ROOKE: Intelligence Agencies Pushback Against DOGE Requests, Giving Trump A Clear Message

President Donald Trump is experiencing pushback among his appointees at national security agencies, signaling that his plan is working.

In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump instructed Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to be “more aggressive” in his mission to uncover fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal bureaucracy.

That same day, Musk responded with a new plan to shrink the federal workforce. Musk announced that all government employees would receive an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) asking them to respond by Monday night with the top five things they’ve accomplished this week. Any federal employee who does not answer is effectively tendering their resignation.

Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.

Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025

Still, despite being nominated by Trump, agency heads at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security, Health and Human Services (HHS), the State Department, and the Defense Department instructed their employees to disregard the Musk email, telling them their evaluation would be handled in-house.

Defense Department Statement on OPM Mail Guidance. pic.twitter.com/fq8V7ltI2A

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) February 23, 2025

Trump has not commented on their refusal to work with DOGE. However, he should consider this a good sign, at least regarding America’s intelligence agencies. The people he’s put in charge of these agencies know the insidious work being done to the U.S. from inside the federal government and are well-equipped to dismantle the bureaucratic state. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

For example, FBI Director Kash Patel was instrumental in uncovering the Russian collusion hoax that led to the first Trump impeachment. Patel led the original Congressional investigation into the allegations against Trump, finding that there was not a single piece of evidence tying him to Russia, but there was definitive proof that high-ranking officials inside the Obama administration colluded to take down Trump as a candidate and then as president.

Patel told a podcast host in 2024, “It’s always helpful when you identify government corruption, that you identify the actors.”

“I rarely have any personal animosity against anyone, but I do have a problem with corrupt government officials,” he added.

Patel has felt the weight of the corrupt intelligence agencies on his back for almost a decade for his work uncovering the plot against Trump. He has promised to go after the rotten FBI and clear out the bad actors from within.

WATCH: Kash Patel’s full remarks after being sworn in as FBI Director:

“Anyone who thinks the American Dream is dead, look right here. You’re talking to a first-generation Indian kid who is about to lead the law enforcement community in the greatest nation on God’s Earth.” pic.twitter.com/PQrCkme9az

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 21, 2025

Similarly, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who used to be a Democrat and was in the running to lead the Democrat party, was placed on a secret government terror watch list called Quiet Skies just 24 hours after criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris. (Establishment Republicans Rear Their Ugly Heads In Opposition To Trump’s Biggest Win Yet)

During her confirmation hearing, Gabbard detailed multiple examples of intelligence agencies abusing their spying powers to target Americans, including naming the heads of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and FBI involved. She told U.S. Senators that the practice of using spy tactics against Americans has to end. She sees it as her mission as DNI to ensure that Americans can trust our intelligence agencies again.

🔥 MUST WATCH: DNI Director-designate Tulsi Gabbard’s full opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee:

“I will do my very best to find the truth, no matter where it leads, and share that truth with President Trump, his advisors, and you in Congress.” pic.twitter.com/lR8NSDytwV

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 30, 2025

Patel and Gabbard telling their employees that their evaluation will be conducted within their agencies should signal to Trump that he hired the right people for the job. Other agencies and the liberal media will look at their statements and cheer the move, believing it’s an example of truth to power.

This does not mean that Patel and Gabbard are signaling they are working against Trump. In reality, they handle our nation’s biggest secrets. It makes zero sense to have intelligence agencies broadcast what’s being done without further guidance on completing the email request and protecting national security.

However, their reluctance to follow the OPM directive does (and did) open the door for other agencies that do not handle national security issues to defy Trump’s order, as we’ve seen with HHS and others. Still, Patel and Gabbard’s guidance to their employees could be a sign to Trump that they don’t need DOGE’s help to uncover their rotten bureaucracy. They know where the bodies are buried and are capable of digging them up.

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