Elon Musk has made some big claims about the potential savings to be won by the efficiency effort he is leading under the new Trump administration, but on Thursday he admitted that the $2 trillion per year cost-cutting target he has cited in the past may be unreachable.
In an interview with the political consultant Mark Penn, Musk was asked if $2 trillion in cuts and savings seems realistic now that he has had some time to look more carefully at the numbers. “I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s the best-case outcome,” Musk replied. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one.”
Critics have expressed considerable skepticism about the ability of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. The effort, which is also being led by entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is not really a federal department as the name implies, and it has no power to affect change as currently structured. Unless Congress grants it some kind of legal authority, its role appears to be largely advisory.
Perhaps more problematic, the goal of cutting $2 trillion from an annual budget exceeding $6 trillion doesn’t seem viable, regardless of whether it is desirable. Nearly 70% of that spending is mandatory, going toward programs like Social Security and Medicare, leaving less than $2 trillion in discretionary spending, about half of which is for defense and national security. While some politicians love to talk about massive savings to be had by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, even the most ambitious cost-cutters would have trouble getting anywhere near $2 trillion in the annual budget.
Still, Musk couldn’t resist the brash rhetoric of cost-cutting even as he admitted his audacious goal is probably too big. “In terms of saving money in the government, well, as you know, it’s a very target-rich environment for saving money,” Musk said, without providing much by way of details. “It was like, ‘Where will you find places to save money?’ I’m like, ‘It’s like being in a room full of targets. You could close your eyes, and you can’t miss.’”
