Trump and Elon Musk: What do the magnates think about government effectiveness and what can be expected from the new Department of Efficiency

Donald Trump has tasked the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, with leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump said on social media that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former candidate in the Republican Party primaries, “will dismantle the government bureaucracy, will reduce excessive regulations“They will cut unnecessary spending and restructure federal agencies.”

The technology entrepreneur has extensive corporate leadership experience to achieve this objective he has been defending for months.

But his role will also give him importance Impact on government policy and regulatory environment in which their companies operate, which raises reasonable suspicion.

At the moment, few concrete details are known about the next government efficiency department, which Trump called “the Manhattan Project of our time” in a statement.

The newly elected President has announced that DOGE will act as a type of advisory council will work externally Through a partnership with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Trump announced, “The department will provide advice and guidance from outside the government, and will partner with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to enact large-scale structural reforms and create a business-like approach to government that has never been seen before.” Went. ” .

“I look forward to Elon and Vivek transforming the federal bureaucracy for efficiency while improving the lives of all Americans. Importantly, we will eliminate the massive waste and fraud that exists in our $6.5 billion annual government spending.” Will do.” Added.

And, in theory, it won’t be permanent: Trump estimates the body will complete its work 18 months

For his part, Musk said at a rally for the then-Republican candidate in October that the US government budget could be reduced by “at least” US$2 trillion from a total of US$6.5 trillion.

He has also repeatedly suggested that the number of government employees could be reduced significantly.

For his part, Ramaswamy has in the past expressed his desire to eliminate several federal offices, including the Department of Education, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the FBI.

If anything, the way Musk has run his companies may provide an indication of what Americans can expect him to do on DOGE.

He takes charge in October 2022 Social media platform Twitter, which he named XIn a deal worth US$44 billion.

Musk waived content moderation policies and lifted restrictions on users deemed to be violating rules on hate speech and misinformation.

One of the users it reinstated was Trump, whose profile was censored after the Capitol riot in January 2021 because he continued to claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

Musk’s acquisition brought radical changes to X, such as workforce reduction From about 8,000 people to 1,500,

In April 2023, he told the BBC that his reasoning behind taking this step was that “if the whole company goes under, no one will have a job.”

“His idea of ​​efficiency was to get a lot of people out of a job,” says Alex Wadden, professor of American politics at the University of Leicester.

In response to an exodus of advertisers due to the platform’s relaxed free speech policies, the businessman monetized some features to increase revenue.

This changed to the blue tick that previously indicated that a public figure’s account was authentic. a subscription model And advertising payments were tied to the number of interactions received from “verified” users.

But these changes also had some unintended consequences.

After a barrage of criticism,

Incentivizing users with a share of advertising revenue also gave so-called “bot farms” an opportunity to earn money from interactions with their automatically generated content. Musk has said that his team has repeatedly removed bot accounts.

Critics say his changes have given prominence to hate speech and misinformation, though he says the social network is politically neutral.

“As a ‘serial entrepreneur,’ Musk Has been consistent in its efforts to improve institutional efficiency In their companies,” assesses Thomas Gift, professor of political science and director of the Center for American Politics at University College London.

He further said that while Musk’s main role will be to “reduce the bureaucratic tangle of the US federal government”, his position will also give him influence in the new administration.

“Although his role in the Department of Government Efficiency will be more informal, there is no doubt Trump listens to themAt least for now,” he says.

Elon Musk is “extremely anti-regulation and Dislikes being told what to do by the government or anyone else“, investigative journalist Kristen Grind described in the podcast the Daily from an American newspaper the new York Times,

The acronym DOGE, coined by Musk, refers to a meme of the Shiba Inu dog that later gave its name to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. He has mentioned both repeatedly.

Christopher Phelps, professor of modern American political history, explains the name as follows:Cryptocurrency regulation approved As part of their plans.”

Cryptocurrency prices surged after Trump’s election, suggesting the incoming president will create a relaxed regulatory environment.

But Musk’s calls for regulation can also be attributed in part to the disappointments he has endured with his other business ventures: electric vehicle company Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX.

The US government has repeatedly accused Tesla Try to prevent your workers from forming a unionWhich may violate federal law in some cases.

Musk, who has an estimated net worth of up to $290 billion, has previously said he is “not against all unions” but that the Auto Workers union “has a history of destroying productivity in a way that prevents a company from competing.”

In September, Musk threatened to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over plans to fine his company SpaceX $633,000 for alleged licensing violations related to some of its rocket launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

He accused the agency of “regulatory overreach”,

He has said this again and again wants to settle on MarsAnd SpaceX’s Starship program is an effort to make that possible.

But in September he wrote that this was only a possibility “unless it is suppressed by bureaucracy” and said the creation of DOGE was “the only path to expanding life beyond Earth.”

So to what extent is your motivation for taking up a government role driven by your professional interests?

“The regulation that Musk is promoting will have huge personal benefits for him,” says Professor Phelps.

“I think putting someone who is a billionaire and runs a large corporation in charge of a federal regulation project is, by its nature, risky conflicts of interest

For his part, Professor Gift says that “There is no doubt that Musk has a significant vested interest in the US regulatory landscape as a result of his many business ventures.”

At the same time, he explains, “it’s hard to confirm that this is the only factor driving it.”

“Musk has taken enormous personal and political risk in coming out for Trump, and many of his actions and rhetoric reflect that. an ideologically committed person With causes he believes in.

Professor Wadden agrees with this view: “You obviously have a stake and a self-interest, but you can equally honestly believe that there is too much regulation and too much government bureaucracy.”

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