Elon Musk gets the scissors out
The billionaire has begun to hire employees for the Department of Government Effectiveness and to point out some expenses to be cut
Elon Musk has been everywhere in the last few months. First in the campaign, as a generous donor and dedicated rally leader, and then in the transition, as a companion to the president-elect of the United States and agitator for a variety of causes. With the inauguration of Donald Trump, the time has come to begin to carry out the task he has entrusted to him: a drastic reform of the Administration. Musk has started preparing to get the scissors out to cut spending and regulations. He intends to “send shockwaves” to the system, among other things, for his own benefit.
The last week of President Joe Biden’s tenure has highlighted some of the potential conflicts of interest that can arise in his zeal against any and all regulation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued him Tuesday for skirting the law and misleading investors in the purchase of Twitter, with an estimated illicit profit of more than $150 million. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday temporarily halted launches of its Starship spacecraft after opening an investigation into an explosion of the device that forced commercial flights to be diverted and caused debris to rain toward Caribbean islands.
At his campaign rallies, Musk made it clear that one of his goals was to release roadblocks to his space testing. “Mars will be impossible. We will be forever confined to Earth,” he said would be the result of a Kamala Harris victory.
Musk will be in Washington this weekend for the president’s inauguration. He is expected to speak at Sunday’s rally at the Capital One Arena. He will be one of the direct witnesses who will see Trump take the oath of office inside the Capitol. The mogul will then be at the helm of the self-described and officially non-existent Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, a nod to Dogecoin, the bitcoin-derived cryptocurrency that uses a dog as a mascot and which he somehow sponsors. He will be joined by Trumpist millennial Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s primary rival who didn’t hold up in the first round.
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he laid off 75% of the workforce. He eliminated the content moderation teams, but he also fired some engineers and the commercial teams. There were multiple problems, moments of chaos, loss of revenue and a plummeting valuation of the company, but the social network continued to operate. Replicating this handbook in the public administration will not be an easy task.
A peculiar status in the White House
The world’s richest man will have workspace in the White House complex, in the office building adjacent to the presidential palace. However, DOGE’s work will remain outside the traditional administrative apparatus. Its unique status will test the application of transparency, conflict of interest and other rules that apply to the regular administrative structure and its members.
DOGE, in fact, will have no decision-making power. It will make recommendations to the White House and Congress, with jurisdiction not only in budgetary matters, but also in most matters having to do with the elimination or realignment of agencies.
The structure of DOGE is being kept secret. It appears that it will function more like an informal group. Musk initially asked for highly skilled volunteers willing to work 80 hours a week without pay. The offer must not have been enticing enough. Two weeks ago, the DOGE account launched into a request for resumes for paid work: “Recruiting for a very small number of full-time salaried Software Engineers and InfoSec Engineers. If interested, please DM us a few bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability, and your cell phone number,” read the message posted on X.
The billionaire has enlisted the help of Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs, including Peter Thiel, for whom Vice President-elect J.D. Vance worked. They have created messaging groups with which they communicate and try to organize.
development aid, in the crosshairs. Cutting them would fit in with Trump’s nationalist and isolationist policies. It has also been pointing out some not-so-large items of apparent waste of public money. Cutting two trillion out of a $6.5 trillion budget, however, will be no easy task. Most of it is interest on the debt (trending upward), military spending (which Trump wants to increase) and recognized entitlements (such as social security and healthcare, which the president-elect promised on the campaign trail to respect). On July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, and the date set for completing his work, it will be seen whether he has succeeded.