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‘Evisceration of democracy’: Trump, Musk face backlash over spending cuts

Author
AFP,
Publish Date
Mon, 10 Feb 2025, 8:19am

‘Evisceration of democracy’: Trump, Musk face backlash over spending cuts

Author
AFP,
Publish Date
Mon, 10 Feb 2025, 8:19am
  • Elon Musk is leading efforts to find 鈥渉undreds of billions of dollars of fraud鈥 in US federal agencies.
  •  shutting down the US Agency for International Development, have sparked criticism and legal challenges.
  • Democrats warn of a 鈥渂illionaire takeover of government,鈥 while Republicans support the pace of 

Elon who is presiding over a purge of US Government jobs, will help find 鈥渉undreds of billions of dollars of fraud鈥 in federal agencies.

Speaking in a Fox 九一星空无限 interview set to air before the Super Bowl football championship, US President Donald Trump said the American people 鈥渨ant me to find鈥 waste and that Musk, the world鈥檚 richest man and the leader of the President鈥檚 cost-cutting efforts, has been 鈥渁 great help鈥 in rooting out unnecessary spending.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse. And, you know, the people elected me on that,鈥 Trump said in interview excerpts released by Fox.

The President over his three weeks in office has unleashed a flurry of executive orders aimed at slashing federal spending. He has appointed SpaceX and Tesla boss Musk to lead his federal cost-cutting efforts under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

But while the administration has highlighted several government projects Trump believes should be ended or curtailed, evidence of widespread illegal fraud has not been presented.

Musk, a top Trump donor and ally, has already taken unprecedented steps to shut down the US Agency for International Development, laying off thousands of employees. The Doge reform team also has triggered alarm among critics by gaining access through the US Treasury to the personal and financial data of millions of Americans.

On Friday a federal judge ordered a temporary pause to the administration鈥檚 plan to put 2200 USAID workers on paid leave. A day later another US judge issued an emergency order blocking Doge from accessing Treasury Department payment systems that contain Americans' sensitive data.

Trump said in his interview that over the next day or so he will order Musk to turn his government scalpel to the Department of Education, a frequent target of Republican ire.

鈥淭hen I鈥檓 going to go to the military,鈥 Trump said, reiterating his call for a review of spending at the Pentagon, whose budget totals some $850 billion.

Musk鈥檚 role faces criticism in part because his companies have had billions of dollars in contracts with the US government 鈥 more than $20 billion, according to House Democrat Mark Pocan.

鈥楨visceration of democracy鈥

Asked whether he trusts Musk to fairly root out wasteful spending, Trump appeared to assert that the wealthy entrepreneur and his businesses are not benefiting financially through Musk鈥檚 work with Doge.

鈥淗e鈥檚 not gaining anything,鈥 Trump said.

Democrats have lined up to slam Trump鈥檚 various efforts, including Senator Chris Murphy, who on Sunday warned of an 鈥渁ssault on the Constitution鈥 and said Trump was ushering in a 鈥渂illionaire takeover of government鈥.

鈥淭he President wants to be able to decide how and where money is spent so that he can reward his political friends, he can punish his political enemies. That is the evisceration of democracy,鈥 Murphy told ABC 九一星空无限 talk show This Week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in Congress, has repeatedly downplayed concerns that Trump is exceeding his authority or rushing too quickly to overhaul the federal government, including agencies like USAid.

鈥淚鈥檓 not uncomfortable with the pace of this,鈥 Johnson told Fox 九一星空无限 Sunday.

The speaker, who is to watch the Super Bowl with Trump inside a New Orleans stadium suite, described Musk as 鈥渁n outside auditor鈥 whose team is uncovering 鈥渋ncredible abuses of the public fisc鈥, referring to the total amount of money a government has to spend.

- Agence France-Presse

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