Donald Trump has taken one more step in his crusade on Tuesday to reduce the size of his administration. The president of the United States has signed a new decree that not only drives massive dismissals and limits new contracts but also gives more power to the government efficiency department (DOGEin English), which was created for Elon Musk to apply the scissors to public spending and that, from now on, will have an even more transcendental role in the restructuring and possible elimination of federal agencies.
The president of the United States, who has appeared in the Oval Office for the signing of this new executive order, has stamped his rubric in the document under the watchful eye of the maximum shareholder of Tesla, SpaceX and the social network X, Among other companies, to which the word has yielded and has not hesitated to call the federal bureaucracy of “fourth non -elected branch” of the government, in addition to defending the “common sense controls” so that what he considers of expenses are suppressed Superfluos.
“The bureaucracy has, in many ways, more power than any elected representative by Donald Trump: MAGA, Make America Great Again And on which his youngest son, X Æ A-XII, who has been quite restless while his father explained Doge’s plans in the Oval Office.
The executive order that Trump has signed forces federal agencies to establish a close collaboration with DOGE, the Department of the cuts under the supervision of Elon Musk, to carry out mass layoffs, reduce the larger templates and limit the hiring of New public employees. As detailed by the White House, “federal agencies can only hire an employee for every four casualties that occur”, although there will be exceptions to the sectors considered key, such as national security or immigration control.
Elon Musk has defended administration cuts as a “common sense” measure and not as a “radical” or “draconian” idea. “The reduction of federal expenses is not an option. It is essential,” insisted the South African magnate in front of a Donald Trump who has not stopped nodding each word. The billionaire, with several companies investigated for possible conflicts of interest, has criticized the public deficit, which exceeds two billion dollars, and has defended that, if not acting, the United States would enter “bankruptcy.” However, he has ignored that one of the measures that has contributed the most to that deficit was precisely the tax reduction that Donald Trump promoted during his first mandate and that mainly benefited the richest.
Conflicts of interest
On the other hand, Elon Musk has also subtracted importance from criticism for his role in the Trump government and the. Eleven federal agencies that, to a greater or lesser extent, are part of the apparatus that the employer has begun to dismant public, practices against competitiveness and possible violations of both environmental and work regulations in the US.
The billionaire has assured journalists who have witnessed the signing of the decree in the Oval Office, which tries to be as transparent as possible: “Transparency is what generates trust,” Musk said. However, when asked about his own finances and the publication of his declaration of goods, the tycoon has responded that “he does not intend to make it public.”
Some of their companies have signed contracts, for example, with the United States Department of Defense. SpaceXfor example, has reached an agreement of 733 million with the pentagon for the launch of key satellites in national security. In addition, the aerospace has signed contracts with the government for about 22,000 million dollars, of which 15,000 come from NASA.
In 2023, the Department of Defense granted Starlinkthe satellite internet service of SpaceX To provide internet connection in remote areas, a contract valued at 23 million dollars for military support operations in Ukraine. Besides, Starshieldfocused on national security programs, has classified contracts with intelligence agencies that are believed to use billions of dollars.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has backed Musk and denounced “fraud” and “abuse” in the award of public contracts. “I have seen many bribes,” he said, while smiling at the questions regarding the mistakes that Doge has made, such as the circulation of the “50 million dollars in condoms for Hamas”, that not even the president of states United nor the South African magnate have corrected.
The Trump administration argues that the cuts that Doge raises “are essential to optimize the functioning of the federal government.” However, some of those who have already approved the new US president have taken place with a judicial wall. A week ago, a judge slowed the application of and another temporarily paralyzed the exit of workers from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Despite this, the Doge continues with its restructuring plan, closing USAID offices or the consumer financial protection office (CFPB), created after the 2008 financial crisis.
