Some House Republicans are privately grumbling about Elon Musk's handling of the federal government. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital illustration)
A second GOP lawmaker said, "I’m going to echo Austin’s comments about, you know, it would be nice to have some heads up. There’s a lot of questions."
"Words matter, right? So let’s make sure we’re putting out accurate information that’s correct," the second lawmaker said.
Two House Republicans said Scott warned DOGE needed to "measure twice, cut once" in its audits of the federal government.
Two others, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and another lawmaker, said Scott took issue with Musk re-posting a meme on X that referred to people on federal benefits as the "parasite class."
"What Elon was talking about is those who are gaming the system are parasites. But Austin looks at it differently, which is fine, Austin means right. But he said his people took offense to that," Norman said.
Scott told Fox News Digital he supported DOGE's goals but reaffirmed his frustration.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski publicly criticized Musk's handling of federal workers. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Others were public with their frustration, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who posted on X, "Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it."
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said it was up to the executive branch to deal with its personnel.
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"Reductions in force are up to the executive branch agencies and the executive branch, which is run by President Trump. So if President Trump wants to make cuts to the executive branch agencies, that’s his prerogative," Rutherford said.
And the vast majority of Republicans are still backing Musk, at least publicly.
"I would say that I think the vast majority, the American people, understand and applaud and appreciate the DOGE effort, the goal to scale down the size and scope of government," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "The reason we're excited about what Elon Musk and the team at DOGE are doing, the end result of that is going to be achieving the goal that we've always had, and that is to make government more efficient."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House's DOGE spokesperson for comment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/frustration-elon-musk-spills-over-after-closed-door-house-gop-meeting-fed-wolves