Featured Image Credit: Tom Williams/Contributor / Brandon Bell/Staff / Getty
Elon Musk has revealed that his position as co-head of the incoming Department of Government Efficiency will not be paid, arguing that this is a 'very efficient' means of achieving his goal to cut spending by over $2,000,000,000.
There has perhaps been no one closer to president-elect Donald Trump since his election victory than Elon Musk, in part due to the tech CEO's impending position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as 'DOGE'.
This role, shared with Vivek Ramaswamy, has the two billionaires join forces in an attempt to cut 'unnecessary' US spending - with Musk himself pledging to slash over $2 trillion from the US budget by the agency's 2026 expiration date.
The Department of Government Efficiency is a temporary advisory board headed by Musk and Ramaswamy that is in charge of making significant reductions to US federal government spending.
Musk's pledge of $2 trillion in cuts would represent around 30% of the current total federal spending, as reported by the BBC, and many infer that targeted areas would include funding for education, healthcare, and inclusion initiatives.
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The official DOGE X account has outlined a number of areas in which it believes current spending to be 'inefficient', with a recent post highlighting "$1.7 trillion in regulatory costs" that would likely give freedom to Musk-owned companies like Tesla and SpaceX if relaxed or removed.
Furthermore, Musk himself has somewhat retracted his initial projection of $2 trillion in cuts, revealing in an interview: "I think we'll try for $2 trillion. I think that's the best case outcome. But I do think you kind of have to have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we've got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion]."
The department has also come under fire following it's unusual application process, which initially required users to 'pay' Elon Musk if they wanted to show their interest in the advertised roles. This has since been amended, but many still have issue with the 'shocking requirements' for many of the positions.
Musk revealed on X in a reply to current US senator Elizabeth Warren that he won't be paid for his position at DOGE. He outlined:
"Unlike you, neither of us are being paid, so it is very efficient indeed. @DOGE will do great things for the American people. Let history be the judge."
Current US senators are paid a salary of $174,000 per annum, totaling $17.4 million every year - which is a mere 0.00087% of the savings that Musk is alleging to make in his DOGE tenure.
Additionally, Elon Musk is currently the richest individual in the world with an estimated net worth of around $426 billion according to the Bloomberg billionaires index - so it's understandable that he'd be willing to forgo payment for a temporary role in government.
Social media is very split on Musk's ascendancy to this new role, with the replies to the initial post showing both sides of the current landscape.
"I think both of you deserve to be paid, but it's not like either of you need the money," outlines one user, continuing on to declare "nonetheless, thank you for your service and I hope you do a great job."
Another user isn't as welcoming to Musk's power though, questioning him on his priorities when it comes to money saving: "I'm sure you'll be judging efficiency in a very unbiased way. And I'm sure if you found that day, giving SpaceX government incentives is inefficiency, you make that cut yeah?"
It remains yet to be seen where the cuts will actually manifest as DOGE won't officially begin operations until Trump becomes president, but its clear that not everything is behind Musk's money saving vision.
