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Is Elon Musk Donald Trump’s Best Choice to Audit the Federal Government?
Let me say first that I’m a big fan of Elon Musk; you might have read my book review of the biography written about Musk by Walter Isaacson. The man is brilliant, creative, rich, and demanding of those who work for him.
But I have to admit that I have reservations about Musk taking the position of auditing the government for a number of reasons. First, he is always accustomed to being in charge. Always. And if he comes on board, he will answer to Trump. I’m not sure that he fully understands that Trump will be his boss.
Second, and this depends on how much interface he will have with federal employees, I don’t think he has the temperament to work with these bureaucrats. And since many of them will probably be from the political Left, they will probably decide to hate Musk anyway. Assume that they will declare that he is creating a hostile work environment.
Third, I doubt that Musk will have the power to fire employees. In his companies, he would calmly fire people if he believed it was necessary. But the federal government’s rules are complicated by civil service regulations, and firing someone might take an act of Congress (literally) to make it happen.
Fourth, both Musk and Trump have outsized egos. Although they have sounded like they enjoy and appreciate each other over the past few months, working together will be a different experience.
Fifth, if Musk is asked to recommend eliminating entire departments, I don’t know if he’ll be able to convince Trump (although Trump has already supported eliminating the Department of Education and sending Education requirements and regulations to the states); what about recommendations to disband other departments? Will Trump be ready to face the hurricane of pushback that will be released?
Clearly, they will need to define Musk’s role before he begins. He will likely bring in people to handle the day-to-day audits and they will consult with him. And maybe it’s worth initiating this audit because of the enormous chaos—oops—positive effect it could have. Then again, you know what Trump can say if it doesn’t work out.
YOU’RE FIRED!!
Published in Domestic Policy
I guess, on the one hand, there’s a concern that Elon Musk might be the “fox in the henhouse,” someone with a considerable conflict of interest in terms of his own personal aggrandizement when it comes to sorting things out.
OTOH, I remember another maxim from my childhood fables: “Set a thief to catch a thief.”
Sometimes, a chaos agent can do wonders. Sometimes, it’s an absolute fiasco.
Fun times.
I agree with all your points. If Trump picks him to head the audit, I will wish him much success!
Just for illegal immigrants and, maybe, felons.
Federal salaries should be approx 80% or less than private sector.
It reminds me of putting Isaac Newton in charge of the royal mint. Now, that was supposed to be a sinecure appointment, but Newton took it seriously. He changed the history of the British economy with all the time he devoted to it. The thing about a genius is that he can usually see all the knock-on effects. He understands how much stupid little things can hurt a country. I think Elon will do well.
I could be wrong, though. See this WSJ article from October 21: The Absent Government Workforce : Fully remote work lives on among federal workers, and it’s costing taxpayers.
Rural broadband, otherwise known as communist broadband, makes me crazy. They use it as a political weapon up here. This is the fact. Broadband needs density. If you don’t have density every single home and almost every business in that area is going to go down in value. They can’t do anything about it.
Government Is How We Steal From Each Other™
You get paid 40% for life plus all benefits if you just go away.
I think it has potential.
This is not complicated. Actual public goods only, otherwise get rid of it.
The administrative state — especially the intelligence apparatus — is not going to just sit back and let Elon downsize the government.
Yes. You are on both because you were not given the choice. It is very likely that well more than a majority of Americans could financially handle retirement and healthcare needs if the federal government would stay out of the marketplace.
The federal government is full of examples of how things go bad went they grow big without limit. Unlimited spending authority (enable Constitutionally by the 16th Amendment) was what started it. We got the social safety net first and then universal healthcare.
Recognize that is just the start if something isn’t done to stop it.
BTW on Rogan’s interview Trump, he asked Trump if he was thinking of replacing income tax with tariffs. Trump obviously has done some research and thinking on this because he immediately went into a story about President McKinley and tariffs.
The path we are on is not good.
Howard Lutnick, who gave a barnburner of a speech at Madison Square Garden, is involved as well.
I would add Rand Paul to this list – he knows where to look in the bureaucracy
I’ve no doubt they will fight him, Tim, but ultimately it’s Trump’s decision.
The more, the merrier!!
Good point, Glenn. Anyone who can contribute should be encouraged to put in their two cents.
The courts will have a lot to say about it. Congress might have a little to say, too, but that is less certain, as people refuse to elect members of Congress who don’t play nice with the administrative state. The voters allow for the occasional grandstanding congressional hearing, of course, as long as it does no real harm to the administrative state.
I thought that was the job of congress through OMB and DoT? I’m a huge Musk fan. That said, he has benefited greatly from USG subsides for solar, EV’s and even Space X. Please also keep in mind he is singularly focused on going to Mars. All his companies are a means to that end. Even the boring company (Mars is solid and has no magnetic field therefore no shield against radiation) to dig subterranean biospheres.
Bottom line, we need to hold congress accountable. I truly believe that SCOTUS overturning Chevron was a watershed in this area. Musk may be a critical catalyst but only if he works with the house and senate. He is “data driven” and logical so perhaps he will prevail.
Lastly, as a denizen of the swamp for way too long, during COVID the USG basically shut down to half strength for 18 months. I noticed no real effect other than an insane amount of spending. I could make the argument that we only need less than half the federal workforce. GS-15 can make $191,000. real Median income in the US is ~$75,000 per 2022 numbers.
What does this have to do with Musk? His remark that we could cut 2 Trillion from spending may not be far off.
When is the last time they even pretended to care?
Wipe out the Fed.
If Elon Musk was their boss they might pretend to care.