Elon Musk visits US National Security Agency amid ongoing DOGE cuts

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By Erin Banco

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s effort to cut and streamline the federal government’s workforce, visited the National Security Agency on Wednesday to meet with the NSA’s head, a spokesperson for the agency told Reuters.

Musk, a billionaire top adviser to President Donald Trump, is helping lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which has overseen cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across the 2.3-million-member federal civilian workforce.

It is unclear what Musk discussed with NSA leadership. The spokesperson declined to comment on the discussions but said Musk met with NSA head General Timothy Haugh.

“NSA and CYBERCOM are focused on the president, SECDEF and DNI’s priorities,” the spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence. “Meetings with key advisors ensure we are aligned.”

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Musk’s visit.

The NSA is one of the United States’ premier intelligence agencies and uses top-tier, specialized technology and systems to collect and analyze intelligence. The NSA director also heads U.S. Cyber Command, which carries out both offensive and defensive operations and monitors the networks of the Department of Defense.

Musk has previously said on X that he believes the agency is in need of an “overhaul.” He also said during a February 26 cabinet meeting at the White House that DOGE was trying to “fix the government computer systems.”

“They don’t communicate,” he said. “There are a lot of mistakes in the systems. The software doesn’t work.”

(Reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Don Durfee and Rod Nickel)