Musk Briefs CIA Leaders At McLean HQ On DOGE's Cost-Cutting Measures

MCLEAN, VA — Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, visited CIA headquarters on Tuesday, according to a social media post from CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

“Had a great visit and meeting with @ElonMusk to discuss his ideas and progress so far in making our government more efficient! I look forward to working with Elon and his team to ensure that CIA remains the premier intelligence Agency in the world,” Ratcliffe said in a 6:50 p.m. post on his official X account.

Musk briefed Ratcliffe, deputy director Michael Ellis, and a group of top CIA officials about what DOGE has learned from its cost-cutting efforts at other federal agencies and how those lessons could be applied at the CIA, according to Axios.

Musk did not receive an intelligence briefing, but senior officials discussed "how the CIA is unique" in comparison to other agencies, Axios reported.

"Director Ratcliffe emphasized during the meeting the importance of respecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring that they are spent wisely and appropriately — on the CIA's mission of defending the United States of America," CIA public affairs director Liz Lyons told Axios.

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order creating DOGE to modernize “federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

Acting as DOGE’s director, Musk implemented the layoffs of thousands of federal employees and closed down agencies at Trump’s behest. The most recent was the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank in Washington, D.C., according to the Associated Press.

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Musk’s visit came a week after Ratcliffe testified before the House Intelligence Committee, fielding questions about national security officials discussing sensitive military plans on a group text chain that also included a journalist, according to the Associated Press.

Along with Ratcliffe, the text chain on the Signal messaging app included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials, according to AP’s report. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, had also been included in the chat.

Admitting that Goldberg was “inadvertently” added, Gabbard said the conversation included “candid and sensitive” information about military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. She also told lawmakers that the texts did not contain any classified information, AP reported.

Ratcliffe was sworn in as the agency’s 25th director during a Jan. 25 White House ceremony officiated by Vice President Vance.