With less than two weeks before Trump's inauguration, billionaire Musk (Elon Musk) has backed out of his campaign promise, expressing skepticism about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) budget cut target and directly halving it, stating that $1 trillion seems more achievable.
Is the $2 trillion budget cut at risk of not happening? Musk: $1 trillion has a chance.
Musk had stated during the campaign that he was confident he could cut at least $2 trillion from the national $6.5 trillion budget. But just less than two weeks before Trump is inaugurated and begins his second term, Musk has lowered his expectations. The world's richest man has been appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the plan, tasked with reducing federal spending.
"I think we will try to achieve $2 trillion, I think that would be the best outcome," Musk told political strategist and Stagwell Inc. Chairman Mark Penn in an interview aired on X channel, adding that he believes "we have a good chance" of achieving a $1 trillion cut.
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. government spent a total of $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024, with over $5.3 trillion coming from Social Security, healthcare, defense, veterans' benefits, and interest on debt.
However, Musk is not the only one in recent times to backtrack on campaign promises. Trump himself told reporters on Tuesday that, although he expects to facilitate peace between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in office, the plan may actually take six months.
The Department of Government Efficiency is hiring paid talent to work 80 hours a week.
Before cutting costs, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is hiring a few full-time paid talents, including software engineers, information security engineers, and positions in finance. It stated that it needs super high IQ small government revolutionaries willing to work over 80 hours a week to cut boring costs. Musk and Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.
This article: Has Musk already backed out before taking office? The Department of Government Efficiency's target has been lowered to $1 trillion, actively recruiting. First appeared in Chain News ABMedia.