatemala to accept migrants from other countries deported by US.

• Bondi memos warn DOJ staffers of plans to ‘root out corruption’

Someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up to get your own copy: TheHill.com/Evening. Did I miss a story? Drop me a line. See you next time!