Trump says Musk will chair government efficiency commission if elected

Former President Trump said on Thursday he supports billionaire Elon Musk’s plan to create a government efficiency commission and would appoint the entrepreneur to chair the commission if the Republican nominee wins the presidential election.

In a speech Thursday at the Economic Club of New York, Trump publicly expressed support for the idea for the first time and said Musk agreed to head the commission. He also provided an outline of what he expects from the task force.

The government efficiency commission would conduct a financial and efficiency audit of the federal government and seek to track fraud and improper payments made from government programs. It would then make recommendations for “drastic reforms” to promote efficiency, he explained, with the goal of eliminating fraud and improper payments within six months of the commission’s creation.

“I will create a government efficiency commission to conduct a full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,” Trump said in his speech.

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Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of social media platform X, confirmed he has agreed to serve as government efficiency commission and wrote on X that “I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No salary, title, or recognition needed.”

The billionaire entrepreneur, who endorsed Trump in July after a failed assassination attempt on the former president, suggested last month during a call he hosted with former president for X. He then expressed interest in contributing to his efforts and said, “I would be happy to help with such an assignment.”

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Trump was later asked if he would hire Musk to serve in his administration, to which he replied that he “definitely would.” Musk responded to the news with a post on X that featured an image generated by artificial intelligence (AI) introducing him as the head of a fictitious Department of Government Efficiency and writing: “I am ready to serve.”

About a week later, the former president said Musk would too busy to serve in the White House office because he is busy “running big businesses” — although he left open the possibility that he would serve as a consultant to a potential Trump administration.

“He can, as they say, consult with the country and come up with some very good ideas,” Trump said, suggesting that Musk could help the federal government on AI and other issues.

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Politicians have pushed for government efficiency commissions in the past. Republican President Ronald Reagan created a similar body when he was in office from 1981 to 1989, called the Grace Commission.

Trump’s proposal drew criticism from Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing 750,000 federal workers.

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Kelley accused Trump and Musk of wanting to destroy the federal government’s nonpartisan civil service and replace laid-off workers with their allies.

“There’s nothing effective about it,” Kelley told Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.