Musk argues for deleting entire government agencies

President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk told the World Governments Summit in Dubai, U.A.E. that the U.S. government should delete entire agencies. Musk—whose business portfolio includes the social media platform X and the rocket company SpaceX—said there were more than 400 American federal agencies. That was far more than was needed to run a country, he said.

Why not just reduce the size of the agencies? Musk claimed that reducing the size of the agencies was like trying to take out a weed but leaving the root—the agency could always grow back. Democratic lawmakers have criticized Musk’s efforts to shut down USAID over its alleged mismanagement of funds while officials at the organization have denied wrongdoing. Proponents of the shutdown have pointed out that USAID funded many questionable causes, some of which backed LGBT ideology.

What else did he say about government efficiency? Most Americans support making government more efficient, Musk told the summit’s attendees. Trump’s administration hopes to move people from low-productivity government jobs to high-productivity private sector jobs, Musk said. In so doing, the administration means to increase the total production of goods and provision of services. A more productive workforce would in turn increase the standard of living, he said.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report about the House DOGE Committee holding its first hearing.