Musk gets unique task from Trump to reshape US government spending
Trump picked **Elon Musk** and **Vivek Ramaswamy** to find ways to cut federal spending. The new panel aims to reduce $2 trillion from budget‚ but faces same hurdles as past attempts
In a surprise move on Nov-13‚ Donald Trump picked Elon Musk to lead a new cost-cutting panel that wants to trim US government spending. The Tesla CEO (whoʼs currently the worlds richest person) will work with ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on this project
During his Oct rally at Madison Square Garden Musk shared his big idea: cutting $2-trillion from federal spending. This number is more than all discretionary spending which sits at $1.9-trillion for fiscal-24. The SpaceX founder has deep ties with government agencies — both good and not-so-good ones (including run-ins with FAA EPA and SEC)
The panel aims to be super-open with its work: theyʼll post ideas online for everyone to see and comment on. Ramaswamy‚ who started Roivant Sciences and knows FDA rules well wants to find wasteful spending through crowd-sourcing
Anytime the public thinks weʼre cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful just let us know!
History shows such panels dont always work out. Back in 82‚ Reagan made the Grace Commission which had 150 business-people working on it — but most of its 2‚500 ideas never happened. Same thing with Trumps 2017 try at fixing government waste: many planned cuts didnt make it through Congress
Musk brings his own cost-cutting history to the table. At X (formerly Twitter) he cut half the staff‚ though results were mixed. His real win is SpaceX where he made rocket launches cheaper and created new markets. The panel will need to follow Federal Advisory Committee Act rules: being quick fair and open to public view
