For months, Elon Musk, the world’s richest individual, has been pushing for a division to slash United States authorities spending.
On November 12, President-elect Donald Trump made his want come true and introduced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and failed Republican presidential candidate, would lead the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE).
DOGE seems to be an out of doors advisory division that can work at the side of the Workplace of Administration and Finances (OMB), a White Home workplace accountable for serving to the sitting president craft finances proposals to convey to Congress. Musk gave the division official authorities credentials on X, the social media platform he owns.
“From all the things we’ve heard now, what Elon and Vivek are proposing to do could be one thing much like what the Workplace of Administration and Finances and GAO [Government Accountability Office] does. OMB serves the president particularly to assist handle federal businesses throughout the chief department. Something that goes to the president has to undergo OMB first. Something that comes from the president to different businesses has to undergo OMB first,” a former senior Trump administration official who declined to be named instructed Al Jazeera.
Regardless, it might not be an official cupboard place, which might require the formation of a brand new authorities company, which might require congressional approval. The newest company to be created was the Division of Homeland Safety, which opened its doorways in 2003 within the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, assaults.
What’s DOGE planning on doing?
Musk has promised to chop $2 trillion, or greater than a 3rd, of the US authorities’s annual finances. He stated he desires to chop the variety of businesses from 428 to 99.
Final week, he shared on X an outdated interview with Milton Friedman wherein the economist lists the federal government departments that ought to be scrapped – agriculture, training, commerce – including, “Milton Friedman was one of the best,” a publish that’s being learn as issues Musk want to do.
Ramaswamy, who will co-lead the workplace, stated he desires to chop 75 p.c of the federal authorities workforce. The federal authorities employs roughly 2 million civilians. A 75 p.c discount would imply that 1.5 million folks could be out of a job, which, specialists stated, will strip down a variety of companies from meals stamps to defence spending.
To spice up the hassle, Trump ally and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been picked to guide a DOGE subcommittee within the Home of Representatives, wherein she is to stipulate plans to fireplace authorities staff. The subcommittee has but to be created.
Musk has acknowledged that the transfer would create non permanent hardships however stated it’s for long-term prosperity.
“There are quite a lot of questions which are introduced up by his acknowledged purpose of streamlining the federal government and by a few of the metrics that he’s put out. [And that’s] earlier than he’s completed any of his preliminary evaluation,” Ann Skeet, senior director of management ethics on the Markkula Heart for Utilized Ethics at Santa Clara College in California, instructed Al Jazeera.
This week, Musk singled out particular authorities staff, questioning their jobs to his 205 million followers on X, The Wall Avenue Journal reported, lots of whom then adopted up with tweets focusing on these folks.
Musk has oversimplified authorities programmes to make them sound ridiculous and worthy of cuts however has ignored why these programmes exist. He slammed, as an illustration, analysis wherein the US authorities spent $4.5m to spray alcoholic rats with bobcat urine. Nevertheless, that is a part of a much bigger analysis examine into the connection between alcoholism and post-traumatic stress dysfunction, a standard concern amongst navy veterans and one the analysis is looking for therapy for.
Musk’s willingness to make cuts “simply speaks to a conceit that since you’ve been profitable in a single area, that doesn’t imply he will be profitable in one other area”, Skeet stated.
Musk and Ramaswamy argued that Trump will be capable of lower authorities jobs unilaterally beneath a coverage referred to as Schedule F, an govt order that Trump signed throughout his first time period and by no means went into impact. It might have reclassified civilian civil servants as at will staff who serve on the pleasure of the president, much like a political appointment like a cupboard secretary. It might strip job protections from these staff.
Musk has an extended report of firing people who find themselves essential to key capabilities of his firms, together with throughout his takeover of Twitter when he laid off half its staff, a transfer that led to systemic failures throughout the corporate. On account of his choices, the corporate is now valued at 80 p.c lower than when he took it over.
Musk has tweeted that DOGE is trying to rent folks with excessive IQs who’re prepared to work 80 hours per week for no cash and might want to purchase a subscription to X to use.
Skeet warned {that a} skeleton employees manning the federal authorities “will affect how shoppers will work together with the federal government – whether or not or not airplanes can be protected to fly and automobiles can be regulated within the right manner and form of simply will folks get their tax returns on time”.
Musk’s appointment is till July 4, 2026, at the side of the nation’s 250th birthday, in response to a Trump workforce press launch. That can also be just a few months earlier than midterm elections.
Conflicts of curiosity
Musk’s appointment comes with important conflicts of curiosity. He has claimed on X that his companies have been “smothered by forms” and DOGE would handle that.
Musk’s companies have billions of {dollars} in authorities contracts. SpaceX alone acquired $3.8bn in authorities contracts within the 2024 fiscal 12 months, most of which was work for NASA and the Division of Protection, in response to authorities knowledge.
These contracts embrace constructing the propulsion methods NASA makes use of whereas one other contract is to make use of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite tv for pc web service supplier, to first responders throughout climate occasions just like the floods in North Carolina.
Whereas SpaceX has the lion’s share of presidency contracts amongst Musk’s firms, a few of his different corporations additionally earn cash from the US authorities, together with Tesla.
Within the 2024 fiscal 12 months, Tesla had $6m of presidency contracts. NASA and the Division of Commerce are the biggest awarding businesses for the electrical automobile big.
“Having someone who’s a beneficiary of presidency decision-making, you realize, in a job to determine which components of presidency to streamline, is someone who’s basically conflicted,” Skeet stated.
Musk’s conflicts of curiosity don’t simply stem from federal contracts but in addition businesses both investigating or sanctioning him and his companies. Because the co-head of this new company, he could be accountable for developing with monetary coverage choices that might affect their future funding.
One company the place Musk faces fines and investigations is the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, which investigates allegations of union busting and workforce hurt. Musk confronted complaints for his actions within the overhaul of Twitter, together with lawsuits from staff he fired.
Musk additionally faces a grievance lodged by the United Auto Employees union after his interview with then-candidate Trump wherein the 2 joked about firing hanging employees. That case continues to be open.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board has pending investigations towards Tesla on its self-driving automobiles, which have been concerned in crashes, together with one which killed a pedestrian in Arizona in 2023.
Musk additionally has conflicts with the Division of Justice (DOJ), which has been attempting to entry all knowledge and data pertaining to Trump’s X account as just lately as final month because it investigates Trump’s position within the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Earlier than the November elections, Musk was additionally accused of breaking federal election legal guidelines by the DOJ for a $1m each day giveaway carried out by his political motion committee.
In current days, Senate Democrats have raised issues about Musk’s calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as 2022 and his sustained connections with high-level Russian officers, as reported by The Wall Avenue Journal. They’ve requested the DOJ to find out if Musk ought to be barred from future involvement in house contracts.
There are different areas of potential conflicts.
Throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, the Federal Communications Fee (FCC) awarded Starlink an $885m contract to supply entry to rural America, nevertheless it was later revoked as a result of the FCC didn’t suppose Starlink might present the service. Musk slammed the choice as politically biased.
Now Trump has picked Musk ally Brenden Carr to guide the fee. Carr is the highest Republican on the FCC, who disagreed with the choice to disclaim Starlink the contract. He additionally wrote the chapter on the FCC within the conservative coverage playbook for a second Trump time period, Mission 2025.
The Securities and Trade Fee can also be a thorn in Musk’s aspect. As just lately as September, the company deliberate to sanction him for not exhibiting as much as testify for a second time over his acquisition of Twitter and rejected his proposal to pay a $2,923 nice for lacking the deposition.
However arguably, Musk’s conflicts of curiosity are neither distinctive to him nor are they new to Washington.
Final 12 months, an investigative report from the outlet Insider discovered that 78 members of Congress had not correctly disclosed private monetary trades, which is required by legislation. The legislation is supposed to fight points like insider buying and selling.
Musk didn’t say whether or not he would divest earlier than becoming a member of the federal government or function an out of doors adviser. He additionally didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for clarification.
On the similar time, a few of Trump’s insurance policies may also negatively affect Musk.
“From all the things that President Trump has stated, it feels like he can be very powerful on China, which is able to then serve Elon Musk poorly. He will get quite a lot of his supplies that he wants for his totally different firms from China,” the previous senior Trump administration official who spoke to Al Jazeera stated.
Tesla, for instance, reportedly will get roughly 40 p.c of its supplies from China. Trump’s proposed tariffs on the nation may very well be as excessive as 60 p.c.
In case the tariffs do kick in, “I don’t suppose it’s all essentially going to be good for Elon as an adviser,” the official added.
Can Musk truly serve?
Given all of those elements, can Musk truly function head of DOGE beneath his present preparations with Tesla, X and SpaceX?
Ethics specialists urged they need to be disqualifying.
“What’s taking place right here is problematic. Elon Musk has built-in apparent conflicts of curiosity as a result of the businesses that he’s related to have relationships with the very authorities that he’s now going to return in and attempt to make extra environment friendly,” Skeet stated.
Authorized specialists, nonetheless, stated it’s a bit extra of an open query.
Advisory committees whether or not for a federal company or the president fall beneath a particular legislation that requires they make public their actions and conferences so the general public can take part, defined Kedric Payne, vp, normal counsel and senior director of ethics on the Marketing campaign Authorized Heart. However “it’s not clear that [DOGE] will fall beneath these transparency necessities of the legislation that applies to most advisory committees,” he stated.
That legislation is named the Federal Advisory Committee Act and requires that nongovernmental specialists who present federal businesses with recommendation publicly disclose their suggestions. Musk stated on X he would do this.
“In most conditions the place an official has a battle of curiosity, there’s a rule that may be enforced to cease that battle of curiosity. On this scenario, it’s not clear but whether or not or not there are any guidelines that might prohibit these conflicts,” Payne stated.
However with few specifics on how DOGE can be arrange, there’s not lots that may be stated in regards to the authorized choices, Payne identified.
The Trump transition workforce, which didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for remark, has publicly stated it’s compliant with all legal guidelines.
