Elon Musk has shared his own disbelief that the government efficiency department Donald Trump tapped him to lead “is real.”
The world’s richest man and SpaceX owner, who holds billions of dollars in government contracts through his companies, appeared to mock the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a post on X.
“I still can’t believe @DOGE is real,” he said, followed by two laughing emojis.
“But I think it’s actually going to work,” he added.
Musk will head up the newly-created department in Trump’s second administration alongside venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy.
Under Musk, the new office – which will operate “outside of government” – will advise on gutting federal departments and which staff should be fired if it deems they are a “massive waste.”
MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has also been tapped to chair a House subcommittee that will work in tandem with DOGE.
The panel will recommend firing government “bureaucrats” and will provide “transparency and truth to the American people through hearings,” according to Greene.
It will operate under the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Republican congressman James Comer of Kentucky.
When he announced the new department earlier this month, Trump vowed that Musk and Ramaswamy would “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
The president-elect characterized the department as an advisory board that will “provide guidance outside of government.”
“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said off the back of the announcement.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy said they want to reduce annual federal spending by at least $500 billion.
They specified they would cut $1.5 billion earmarked for “international organizations,” another $535 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds hundreds of locally owned public radio and television stations, and another $300 million for “progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.”
Musk has said he would recommend cutting the nation’s budget by “at least $2 trillion” — or roughly one-third.
The Tesla CEO spoke about his intentions to slash federal spending and the potential impacts of the plans on the campaign trail.
At a virtual town hall event on October 26, Musk warned that if Trump was reelected, their plans for the economy would likely call for “temporary hardship” for Americans.
“We have to reduce spending to live within our means,” Musk said at the time. “And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”
