Elon Musk denied leading a “hostile absorption” of the US government and defended his plans to reduce costs as he made a surprise in the White House on Tuesday.
The most rich person in the world has occupied questions from reporters in the oval office until he stood to President Donald Trump, who has commissioned him to reduce the size and cost of the federal government.
Then Trump signed an order to give Musk Ministry of Government Efficiency (Doge) More powers to reduce federal workforce. He instructs the leaders of government agencies to comply with inflicts.
The agency has been criticized by the Democrats who have accused him of lack of transparency, and his efforts have also been impeded by legal challenges.
But Musk, who had been questioned by reporters for the first time since Trump took office last month, identified the vigorous state cuts as “common sense” measures that were not “Draconian or Radical”.
“People voted for a great reform of the government and that will receive people,” he said. “This is democracy.”
“I expect to be viewed,” he added. “It's not like I think I can get out with something.”
The billionaire technology entrepreneur who has been appointed and not elected, has identified federal workers as “unexplored, fourth, non -constitutional branch of the government”, which he believes has “more power than any elected representative”.
The 53-year-old owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX wore black that America is again a great hat and broke a random joke with reporters who asked him about his critics. He had his young son, called X æ a -xii – or X for a short time – on his shoulders for part of the press conference.
“It is not optional to reduce federal costs,” Musk said. “It is essential. It is essential for America to remain a solvent as a country.”
Musk was also asked about a recent false claim that the US government is sending condoms worth millions of dollars to gas. “Some of the things I say will be incorrect and need to be corrected,” Musk replied.
During the first weeks of Trump's term of office, Musk led efforts to quickly shrink the federal government. Doge representatives have entered various departments to monitor the costs that offered millions of workers to go out and move to freeze federal funding, as well as the work of agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“We found fraud and abuse,” Trump said about Musk's work on Tuesday without providing evidence. He estimated more than $ 1 trillion of wasteful costs, would be found, although they do not give more details.
The huge pursuit of cost reduction has been criticized many times by opponents, including senior Democrats and those who say there will be significant consequences in both the United States and internationally.
“An unspoken shadow government is hostile to the federal government,” Senate's minority leader Chuck Sumer said recently. He said Democrats would work to block Musk's efforts by introducing a specific language into spending bills.
But with the Republicans who hold the majority in both Congress Pales, Trump's program has encountered more obstacles in the courtroom.
“I hope the judiciary will allow us to do what we need to do,” Trump said on Tuesday, citing recent decisions that temporarily stopped his efforts to shrink the government, Including through a person's buying programS
The DOG critics also pointed out potential conflicts of interest, given the many business interests of Musk. The Democrats accused him of personally taking advantage of some of the changes that Trump's administration is trying to push.
Musk said the public could take his own opinion on potential conflicts. Then Trump said that if the White House thinks there is a lack of transparency or conflict of interest, “we would not allow him to make this segment or look in this area.”
Trump then signed an enforcement order that instructed Dodge to “significantly” reduced the size of the federal workforce. The order also calls on government services to “undertake plans for large -scale reductions in power.”
It also states that after hiring freezing, which Trump signed on his first day, he ends the agencies to hire no more than one person for every four who leave.
A recent poll by the US partner of BBC CBS News These majority of Americans are in favor of Musk's work, but they do not agree how much influence should have.
He suggests that Republicans more specially supported his efforts to reduce federal costs and foreign assistance.
The survey pointed to a large extent favorable estimates of Trump's policies, but about 66% of people said they wanted him to focus more on pricing.
One of the agencies that was most affected by driving to reduce cost is USAID.
On Tuesday, the agency's general inspector was fired – one day after the release of a report criticizing plans to place the huge majority of the agency's staff on leave and close US -backed assistance worldwide.