Kash Patel overrules Elon Musk as new FBI boss throws down gauntlet to DOGE

Daily Mail ^ | 2-23-25 | Will Potter

[Strict9]

Patel instructed agents at the bureau to disregard an email Musk sent to workers earlier on Saturday, titled: 'What did you do last week?'

Musk's email ordered workers to reply to the message with five bullets detailing all of their accomplishments at work in the past week and to cc in their manager.

Not long after, Patel overruled Musk's memo with his own message, making it clear that the FBI 'is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures.'

'When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses,' he wrote.

Patel's interference is one of his first

[Strict9]

I trust Patel to replace whoever he needs to. Musk is Musk.

[abigkahuna]

Sounds like good cop, bad cop sort of thing.

[Strict9]

People would just use AI chatbots anyway

[Sacajaweau]

That’s fine...Patel is providing a watchful eye...protective not vindictive.

[Strict9]

For example, this is what ChatGPT told me- and then it wanted details on my particular job:

“It depends on your job, but generally, you’d want to show that you were productive, contributed to your team, and handled your responsibilities well. Here are some things you could mention:
1. Completed Tasks – Mention specific projects, reports, or assignments you finished.
2. Met Deadlines – Highlight any deadlines you successfully met or exceeded.
3. Problem-Solving – Describe any challenges you faced and how you resolved them.
4. Collaboration – If you worked with colleagues, mention teamwork, meetings, or assisting others.
5. Efficiency Improvements – If you streamlined a process, saved time, or improved workflow, mention that.
6. Customer/Client Interaction – If applicable, highlight any positive interactions or support provided.
7. Learning & Development – If you learned something new or attended training, it shows growth.
8. Initiative – If you took on extra work, suggested improvements, or showed leadership, that’s a plus.

If your goal is to keep your job, make sure you frame everything positively and demonstrate your value to the company. Would you like help tailoring this to your specific role?”

[SaveFerris]

I would tend to agree

[Kleon]

This worm looks DEI. Replace him with someone who understands whay Trump is trying to do.

[lee martell]

Strange question for you on AI.
As far as you know, can an AI system keep secrets, or expectations of confidentiality? I can see one of the DOGEs asking AI “What did employee Xtz want to ask you about and what were all your replies?”

[Gene Eric]

a very gay thread

[9YearLurker]

Would/will be fascinating to learn whether Kash got blessings from Trump for his email before sending it out. By immediately reassigning 4% of his workforce to Alabama or otherwise across the country, Patel didn’t seem to be wasting time on addressing probably the trickiest staff any cabinet member has.

[steve86]

Beginning of the end of Musk’s role. Many of the other heads of departments will advise their staffs similarly.

[Kleon]

“Beginning of the end of Musk’s role.”

More like the beginning of the end of Kash Patel’s career. Who does he think he is?

[dadfly]

and i trust Musk to put in radically effective ‘procedures’ for hiring/firing and getting the best out of his employees.

if Patel is smart, he’ll get to work adapting ‘FBI procedures’ to get Musk (and the President) what he needs immediately. that will work to his benefit as well.

[freepersup]

Worm? DEI? Are you a bigot?

Trump picked Patel. Do the research.

The highest levels of government have been infiltrated by an anti-democratic Deep State that can be defeated by refocusing our national security mission and relentlessly defending the truth.

A sinister cabal of corrupt law enforcement personnel, intelligence agents, and military officials at the highest levels of government plotted to overthrow a president. Even after they failed, they continue to secretly pull the levers of power without any accountability to the American people. This isn’t the synopsis of a fictional spy thriller. This is what is actually happening in the United States government.

In Government Gangsters, Kash Patel—a former top official in the White House, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Justice—pulls back the curtain on the Deep State, revealing the major players and tactics within the permanent government bureaucracy, which has spent decades stripping power away from the American people and their elected leaders. Based on his firsthand knowledge, Patel reveals how we can defeat the Deep State, reassert self-government, and restore our democracy.

[Sequoyah101]

This will be interesting. I am with Patel on this one.

In the past times I have worked in organizations that required people to defend their jobs I thought it was offensive madness. Management should know what people do and if they don’t they should figure it out of eliminate the position instead of playing cat and mouse games. It is cruel idiocy to do such a thing. If a manager can’t tell what his employees are doing them telling him isn’t going to improve anything. What do they expect them to say? “I’ve done very little on my job and don’t deserve to have it. My position should be eliminated.”

In the past I simply ignored such orders and said nothing.

Each and every position should be covered by a job description, reporting location, current compensation, performance review process etc. It is grounds for dismissal and most other personnel management operations.

When it came to time sheets and telling what you did last week I simply filled it in. “Performing orders as directed.” I got very little guff. Time sheets were necessary for joint interest billing. It should have instead been covered by the standard JIB rates agreed to in the Joint Operating Agreement. If people knew their butts from a hole in the ground they should have left it at that.

[Secret Agent Man]

Could be Kash is doing this to assert he doesn’t work for Musk, cleaning up fbi is his deal.

Its gonna get figured out ok between Trump, Patel and Musk. They all,want the same thing, so it will get figured out and they will all keep on going.

[madison10]

I do not think so. The FBI is an organization in which secrecy is very important. No one needs to know what they were doing except Kash.

Other departments do not have the need for secrecy.

[joshua c]

ha ha

nice try

[cross_bearer_02]

Anybody get the feeling this is more psyop stuff?

Relevant questions that aren't answered in the article that I'd like to know:

• Have Kash and Elon coordinated already about this? They may have already.
• What's the working relationship between the two? Is it hostile, or is this just a "agree to disagree" thing? "Good cop/bad cop?" Or perhaps Elon agreed that FBI matters would be best handled by the FBI Director?
• Do we know whether maybe Kash has ensured Elon that he will conduct his own thorough review, and will implement DOGE-like policy under his own purview as the FBI director?
• Have either of them spoken to President Trump concerning this matter? If so, what has he advised? If not, what are his thoughts and wishes?

Those are all questions I'd like to see answers to, and I'm not so sure I'm comfortable having them answered by the Daily Mail. I'd like someone with some authoritative leadership within the Trump Administration to provide an official answer.

End of the day, Kash is the FBI Director and it makes sense for him to manage the FBI under his leadership. He knows where the bodies are buried, and I figure he also knows who are the problem individuals. I do think it's worth working with Elon and DOGE on some of that, but at the end of the day, President Trump is the president. It's ultimately his call to make, since he's the Boss.

I just think this is the Daily Mail trying to pull some lefty shenanigans. They're all scared of Kash and Elon. Me, you, God and everybody else knows it. And if they can pit them against each other and put them in a position where Trump is pressured to dismiss either or both, so much the better for the left. It takes two of their biggest "boogy men" out of the picture.

[Sequoyah101]

I think he is both running out of steam and wearing out his welcome. Cabinet members are not 20 something whiz kids to be directed. They are grown up and successful in their own right and expect to run their own agencies or be fired for non-performance.

If you hire someone to do a job you need to be willing to let him do it and certainly so above certain levels. Cabinet Secretary meets or exceeds that level of responsibility. The proper thing to do is to dictate 10% cuts by a certain date with nominations for action and then approve them and let them be.

Cabinet Secretaries don’t work for Musk even when he is in a proxy position to the President.

You can’t go at what is being done like a damn bull in a china shop. At least not every day and for everything.

I am with Patel and I think he has enough experience to be left alone and act on the President’s agenda.