Elon Musk made big promises during former President Donald Trump's campaign, but his work history raises questions about whether he'll be able to follow through. Musk and Trump have publicly discussed a government role for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO if Trump is elected president.
While Musk and Trump have not shared details, Musk has joked about a possible job as Secretary of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the name of Musk's favorite meme and cryptocurrency. President Trump said on Fox News last week that Musk could be tapped for a role as "Secretary of Cost Reduction," a government agency that also doesn't currently exist. If Musk were to lead any task force, he promised on the campaign trail and in an interview with President Trump on August 10, that he would recommend deep cuts to eliminate wasteful spending that doesn't benefit the American people. He would probably use AI to decide where to make cuts. He also said he would propose a wholesale rollback of government regulations that have long frustrated him. And while Musk has promised to act prudently by offering generous severance packages to fired government employees, he has also proposed a ratings system that would threaten to fire wasteful employees. These are all tactics Musk has used or promised to use in his companies. His track record is mixed. Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Severe cuts In an interview with Musk in August and in a subsequent public discussion about Musk's possible government role, Trump praised the CEO's ruthlessness in laying off workers. The UAW Auto Workers union filed a labor lawsuit against the two men in August after Trump called Musk a "shortcut" and suggested he would fire striking autoworkers. And when Trump announced his plans for Musk's potential role in September, Musk said he would propose "radical reforms." On what he could do for the government, Musk said deep cuts in government spending are needed, saying "step one is to cut spending substantially. Let's get started again." But layoffs haven't always worked out so well for Musk's company. At X, Musk made major cuts, eliminating about 80% of the workforce. This resulted in a shaky and unstable product, as evidenced by disastrous technical failures during interviews with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 and President Trump a few months ago. Musk also disbanded X's trust and safety team, leading to an intensification of hate speech and unverified misinformation, and an exodus of advertisers from the platform. According to Fidelity, X is now worth 80% less than the price Musk bought it for in October 2022. Roll back regulations Regulations have dogged Musk for years, and he has railed against what he describes as unnecessary red tape and red tape. This is not a new complaint among business leaders. What is different is Musk's approach of skirting or bending the rules, sometimes with disastrous results. At Tesla, Musk has ambitiously pushed ahead with the rollout of "full self-driving" technology, despite numerous accidents and government warnings and investigations. Tesla has stuck to its "deploy first, fix later" approach and recalled the technology several times, despite claims that its self-driving software saves lives. America's top road safety agency announced a new investigation into Tesla on Friday after a fatal accident in which a Tesla car using its fully self-driving feature struck a pedestrian. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last year that the technology "poses an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety due to insufficient compliance with traffic safety laws." It also warned that at some intersections, FSD could violate traffic rules "before the driver can intervene." And at SpaceX, evading California regulators has notoriously led to resident complaints and lawsuits in Texas towns where the company launches and tests its giant rockets. Complaints include trespassing, broken windows and large debris fields. Musk moved most of SpaceX's operations from California to Texas because there were too many regulations there. And last week, the company sued California regulators. Caring for laid-off employees According to the Wall Street Journal, who attended some of Musk's pro-Trump rallies, Musk offered to offer a two-year severance package to laid-off government employees. "This isn't about being cruel or putting people off their mortgages," Musk said Friday. But Musk has been sued multiple times Before Musk bought Twitter, he should have taken it home now. But the lawsuit against Musk and the company alleges that the company refused to make this payment. Musk won one such lawsuit earlier this year, but several others are still pending.
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