What is it and why Musk cuts so many jobs?

Spread the love

James Fitzgerald and Holly Honderich

BBC News, London and Washington

Watch: Musk defends state cuts from surprise the appearance of the White House

A new advisory body, created by US President Donald Trump and led by the most rich man in the world, is tasked with reducing jobs in the US government and other expenses.

Elon Musk leads this effort to dramatically reduce the federal workforce and remove what he sees as the money of taxpayers who are wasted.

But his Ministry of Government Efficiency (Dogi) is confronted with legal obstacles, accusations of conflict of interest, and fears it will cause serious damage.

Explaining his actions as reporters in the oval office, Musk defended his plans and denied the claim of rival Democrats that it embodied the “hostile absorption” of the government.

The study suggests that a reduction in government spending has extensive support.

What is Doca?

Despite its full name, Dog is not an official government department, which should be created by an act of Congress.

Instead, she appeared through one of the executive orders of the President of Trump and operated as an advisory body with at least four employees dedicated to each government agency.

Part of Dodge’s mission, the order says, refers to the IT upgrades aimed at increasing efficiency. He must complete his work by July 2026.

Many dog ​​staff seem to be young people of technological origin. These include an employee who resigned after being linked to a racist account in social media, Who Musk swore to redirectS

Is Elon Musk a civil servant?

Yes. Although Musk initially said he would act as an external volunteer, the White House later stated that he was working as an unpaid special civil servant.

This designation is officially defined as those working for the government for 130 days or less for a year.

For some supporters of this new body, the outsider status of Dog – as well as its somewhat unclear mandate – will serve as a benefit.

“They are a little more linked to the bureaucracy itself and to the systems that slow down the processing around here,” Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told the BBC. “I think the lack of parameters is part of what will make them effective.”

Getty Images Elon Musk holds fists in the air during Donald Trump's inaugurationGhetto images

Musk was among Trump’s attendees

What has he done so far?

His mission, Musk says, is to save taxpayers’ money and reduce the US national debt, which amounts to $ 36TN (28.9TN).

Initially, he said he hoped to save up to $ 2tn a year, but later this assessment.

Musk said he wanted to end the “bureaucracy”, which he described as the fourth branch of the government working against Trump’s agenda. The critics of his work see a more ideological motivation when playing.

“They will not go into agencies that do things they like. They enter agencies they disagree with,” Reuters Reuters told Reuters.

It is not clear how much money he has been able to save so far, although his X account gives regular, holiday updates for what they say is cut off. His title actions are:

  • Doge representatives entering different departments to monitor the costs. Trump says they have identified “fraud and abuse” without giving evidence
  • As part of the Waking Policy, Musk said his team has “saved taxpayers over $ 1 billion in crazy Dei (diversity, justice and inclusion) contracts”
  • Taking a USAID ax, the main foreign aid organization in America that funds projects in dozens of countries – which they both call it –
  • Preparing an offer to buy two million civil servants to try to reduce the size of the federal workforce
  • An attempt to take control and possible exclusion, the CFPB Financial Protection Bureau. This was designed to protect consumers after the financial crisis 2007-2008-but has been accused by Republicans in Overrun
The diagram shows the deficit of the US federal budget, year to year, which means the difference between government spending in trillions. According to the US Department of Finance, the annual figure has been rising steadily over the last decade. Each year is about 1TN or more every year, reaching over $ 3TN in 2020

What do Americans think?

Doge enjoys wide popular support, a poll of the US partner of BBC News has proposed.

This shows that the majority of Americans – especially Republican voters – support his work, even if they do not agree how much influence should be personally.

The amount of the permanent workforce currently exceeds two million, and one of the largest increases is in 2023, partly due to major investments from the Biden administration in infrastructure projects.

David Dic, a senior analyst at the Innovation Center for Economic Policy, Conservative Brain Trust, says Dog’s work is needed.

“They shine a very bright spotlight in different parts of the federal government and ask if this is the US public, whether it is moderate members of the Republican Caucake – so you want to use America’s tax dollars?”

The Bar diagram shows the costs of the US government by category from October to December 2024, citing data from the US Department of Finance. The biggest expense was for social security ($ 374 billion), followed by national defense ($ 262 billion), health ($ 246 billion), net interest ($ 242 billion), Medicare ($ 233 billion), security at Income ($ 162 billion), veterans ($ 105 BN), education, training, employment and social services ($ 52 billion), natural resources and environment transport ($ 39 billion) ($ 36 billion) and more (more ( $ 43 billion)

What opposition has she encountered Dog?

Political opponents and government guards accuse Dodge of acting without transparency and distribution of misinformation on government spending – and accuse Musk of exceeding his authority as a selected employee.

Critics emphasize the potential conflict of Musk’s interests, given the billions of contracts that his business holds with the US government. Trump and Musk deny that any problems will arise.

Numerous groups, including trade unions and state lawyers, have been judging Dodge and the broader Trump administration on their plans, and Democrats accuse them of forcing funding approved by Congress, which is outside the president’s scope. The White House denies that the work has violated any law.

Several times the courts have intervened to stop costs to reduce costs, at least once they blocked the infusion directly when a judge stops the agency from gaining access to personal data held in the US Department of Finance records.

When talking to reporters in the oval cabinet, Musk said he was expecting to be examined for his work, but insisted that the Americans had voted for the government reform of “common sense”.

But experts question whether he can accept his bold promises.

Elaine Kamark, a senior associate in the management studies at the Bruckings Institution, told the BBC that efforts to optimize government spending “could be done”, emphasizing his own work for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

But it has indicated Musk’s idea of ​​reducing one -third of government spending “ridiculous”, since such a large part of the budget was a must, including popular programs such as social security and Medicare.

With additional reporting by Jessica Parker and Kai Pingliuchi

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *