A Radical Experiment: How Elon Musk Could Shake Up Washington

[Social Media]

 

The federal government is preparing for a major shift as one of Silicon Valley’s most renowned disruptors, Elon Musk, prepares to tackle bureaucracy at the highest level. President-elect Donald Trump announced that Musk would lead a new initiative called the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), intended to root out waste, fraud, and inefficiency across federal operations. The project is unprecedented, and questions remain about which parts of the government Musk’s new office will target and how seriously Washington will take the endeavor.

 

Musk isn’t taking on this challenge alone. Joining him is Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech investor and outspoken MAGA supporter who recently ran against Trump in the GOP primary. Both Musk and Ramaswamy come from outside the D.C. establishment and bring a fresh perspective that has the potential to radically reshape federal bureaucracy. They plan to infuse their outsider mindset into the realm of government reform, approaching it with the same disruptive mindset that has shaped Musk’s ventures in technology and industry.

 

Trump's announcement, shared on Truth Social, described the initiative in his characteristic grandiose terms, calling it potentially the “Manhattan Project” of the current era, with the power to “send shockwaves through the system.” Trump and Musk first publicly discussed the project during a live interview on X, where Trump had previously proposed cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. The timeline or specifics of this proposed cut remain ambiguous; if it were to be achieved annually, it would mean substantial reductions that could encompass all non-entitlement spending, including even defense. The scope of such a cut would be unprecedented, raising questions about its feasibility and the extent to which Congress, including its more conservative members, would support such an ambitious goal.

 

Musk’s influence in Washington, however, remains uncertain. While he has pledged to support candidates aligned with his views in upcoming Republican primaries through his political action committee (PAC), his early influence has shown mixed results. Notably, Musk’s preferred candidate for Senate majority leader, Rick Scott of Florida, lost out to Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a more established GOP figure. These early signs suggest that while Musk has the ambition to steer Congress toward his efficiency goals, his power to shape leadership decisions in Washington might be more limited than anticipated.

 

Musk’s management style—famously intense and results-driven—could redefine federal oversight if applied broadly across government agencies. Known for his tough approach at X and Tesla, Musk is likely to push for similar stringent oversight in the federal sector. Environmental programs, labor initiatives, and spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion might all face scrutiny, given Musk’s prior public statements on such topics and his preference for lean, results-oriented budgets.

 

Ramaswamy’s plans, meanwhile, are still developing. In a recent post on X, he announced a plan to crowdsource examples of government “waste, fraud … and abuse,” signaling that DOGE might actively engage the public in identifying areas for reform. This approach underscores the project’s outsider ethos, potentially inviting fresh perspectives on federal spending and encouraging public involvement in government oversight.

 

While proponents of government efficiency may find the project intriguing, many remain skeptical. The scale of the proposed cuts and the radical approach Musk and Ramaswamy bring may prove challenging in a city where long-standing procedures and entrenched interests often slow down or block swift changes. For Washington, this venture represents a bold experiment, one that could transform federal bureaucracy—or falter under the weight of resistance from within.

 

Based on a report by Politico 2024-11-15

 

 

 

[bubblegum]

Doomed to fail

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Social Media said:

The project is unprecedented, and questions remain about which parts of the government Musk’s new office will target and how seriously Washington will take the endeavor.

I wish Musk well in his endeavors to rid Washington of dead wood. However the rot is IMO so deep that it will be a Herculean task and may take longer than Trump will be in office. I hope that Musk will lay waste to the drones that infest that unfortunate city.

He should start with the so called Justice department and the FBI.

He needs to avoid the temptation to get bogged down in the traps that the enemy will undoubtedly lay in his path.

[ross163103]

Good to see something like this as govt spending/waste is the main reason the US is 36 trillion in debt. It can't keep going the way it is, eventually the US won't be able to service it's debt. I wish them luck because as thaibeachlovers said, it's a herculean task!

[Srikcir]

Essentially Musk will head up The Department of Loyalty to Trump, a convicted felon and adjudicated sexual assultant.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Essentially Musk will head up The Department of Loyalty to Trump, a convicted felon and adjudicated sexual assultant.

A mere emoji is not sufficient to reply to that, so here you go.

 

[pattayasan]

He will blow the economy up like a specex rocket.

[Gsxrnz]

Elon is a smart cookie, and Vivek is no slug. But the Washington swamp is deep and treacherous.  They need to come up with a plan that is so quick and effective, that the swamp monsters don't have time to react or wreak vengeance. 

 

Something along the lines of a blitzkrieg attack - a full court press across multiple fronts that prevents the various swamp creatures and TLA agencies from helping to defend each other and bog the two Likely Lads down in litigation.

 

I have no idea what that might look like. Maybe something as simple as disabling all the access cards and cellphones of a selected  80% of government employees at 02:59 on a Sunday.

 

Whatever they do, they have to wreak instant havoc in every department to avoid being devoured by the swamp.

 

And let's face it. If every government department did absolutely nothing for a month, the world would be a much happier place. I think Musk is well aware of this. He would have no issue with government coming to a total standstill. 

Edited Thursday at 11:23 PM by Gsxrnz

[pattayasan]

2 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

Elon is a smart cookie, and Vivek is no slug. But the Washington swamp is deep and treacherous.  They need to come up with a plan that is so quick and effective, that the swamp monsters don't have time to react or wreak vengeance. 

 

Something along the lines of a blitzkrieg attack - a full court press across multiple fronts that prevents the various swamp creatures and TLA agencies from helping to defend each other and bog the two Likely Lads down in litigation.

 

I have no idea what that might look like. Maybe something as simple as disabling all the access cards and cellphones of a selected  80% of government employees at 02:59 on a Sunday.

 

Whatever they do, they have to wreak instant havoc in every department to avoid being devoured by the swamp.

 

Cookie? More of a fruit cake. Billionaires holding non elected positions in non governemnt organizations exercising de facto control over the government is the very definition of the swamp.

[Cryingdick]

27 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

Elon is a smart cookie, and Vivek is no slug. But the Washington swamp is deep and treacherous.  They need to come up with a plan that is so quick and effective, that the swamp monsters don't have time to react or wreak vengeance. 

 

Something along the lines of a blitzkrieg attack - a full court press across multiple fronts that prevents the various swamp creatures and TLA agencies from helping to defend each other and bog the two Likely Lads down in litigation.

 

I have no idea what that might look like. Maybe something as simple as disabling all the access cards and cellphones of a selected  80% of government employees at 02:59 on a Sunday.

 

Whatever they do, they have to wreak instant havoc in every department to avoid being devoured by the swamp.

 

And let's face it. If every government department did absolutely nothing for a month, the world would be a much happier place. I think Musk is well aware of this. He would have no issue with government coming to a total standstill. 

The government shuts down every couple of years. Nobody gives a single crap until around the time the air controllers will stop working and the airports may close. The federal government offers very little of value.

[RichardColeman]

Better to run the country with successful business men than lifetime politicians that have never achieved anything 

[JimHuaHin]

30 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Better to run the country with successful business men than lifetime politicians that have never achieved anything 

Please define "a successful business man" and provide some examples of same.

 

Why only business man and not business woman?

[Gsxrnz]

1 minute ago, JimHuaHin said:

Please define "a successful business man" and provide some examples of same.

 

Why only business man and not business woman?

 

Possibly because the two subjects of the article have, at least in the face of observable evidence,  XY chromosomes. It would be a serious matter if they were mis-gendered. 

[Dcheech]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Better to run the country with successful business men than lifetime politicians that have never achieved anything 

Republicans love to yak about that. They did during the Reagan administration. Loved to tout, 'running government like a business'.  Reagan had massive government spending, while making tax cuts, that was capped by Black Monday, in 87. Followed by the largest financial disaster & monetary loss until the 2008 Wall Street implosion. Deregulating the Savings & Loans was indeed a "winner". Poor old Bush 1 was left with the mess, the financial recession caused by all this and out in 92. 




 

Edited 23 hours ago by Dcheech

[JonnyF]

Drain the swamp Elon.

 

Trump and X owner Musk, what a partnership. No wonder the Libs are crying into their lentil soup. 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Drain the swamp Elon.

 

Trump and X owner Musk, what a partnership. No wonder the Libs are crying into their lentil soup. 

 
Well come back to who’s crying once Trump enacts a few of the Project 2025 agendas.

 

 

 

 

[JonnyF]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 
Well come back to who’s crying once Trump enacts a few of the Project 2025 agendas.

 

 

 

 

 

You should pin it. 

 

That always work out well for you. 

[Eric Loh]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Drain the swamp Elon.

 

Trump and X owner Musk, what a partnership. No wonder the Libs are crying into their lentil soup. 

Ya but for how long before direct and growing conflict and disappointment will see him joining former confidants booted from Trump's administration. I am counting the days when these 2 egoistic men with tons of self interests clashed and go separate ways. 

[AndreasHG]

I wish him well. But at the same time, I am also concerned:

 

9 hours ago, Social Media said:

Known for his tough approach at X and Tesla, Musk is likely to push for similar stringent oversight in the federal sector.

 

Elon's main enterprise, Space X (and Star-link) depends for most of its revenues from federal government agencies, including the Pentagon.

 

Approximately one third of Tesla profits, since the company went public, were earned from regulatory credits. Fines that Tesla competitors pay Tesla for not achieving their emission targets. These credits (more than $10B by the end of the year) add to the federal and state tax incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles.

 

In addition to the above, Tesla will soon face federal agencies scrutiny, if really the company is on the edge to launch its robotaxi commercial service (a big if, given the current state of the FSD).

 

The Boring Company will never generate positive cash flow without securing public contracts for its tunnels.

X Corp. is also potentially subject to regulatory scrutiny.

 

There are enough conflicts of interest arising from Elon Musk's oversaw of the Federal government machine to rise the hairs of any objective American taxpayer. 

 

And I am quite surprised to see that, the 21st century America tolerates, what the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries Americas, still permeated by WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) culture, would have never tolerated.

 

A clear sign that the American exceptionalism is coming to an end, and the USA is sadly becoming mainstream Americas: in line with Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, etc., where conflict of interest is the norm, corruption is considered a fact of life, tax evasion a smart thing to do, getting rid of any opposition a legitimate act of government.

Sadly, America is going catholic...

 

Edited 19 hours ago by AndreasHG

[Purdey]

9 hours ago, Social Media said:

“Manhattan Project”

That project was done to kill thousands, if not millions, of people. Glad Trump mentioned it. 

 

BTW, while Ramaswamy's mother is American, his father remains Indian. Is this going to be a problem when the administration starts to repatriate both legal and illegal immigrants?

[candide]

8 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Better to run the country with successful business men than lifetime politicians that have never achieved anything 

In particular if these businessmen are on ketamine! 😃

[candide]

3 hours ago, AndreasHG said:

I wish him well. But at the same time, I am also concerned:

 

 

Elon's main enterprise, Space X (and Star-link) depends for most of its revenues from federal government agencies, including the Pentagon.

 

Approximately one third of Tesla profits, since the company went public, were earned from regulatory credits. Fines that Tesla competitors pay Tesla for not achieving their emission targets. These credits (more than $10B by the end of the year) add to the federal and state tax incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles.

 

In addition to the above, Tesla will soon face federal agencies scrutiny, if really the company is on the edge to launch its robotaxi commercial service (a big if, given the current state of the FSD).

 

The Boring Company will never generate positive cash flow without securing public contracts for its tunnels.

X Corp. is also potentially subject to regulatory scrutiny.

 

There are enough conflicts of interest arising from Elon Musk's oversaw of the Federal government machine to rise the hairs of any objective American taxpayer. 

 

And I am quite surprised to see that, the 21st century America tolerates, what the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries Americas, still permeated by WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) culture, would have never tolerated.

 

A clear sign that the American exceptionalism is coming to an end, and the USA is sadly becoming mainstream Americas: in line with Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, etc., where conflict of interest is the norm, corruption is considered a fact of life, tax evasion a smart thing to do, getting rid of any opposition a legitimate act of government.

Sadly, America is going catholic...

 

Of course, It's an obvious conflict of interest, but they don't care:

- the GOP congress or Senate will never investigate it (at least until the midterms),

- Trump benefits from an amnesty for his decisions as President,

- Musk, and anyone else concerned can be pardoned by Trump.

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

But the Washington swamp is deep and treacherous. 

Indeed, the Dark Side is strong and Elon is no Luke.

Perhaps they can borrow a Death Star from the Galactic council to just make it all go away. It's not like Washington does anything except keep the drones away from normal folk.

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, AndreasHG said:

And I am quite surprised to see that, the 21st century America tolerates, what the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries Americas, still permeated by WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) culture, would have never tolerated.

 

A clear sign that the American exceptionalism is coming to an end, and the USA is sadly becoming mainstream Americas: in line with Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, etc., where conflict of interest is the norm, corruption is considered a fact of life, tax evasion a smart thing to do, getting rid of any opposition a legitimate act of government.

Much to my surprise, you said something I can agree with. IMO the Vietnam war was the start of the rot, when certain companies made massive profits from providing death machines for a corrupt war. They liked it so much they  have been going to war ever since.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

Please define "a successful business man" and provide some examples of same.

 

Why only business man and not business woman?

Fe fi fo fum, do I smell the blood of a woke man?

Edited 1 hour ago by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

A Radical Experiment: How Elon Musk Could Shake Up Washington

 

I don't care who does it as long as someone sorts that IMO rat's nest out.

[dinsdale]

On 11/15/2024 at 3:04 AM, Social Media said:

These early signs suggest that while Musk has the ambition to steer Congress toward his efficiency goals, his power to shape leadership decisions in Washington might be more limited than anticipated.

This is purely supposition and opinion. What Musk and Ramaswamy are going to do or attempt to do is get rid of the bloat. Musk went through Twitter like a hot knife through butter. Bloated government departments might be more difficult but it's going to be interesting to see what happens. Emptying the swamp was one big reasons Trump got in in 2016. 

[dinsdale]

22 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

Please define "a successful business man" and provide some examples of same.

 

Why only business man and not business woman?

A "successful business man" can quite simply be defined as someone successful in business. Here are two examples. 

As for "Why only business man and not business woman?" no DEI appointments with Trump.

[motdaeng]

14 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

 Emptying the swamp was one big reasons Trump got in in 2016. 

 

what did trump achieve in his 4 years as the president "emptying the swamp"? why does he have to do it now again? 

[dinsdale]

26 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

 

what did trump achieve in his 4 years as the president "emptying the swamp"? why does he have to do it now again? 

Things are different this time round. Trump is making a team loyal to him. This wasn't the case in 2016. As for doing it again my post states this. It's bloat, many of which I'll assume are DEI appointments in top heavy departments.

Edited 14 minutes ago by dinsdale