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“Elon Musk Backtracks on $2 Trillion Budget Cut Goal for Trump’s Government Efficiency Panel”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, has downgraded its goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget, a goal he previously set. In an interview on X, Musk said the $2 trillion figure was a “best-case outcome” and that he thought there was only a “good shot” at cutting half that amount. This is a significant downgrade from his earlier view, when he said he could cut the federal budget by “at least $2 trillion” in a rally for President-elect Donald Trump.
Musk’s lowered estimate is seen as a significant setback for the Department of Government Efficiency, which was established to make recommendations to the White House on how to reduce government waste and improve efficiency. Experts have noted that the panel would need to propose cuts to mandatory programs like Medicaid to achieve significant savings.
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are co-leading the effort to cut the federal budget. While Musk expressed confidence that he could still help Trump achieve an “epic outcome” by cutting the budget deficit and freeing up the economy to grow, he did not name any specific cuts that he was considering. The Trump transition team did not comment on Musk’s updated estimate.
