Speaking at a POLITICO event, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure suggested that Elon Musk and his team don't have sufficient expertise in Medicare.

Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said she is concerned with the speed at which Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is scrapping federal programs to cut costs.

In a Fox News interview, President Trump and Elon Musk outlined plans for $1 trillion in government savings, assuring that Social Security and Medicare will remain safe.

Musk’s review has him convinced that “the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR.

The Odessa American is the leading source of local news, information, entertainment and sports for the Permian Basin.

Musk originally claimed he could find $2 trillion in cuts — nearly one-third of the entire federal budget — and then lowered his sights to “only” $1 trillion. Both figures are wildly unrealistic, unless the administration changes its tune and addresses Social Security and Medicare solvency.

Musk caused alarm among federal employees over an email sent on Saturday requesting that employees summarize their work.

A key member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has met with leadership at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs, according to internal records reviewed by ABC News.

As Musk and his critics toss around statistics, here are some points to know about how the government spends $6.8 trillion taxpayer money. The largest chunks of the federal budget go toward mandatory spending. These programs do not need annual outlays approved by Congress. They include: Social Security (about 20%).

Fourteen states led by New Mexico sued the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on Thursday challenging the alleged “unlawful delegation of executive power to Elon Musk” they say has unraveled federal agencies and “caused widespread disruption”—as criticism of Elon Musk’s increasingly powerful agency builds.