Van Jones Says Trump Should Fire, Prosecute DOGE Staffers: If He’s ‘Smart’

Van Jones, political analyst and former special adviser to ex-President Barack Obama, said that “if Donald Trump is smart,” he would fire, investigate and prosecute employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who worked under billionaire Elon Musk.

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment Thursday night.

Why It Matters

The public quarrel between Musk and Trump over the spending bill that Trump named the “big, beautiful bill” escalated on social media Thursday, drawing national attention to the high-stakes battle touching on issues of trust in public institutions, government funding and political polarization.

The remarks arrived amid a broader public dispute involving Musk, DOGE and the Trump administration that has been taking place throughout the president’s second term, with heightened scrutiny over DOGE’s access to sensitive taxpayer information.

What To Know

While speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday, Jones said, “Those DOGE employees, the people that [David] Axelrod was just talking about, are very dangerous. If Donald Trump is smart, the first thing he’s going to do is fire, investigate and prosecute all of Elon’s people who are all throughout government with their laptops downloading data right now.”

“I don’t think that what they’re doing is legal,” Jones said. “A lot of them don’t have the proper clearances and I think that if you investigate, you’ll find they’ve uploaded data into servers … that are the wrong thing to do. So, I think there should definitely be an investigation there.”

DOGE’s processes are not known to Newsweek at the time of publication.

Jones added that in the short-term, Trump should go after DOGE, and long term, he should focus on the Republican Party in general as Musk holds hundreds of millions of dollars to potentially drop in close elections.

Meanwhile, numerous DOGE-affiliated staffers at federal agencies resigned in protest after Musk’s decision to slash government roles and entire programs. These resignations followed growing unease about DOGE’s role in accessing sensitive government data, with critics warning of “potential security breaches” and advocates arguing for innovation and efficiency.

DOGE’s pursuit of access to IRS taxpayer data, in particular, further heightened concerns. There were growing fears that DOGE staff working within government agencies could potentially obtain information unrelated to their immediate operational needs, increasing risk for exposure or misuse of tax records.

DOGE has also been embroiled in numerous lawsuits related to its pursuit of access to both public and government data.

Van Jones poses for a portrait during the 85th Annual Peabody Awards at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, on June 1 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

What People Are Saying

Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Musk posted to X on Wednesday: “This spending bill contains the largest increase in the debt ceiling in US history! It is the Debt Slavery Bill.”

David Axelrod, former Obama adviser on CNN Thursday, when asked if Musk got played by Trump in part: “Well, I mean Trump is president and that’s what he wanted. Musk has actually suffered financially as a result of this, and it could be worse if Trump really leans in. I mean he lost, Tesla lost 14 percent of its value today because of this exchange between Trump and Musk. So, I don’t know if he got played.”

“But Donald Trump, like I said, he’s not a sentimentalist. He uses people, he uses everybody. And I think he used … Musk, but I think Musk used him as well.”

Axelrod went on to point out that Musk does wield his own power through X, his wealth and the following he has built for himself.