Elon Musk Says Mandatory Drug Testing For Federal Workers Is A ‘Great Idea’ As His DOGE Agency Seeks Spending Cuts Under Trump

Elon Musk, chair of the Trump administration’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), says it’s a “great idea” to mandate drug testing of federal employees as he pushes to make massive cuts to government agencies and spending.

In an X post on Saturday, Joshua Steinman—a former National Security Council (NSC) official who served during President Donald Trump’s first term—tagged DOGE and asked whether the department has “considered a federal workforce-wide, mandatory, immediate drug test.”

“Great idea,” Musk replied.

Some federal employees and contractors are already required to submit to pre-employment drug testing, though random screenings of workers are generally reserved for those select safety-sensitive or national security-related positions.

But as the billionaire works to cull the federal workforce, he’s evidently compelled by the idea of increasing drug testing, ostensibly in hopes of identifying workers who could be terminated for cause.

Great idea

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2025

That’s despite the fact that Musk himself has previously gotten into hot water after puffing a marijuana joint on Joe Rogan’s podcast while owning a federally contracted aerospace company, SpaceX. (He later claimed he never actually inhaled.)

The DOGE chair has also disclosed his use of ketamine, and he said in 2021 that people should be “open to psychedelics.”

“A lot of people making laws are kind of from a different era, so I think, as the new generation gets into political power, I think we will see greater receptivity to the benefits of psychedelics,” he said at the time.

Musk also said he feels CBD from cannabis is overhyped and “doesn’t do anything.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently urged Musk to target “unnecessary” federal enforcement against marijuana consumers and businesses as a key way to reduce spending by the federal government.

Last year ahead of the November election, a political committee opposing a Florida marijuana legalization ballot initiative that ultimately fell short of passage received a half-million-dollar contribution from an organization that Musk reportedly used to quietly support Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

Meanwhile, Trump’s choice to serve as director of national intelligence (DNI), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D/R-HI), said last week that past marijuana use should not disqualify a person from receiving a security clearance—but “ongoing” use of cannabis is a “more complex” eligibility consideration.

Also, although the use of Schedule I drugs like marijuana by federal government workers remains prohibited under a 1986 executive order from then-President Ronald Reagan, some attorneys have suggested that, if cannabis is moved to Schedule III as is currently being considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), that could lift the restrictions based on how “illegal drugs” are defined under the order.