'Remove roots of the weed': Elon Musk wants US govt to cut entire agencies

Elon Musk's DOGE aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, largely by eliminating agencies deemed inefficient or unnecessary

Elon Musk has once again called for the elimination of entire federal agencies, a position he has advocated since taking leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Donald Trump’s administration.

 

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Musk argued that merely downsizing agencies would not be enough and that the US government needed to “remove the roots of the weed” to prevent bureaucracy from re-growing.

 

DOGE to cut $2 billion from federal budget

Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, has been a central figure in Trump’s push for government restructuring. Since assuming his role in DOGE, he has sidelined career officials, gained access to sensitive government data, and fuelled a broader constitutional debate over executive power. His department aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, largely by eliminating agencies deemed ‘inefficient’ or ‘unnecessary’.

 

 

‘Federal staff cuts needed to curb govt overreach’

This vision aligns with that of his former DOGE co-leader, Vivek Ramaswamy, who has long advocated for reducing government size. When he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, Ramaswamy proposed dismantling agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. He reiterated this stance during a Fox News interview last November, emphasising that drastic reductions in the federal workforce were necessary to curb government overreach.

 

Can US presidents ‘delete’ entire agencies?

However, the legal and political barriers to such sweeping changes remain significant. Presidents lack unilateral authority to eliminate agencies or Cabinet departments without congressional approval. While administrative units within agencies can be removed if they are not legislatively mandated, dismantling entire departments would require an act of Congress. Even with a Republican majority, lawmakers are unlikely to support such a radical restructuring of the federal government.

 

Despite these challenges, Musk’s remarks in Dubai emphasises the administration’s continued push for aggressive government downsizing, setting the stage for further political and legal battles over the extent of presidential authority.

 

Federal employees put on leave

Since February 5, dozens of federal employees from the US Department of Education have been put on leave after President Trump passed an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the federal government.

 

Around 2,000 USAID employees were also ordered to be put on paid leave until a federal judge paused the efforts on Feb 7.