The action could be seen as a signal of an attack on federal spending and personnel that will be backed by President-elect Donald Trump's executive branch and a conservative Supreme Court.
The Wall Street Journal said the world's richest man is taking aim at hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending -- including funding for public broadcasting and anti-abortion groups -- as well as bureaucracies that pose an "existential threat" to American democracy.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX said he and fellow businessman and Trump loyalist Vivek Ramaswamy will work to reduce federal regulations and make significant administrative cuts and cost savings.
"We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not as federal bureaucrats or employees," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in their most detailed remarks since Trump appointed them to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk said the DOGE would prepare a list of regulations issued by government agencies without congressional approval that Trump could rescind by executive order.
"When the president rescinds thousands of such regulations, critics will argue that the executive branch is overstepping its authority. In fact, he will correct executive overreach on thousands of regulations issued through administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress," Musk said.
He added that reducing regulations would pave the way for "massive reductions in the number of employees in the federal bureaucracy," and said DOGE would seek to cut more than $500 billion in government spending.
"With a decisive election mandate and a conservative 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity to make structural cuts in the federal government," he concluded. | BGNES
