(AFP) – Elon Musk, appointed by Donald Trump to head a government efficiency commission, will meet with congressional lawmakers in Washington on Thursday to discuss his plans for radical budget cuts. President-elect Trump rewarded the Tesla, X, and SpaceX chief for his support in the White House race by naming him head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, along with another wealthy ally, Vivek Ramaswamy.
“On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it,” the two billionaires wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal last month. They are expected on Capitol Hill Thursday to talk up their plans of cutting billions of dollars in federal spending, which have already sent shock waves around the US capital. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said the meeting is meant to address “major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings.”
– A wave of terminations –
In their column last month, the two businessmen laid out plans to cut staff, trim government programs, and reduce federal regulations, even if it means bypassing Congress, which holds budgetary power. “The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote. “We’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians.”
Despite its title, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will not be a government agency, but an advisory body, and the two men said they will work as “outside volunteers.” On Trump’s campaign trail, Musk vowed to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion, a whopping 30 percent cut compared to 2024. “A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy,” Musk wrote, adding that laid-off federal workers will be allowed a “graceful exit.” Musk also suggested abolishing teleworking for government employees. “Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.” Cuts will also target subsidies to public broadcasters and “progressive” groups such as Planned Parenthood.
– Social welfare –
But DOGE is unlikely, at least initially, to go after welfare programs such as Social Security or health insurance for the poor and seniors, Ramaswamy said in an interview with Axios on Wednesday. Such cuts should be “a policy decision that belongs to the voters” and their representatives in Congress, Ramaswamy said. A reduction in defense spending, which climbed to $820 billion in 2023, is also unlikely to be on the table because Congress is unlikely to embrace it.
The world’s richest man, Musk spent millions funding Trump’s presidential campaign and campaigned next to him at rallies. His new role raises the question of potential conflicts of interest, since Musk could be issuing policy recommendations that deal with his business empire. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency is called Dogecoin.
– Robin LEGRAND
© 2024 AFP
