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Donald Trump said he would seek to cut billions of dollars from the Pentagon budget, the next big goal for Elon Musk to cut spending on U.S. government agencies.
In an interview on Sunday, Trump supported Musk’s drive to cut costs in the so-called “government efficiency ministry” even as it faces increasingly setbacks in federal courts and allegations from Democrats that it exceeds the Its power.
Trump said Musk has been “awesome” and “a great help” to search for possible spending cuts in the federal government so far. He said the Defense Department’s annual budget of about $8 billion will be a billionaire attraction.
“Let’s check the military. We’re going to find billions, billions of dollars in fraud and abuse. You know, people elected me with that,” Trump said.
Musk’s potential role in searching for Pentagon savings has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as his company SpaceX and its subsidiary Starlink have contracts with the government.
But Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz eased these concerns in an interview with NBC. He said, “All appropriate firewalls will be carried out to prevent any conflict, although he did not provide more details.
“The American people have said enough, permeated, waste and debt,” Walz said. “We do need great ideas, we do need business leaders to get there and absolutely reform the Pentagon’s acquisition process.”
Trump’s second administration has taken active action to stop some federal plans and agencies due to Musk’s leadership role.
A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked his team’s efforts to obtain payment data for entry to the U.S. Treasury Department in a setback in a new setback in Musk on Saturday, saying it could lead to the disclosure of sensitive personal information that could potentially be for Americans Causes “irreparable damage”.
Democrats are increasingly fouling.
“This is the worst constitutional crisis in the country, of course, since Watergate,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democratic Connecticut, told ABC on Sunday.
“The president hopes to decide how to spend money so that he can reward his political friends, he can punish his political enemies. That is the remains of democracy,” he added.
The most intense federal agencies include the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which manages diplomatic aid, whose acting director Russell told employee Russell on Saturday involved nearly all activities, including investigations and oversight. Trump also vowed to eliminate the Education Department, which has been the target of conservative anger.
Republicans in Congress have been supporting Trump and Musk because they have stopped a wide range of federal programs, even though it undermines legislators’ constitutional role in authorizing spending.
Mike Turner, a Republican of Ohio, said on ABC that the Trump administration needs a “critical view” of our spending policies because the country’s fiscal path is “unsustainable.” But he also said Musk might move more cleverly.
“He needs to communicate with the American public in a more professional way,” Turner said.
