I can slash $3.4 trillion from federal budget without new laws, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk has pledged to slash US$2 trillion ($3.4t) in US government spending by taking on federal bureaucracy without passing any new laws.

The tech billionaire, who has been appointed by Donald Trump to run a new external efficiency watchdog, hit back at critics who have claimed his plans will require a raft of new legislation.

In a joint op-ed for the Wall Street Journal with Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk said he would slash the size of the state with “executive action based on existing legislation”.

Echoing Trump’s criticism of “the swamp” in Washington, DC, the two men argued that most federal spending was decided by “unelected bureaucrats” who “view themselves as immune from firing”.

Their Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE”, will make recommendations directly to the White House based on the work of a “a lean team of small-government crusaders” tasked with cutting spending.

Musk has suggested that US$2 trillion could be wiped from the federal budget by his efficiency drive – around one third of total spending. He has also called for 75% of federal government agencies to be abolished.

Elon Musk has been appointed by Donald Trump to run a new external efficiency watchdog Photo / Getty Images

Congressional vote

Critics argue that many of the agencies DOGE is designed to eliminate were established by Congress, and cannot be abolished without another vote.

Although Trump will take office with control of both the House and Senate, eliminating hundreds of agencies would use up congressional time and could provoke rebellion from moderate Republicans.

While acknowledging critics will “allege executive over-reach” by governing without Congress, Musk and Ramaswamy argued that they could eliminate much of the work of the federal Government using precedent from two Supreme Court cases in 2022 and 2024.

The court cases established that agencies cannot make economic decisions without congressional approval. Building on that, they said their plan would focus on “correcting” bureaucracy established by previous administrations.

They say they plan to use a favourable balance in the Supreme Court and hundreds of executive orders to fire thousands of workers.

“The President owes lawmaking deference to Congress, not to bureaucrats deep within federal agencies,” they said.