Musk's Cost-Cutting Mission: Key Strategies and Impact

Musk's Cost-Cutting Mission: Key Strategies and Impact.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are scheduled to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday to present their recently established advisory team, which the two billionaires assert will reduce regulations, expenditures, and personnel within the federal government.

The Department of Government Efficiency, colloquially referred to as “Doge”—a likely nod to Musk’s preferred cryptocurrency, dogecoin—was initially introduced by Donald Trump last month.

“It will become, potentially, 'The Manhattan Project' of our time,” The president-elect posted on his social media platform, alluding to a classified World War Two initiative aimed at the development of nuclear weapons. “Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time.”

Despite Trump's enthusiasm, there are still many uncertainties surrounding Doge and its operational framework. As Musk and Ramaswamy engage with lawmakers, it is pertinent to examine what is currently known about their emerging agency.

“DOGE” Is Not A Government Department

Doge, despite having the unequivocal backing of Trump and including the term "department" in its title, does not qualify as an official government department. Such entities must be created through congressional legislation and generally employ a large workforce.

Rather, Doge is expected to function as an advisory entity, managed by two of Trump’s most trusted associates and maintaining direct communication with the White House.

In a recent opinion article featured in the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy expressed that they would “serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees”.

The duo will support the Trump transition team in the recruitment of the Doge team, as stated, which will offer advice to the White House regarding expenditure reductions and prepare a compilation of regulations they consider to be beyond the legal authority of various agencies.

“DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission,” they wrote.

Never Ending Cuts

The details remain somewhat uncertain; however, the overarching message is evident—Doge’s leadership is advocating for significant governmental reform through substantial reductions.

The federal bureaucracy “represents an existential threat to our republic,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in the Journal. “Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”

Musk, recognized as the wealthiest individual globally, has asserted that he can identify over $2 trillion in potential savings, which constitutes approximately one-third of the annual federal government expenditure. Furthermore, both he and his counterpart have indicated their intention to significantly reduce federal regulations, implement widespread layoffs, and completely eliminate certain agencies.

Ramaswamy, a financier who sought the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year, pledged during his campaign to eliminate the Education Department, the FBI, and the IRS—commitments he has reiterated in recent weeks.

Speaking at a gala held at Mar-a-Lago last month, Ramasamy thanked Trump “for making sure that Elon Musk and I are in a position to start the mass deportations of millions of unelected federal bureaucrats out of the DC bureaucracy".

"And I don't know if you've got to know Elon yet, but he doesn't bring a chisel, he brings a chainsaw, and we're going to be taking it to that bureaucracy," Ramaswamy said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Zero Compensation

Musk has reached out to employees via X, previously known as Twitter, the social media platform under his ownership.

Individuals interested in Doge have been encouraged to submit their resumes directly to the newly established Doge account on X. Prospective candidates should anticipate workweeks exceeding 80 hours, as indicated in a post from Doge, which focuses on "unglamorous cost cutting." Furthermore, Musk has stated that the efforts at Doge will not be compensated with a salary.

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“This will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero,” he wrote on X.

The DOGE account indicated that only the "top 1% of applicants" will undergo review by Musk and Ramaswamy; however, it did not clarify the criteria for ranking the applicants.

Image by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66881482

The “DOGE” Deadline

The expiration date for Doge has been established as July 4, 2026, even prior to its full operational launch.

“A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Trump stated when announcing the new body.

Certain associates of Trump are optimistic that Doge will resemble the Grace Commission, a private-sector initiative created by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 aimed at reforming the federal bureaucracy and managing expenditures.

Throughout its two-year existence, the Grace Commission provided over 2,500 recommendations to both the White House and Congress. Nevertheless, the majority of these suggestions were never put into action.

“DOGE” Has Its Critics 

Musk and Ramaswamy's ambitious commitments have elicited skepticism from experts, who argue that the extent and scale of their proposals verge on the unattainable.

“Every few decades you really need to look at everything," Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told CBS.

But to slash one-third of the government’s spending - like Musk has pledged - is “insane”, she said. Roughly two-thirds of the total budget is mandatory, and includes programmes like Social Security and Medicare. “This is the first warning sign that this is going to be a failed operation.”

Certain aspects of Doge have garnered unexpected commendation.

Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator representing Vermont who aligns with the Democratic Party, made a statement regarding this week stating that “Musk is right” about proposed cuts to the defence budget. The Pentagon has “lost track of billions”, Sanders wrote on X, saying the department had failed its seventh audit in a row.

Several other Democrats have expressed comparable indications of support. Representative Ro Khanna from California stated his endorsement for reductions in Pentagon expenditures. Additionally, this week, Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz from Florida became the first member of his party to align with the House Doge caucus, a Congressional group dedicated to decreasing government spending, although it does not directly report to the Doge advisory board.

“Reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue,” he said in a statement.

The "Doge" initiative, despite its ambitious goals, faces significant skepticism and criticism. Critics argue that Musk and Ramaswamy's proposal to slash government spending by one-third is unrealistic, given that much of the federal budget is tied to mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Additionally, the idea of cutting entire agencies and laying off federal employees raises concerns about potential harm to vital services and the public sector's stability. With no guaranteed funding and a vague operational structure, "Doge" risks becoming another failed government reform effort, reminiscent of past initiatives that offered promises but fell short in execution.

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