Musk will officially take charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) next year. Previously, Trump stated that the duties of DOGE are to provide recommendations and guidance for reducing government regulations and expenditures through reports, thereby streamlining the U.S. government. Musk said at a Trump rally held at Madison Square Garden in New York City in October:
Your money has been wasted, the Department of Government Efficiency will solve this problem. We will no longer let the government entangle you, nor will we take money from your wallets.
In this context, Watcher.Ruru earlier posted that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will audit the U.S. IRS.
Currently, it has not been officially confirmed whether such powers will be granted to the Department of Government Efficiency, but Musk posted a survey on X last night, pointing out that the IRS expressed a desire to increase its budget by $20 billion, asking netizens whether it should be increased, maintained, reduced, or deleted.
So far, more than 210,000 people have participated in the voting, with as many as 60% voting in favor of deleting the budget. Although this does not mean that Musk actually has the power to decide the IRS budget, it may also imply that after taking office, he may aggressively promote budget cuts across various departments.
Just before Musk posted his tweet, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo publicly called for providing the IRS with billions of dollars more in funding. Adeyemo claimed that without this funding, the national deficit would increase by about $140 billion, thereby reducing thousands of audits on the wealthy and large corporations.