Elon Musk said on Thursday that the US should “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as a part of his extraordinary strategy under the Trump administration to make huge cost cuts with the stated goal of boosting efficiency.
Since 20 January, when Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president, Musk and the controversial agency have swiftly gutted several US agencies, including the US Agency for International Development (USAid).
“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind,” said Musk, adding: “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.
Musk’s appearance at the summit comes as his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) has implemented widespread cuts across the federal government, firing people and demanding resignations and layoffs.
So far, Musk has rolled out a deferred resignation plan, the “Fork in the Road” program, under which employees who agreed to stop working soon would be paid through 30 September, although there is uncertainty about the validity of the payment offer.
