Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that if re-elected, he plans to adopt billionaire Elon Musk’s plan for a government efficiency commission to cut federal spending, adding that Musk has agreed to lead the commission “if he has the time.”
The announcement came as the former president delivered remarks before members of the Economic Club of New York in Midtown Manhattan, where he outlined a seven-pillar economic plan.
“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms,” Trump said.
The former president continued, "As the first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months. This will save trillions of dollars.”
Trump did not outline the size of the commission nor how it would be funded. Both the promised benefits and the timescale are wildly optimistic: The federal government employs millions of people, and its yearly spending tops $6 trillion.
But the idea does dovetail with Trump's longstanding plans to make it easier to fire civil servants and get rid of some federal agencies.
Trump and Musk have had a fraught relationship, but the pair has since reconciled, and Musk endorsed the former president this summer after a would-be assassin opened fire on Trump and rally-goers in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In 2022, shortly after Trump called him a “bullshit artist,” Musk wrote on X, “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.”
On Aug. 12, Musk interviewed Trump on X Spaces, after facing technical difficulties that delayed the event for about 40 minutes.
Additional components of the economic plan Trump laid out during his Thursday speech include cutting federal regulations, implementing higher tariffs, and making permanent the 2017 tax cuts he signed as president, among other items.
