Journal looks at Musk’s government cost-cutting ideas

The Journal looks at Elon Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting tactics, honed through his management of SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter-turned-X, which may be applied in his new role under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Trump plans to appoint Musk head of a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), positioning him as a “secretary of cost-cutting.” Musk’s tenure leading Twitter included slashing 80% of the workforce and pushing other tech companies to follow his lean staffing model. Now, as he turns to Washington, he envisions $2 trillion in savings.

He’s not the first to identify government waste, and actually slashing Washington budgets is challenging, as the majority of federal spend is nondiscretionary, going to mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Cutting defense spending is often politically unfeasible.

With Republicans likely to control Congress, Musk may attempt to streamline federal agency roles to only what is explicitly authorized by Congress, reflecting his business mantra of minimizing bureaucracy. While Musk claims austerity measures would ensure long-term prosperity, he acknowledges potential economic shock in the near term.

In other election news, the Washington Business Journal expects the next Trump administration to halt moving the FBI headquarters from downtown to DC to Greenbelt, Maryland. Trump has previously stated that he prefers the FBI remain in Washington, DC, close to the Department of Justice.