A power struggle over control of the Internal Revenue Service recently turned into a shouting match outside the Oval Office. Axios reported that tensions between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special government employee Elon Musk came to a head in a face-to-face confrontation “in earshot of President Trump and other White House officials”:
On April 16 … Trump named Gary Shapley — Musk’s choice — as acting commissioner of the IRS. Bessent wanted Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in the position [and] fumed that Musk was causing trouble by going behind his back. On Thursday, at a meeting in the White House, Bessent confronted Musk and, a source said, “the F bombs started to fly.” … The argument was so heated that an aide stepped in between the two men to separate them. It took place within earshot of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting Trump that day.
Bessent got his way, with Shapley lasting only a day as temporary leader of the IRS. The incident raises more questions, however, about who gives the orders in Trump’s administration.
@jamellebouie the absence is any actual leadership in the oval office will just make things all the more chaotic and disruptive.