Trump to appoint Musk head of government efficiency panel if elected
Donald Trump announced on Thursday that, if elected president, he would appoint billionaire Elon Musk to lead an audit of government spending and implement “drastic” reforms.
Trump said that, at Musk’s suggestion, he would “create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,” with the Tesla CEO as its head.
Known for his hyperbolic statements, Trump told the Economic Club of New York that the initiative could save “trillions and trillions of dollars.”
“This commission will develop an action plan to completely eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months,” Trump stated.
Musk—who has previously said he voted for Democratic candidates—has since aligned himself with Trump, particularly after a gunman attempted to assassinate the former president at a rally in July.
Musk has a history of clashing with regulators, such as when the Securities and Exchange Commission mandated oversight of his Twitter posts following 2018 tweets the agency deemed “false and misleading.”
Other Musk-led initiatives, such as his pursuit of autonomous driving technology, also face scrutiny from government agencies.
