Fox News interview highlights Musk’s efforts to cut the government

Elon Musk described “astonishing” and “mind-blowing” levels of waste and fraud within the government during a Thursday night interview with Fox News host Brett Baier. However, critics question the transparency and accuracy of these claims.

Musk claimed he and his team from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) routinely find instances of waste exceeding $1 billion. He added that the team intends to make cuts without impacting critical government services and aims to reduce waste and fraud by $4 billion daily, seven days a week.

DOGE aims to slash the federal deficit by $1 trillion, Musk said. They target a 15% reduction in total federal spending, cutting it from $7 trillion to $6 trillion. However, former Republican Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin has criticized the initiative for targeting agencies that represent a small fraction of the federal budget.

Musk cited examples of government overspending, such as a 10-question online survey that would cost $10,000 using SurveyMonkey, for which the government was charged nearly $1 billion. However, independent verification of these claims remains difficult, as NPR investigations found limited documentation for DOGE’s reported savings.

The team discovered an inefficient, paper-based retirement process housed in a Pennsylvania mine, involving 22,000 filing cabinets and 400 million pieces of paper, which caused months-long delays, Musk said. The team is working to digitize this process to reduce delays to a few days.

Outdated IT systems, often over 50 years old, plague many government agencies, he claimed. These systems cost a lot to maintain and hinder improvements to critical systems like Social Security and the IRS. DOGE found that 40% of calls to Social Security originate from fraud centers attempting to steal benefits, according to Musk.

DOGE publishes its findings on doge.gov for transparency, though critics have filed numerous lawsuits challenging the legality of the initiative’s actions. A federal court ruled on March 18 that some of Musk’s actions through DOGE were unconstitutional and violated the Appointments Clause.

Reports of internal tensions have emerged in recent weeks, with President Trump reportedly calling for more precision in cuts, saying “We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet.'” Protests have erupted in pro-Trump districts against service cuts and federal employee firings.

Conflict of interest concerns have been raised as Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, receive billions in government contracts. The initiative has faced criticism from both Democratic lawmakers and Republican budget experts who question whether the cuts are driven more by ideology than fiscal responsibility.

Musk defended the initiative, stating that volunteer team members, including billionaires, perform this work as a patriotic duty to address the fiscal crisis and ensure the nation’s solvency.