Elon Musk, a businessman, was given a top job on a new government efficiency percentage after his starry-doing performance on Donald Trump‘s campaign.
According to Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics under former President Barack Obama, “putting the world’s richest state company in charge of a job to reduce government plans and restrictions is the concept of a conflict of interest.” The government could be using the money earned by Americans to benefit Musk rather than the American people if the Trump administration follows Musk’s tips.
Trump announced that Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy may lead the energy, which may discontinue on July 4, 2026, the world’s 250th day.
” Up, these two wonderful Americans did pave the way for my Administration to destroy Government Bureaucracy, slash excessive laws, reduce wasteful spending, and rebuild Federal Agencies – Essential to the’ Save America ‘ Movement”, Trump said in a statement.
” This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people”! Musk said in the launch.
Trump claimed that Republicans have long desired the” Manhattan Project of our day” and that they have been dreaming about it, but he provided no details. To implement changes, Musk and Ramaswamy may work with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
However, there is a very long history of comparable efforts in Washington.
President Ronald Reagan created the efficiency-minded Grace Commission in 1982, promising that it would “drain the swamp”. The National Partnership for Reinventing Government was founded in 1993 by President Bill Clinton with the aim of improving how the government “works better, cost less, and getting results American care on,” keeping it lively until 1998.
Most lately, Obama created what became known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission in 2010, promising that it would help reduce the federal deficit.
The Washington Examiner posed DOGE-related queries, but a Trump spokesperson did not respond. Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded” no opinion” when asked about the DOGE during Wednesday’s news event.
Musk vowed at Trump’s Madison Square Garden march to reduce the federal funds by “at least”$ 2 trillion, which is almost one-third of the entire national outlay for governmental 2024.
However, Musk’s critics point out that Starlink and SpaceX have awarded him more than$ 15 billion in government contracts over the past ten years. After spending roughly$ 200 million to support Trump’s election victory, he has recently spent a lot of time with him. He will travel to Washington on Wednesday for meetings with him.
Former president George W. Bush’s general ethics lawyer, Richard Painter, claimed a legal conflict of interest statute would apply to both Musk and Ramaswamy as federal employees. He claimed that this would be extremely unusual and that they may also choose to get a waiver or recuse themselves from any issue that might have a direct impact on their businesses.
But if the couple operate completely outside of the state and just make suggestions, as Trump has suggested, those steps may be avoided. Consistent and clear mission statements are what prevent ethical issues, according to Painter.
According to Painter,” they must put it in one box or another and refrain from playing games against the rules.”
Musk himself has vowed to use X, the social media platform he owns, to provide “maximum transparency” in his new role.
Democrats are already questioning the announcement, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA ) claiming that” the Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person. Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient”.
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Concerning the effectiveness of the DOGE, Project on Government Oversight’s general counsel Scott Amey remarked.
” The commission should consider that most of the time when this happens, it just moves money from the government bucket to the contractor bucket”, he said, referencing a 2011 study. A thorough analysis of whether it will save money over the long run is required. Over time, the cost of hiring contractors has increased, and contractors are now more expensive.
