Trump's team criticizes Musk's DOGE as catastrophic failure for budget
US President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk (Photo: Getty Images)
Elon Musk was sharply criticized by the administration of current US President Donald Trump. US Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick stated that Musk’s approach to DOGE focused on layoffs rather than cost savings, according to Axios.
During the premiere episode of the Axios Show, which discussed the effectiveness of reforms and approaches to optimizing the US federal government, Secretary Latnick openly criticized Musk, who had previously been assigned this mission.
Latnick said that Musk had erred in his approach to the DOGE government initiative, as he concentrated on reducing staff rather than cutting government expenditures.
According to Latnick, Musk’s main mistake was applying his experience with layoffs at Twitter to the federal government.
The Secretary of Commerce noted that many of Musk’s decisions focused on staffing levels rather than cost savings, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of the initiative.
“The focus should have been on cutting the waste, fraud and abuse, and the people you could do over time,” the Secretary said.
Latnick also emphasized that DOGE continues to operate, even though Musk and his allies are no longer involved in the project. However, the program’s primary mission is now genuinely focused on reducing expenses and combating waste, fraud, and abuse.
“I think it's still going to be effective,” the Secretary added.
Musk’s initial forecasts of saving $1–2 trillion per year proved unrealistic. Current estimates suggest the program could save slightly over $200 billion, although even these figures are questioned by experts.
Thus, Latnick’s criticism raises doubts about the effectiveness of Musk’s approach: cutting staff without controlling expenses does not guarantee significant savings and does not align with the realities of managing the federal government.
Meanwhile, in the ranking of the world’s richest people, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison overtook Tesla CEO and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
According to Bloomberg, on the evening of September 10, Ellison’s wealth increased by $101 billion to reach $393 billion, surpassing Musk, whose net worth is currently estimated at $385 billion.
Previously, it was reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire if he received a new compensation package from the company.
