Elon Musk announced yesterday that he came back from his work at the Ministry of Effectiveness of the Government to focus more on his businesses, especially Tesla.
Since his intense accent on Washington seems to catch up, if not conclude, I thought it could be the right time to assess what has been done so far. And what better way to note it than to use the same method with which he sought to assess thousands of civil servants?
In February, DOGE demanded that federal employees send an email each week listing five chips of their achievements.
So here are five chips on what Musk has achieved in Washington:
-
He landed his company. Tesla’s profits dropped 71% compared to last year, the company reported on Tuesday. And even if sales of electric vehicles have increased worldwide, Tesla sales have dropped due to competition from Chinese car manufacturers and Mr. Musk’s support for right. Tuesday, during a call with investors, Musk awarded the decline to “those who receive the waste and fraud” from the government. “The demonstrations you will see there, they are very organized. They are paid,” he said, providing no evidence for his complaint.
-
He became unpopular. The survey shows that Musk’s approval notes have taken a nose since he came to Washington, largely motivated by the disapproval of democratic and independent voters. In a Survey of Marquette University this month, 38% of Americans said they had a favorable vision of Musk, against 60% which considered it unfavorably.
-
He has reduced public spending, but we don’t really know how much. Musk arrived in Washington with promises to reduce $ 1 billion of the federal budget for next year. On a website according to its progress, Doge has saved $ 160 billion. But as my colleagues have reported, this estimate could be swollen. The group’s accounting was riddled with $ 1 billion errors and said it has reduced expenses that have never even been scheduled for this year.
-
He has become the largest political donor in the country. An analysis published last month revealed that Musk had donated more than $ 291 million to republican candidates, political action committees and other conservative organizations during the race in 2024. It is almost $ 95 million more than the largest republican contributor and more than four times more than the greatest donor of Democratic candidates.
Since the elections, he has not shown any signs of stopping his involvement in electoral policy. The Musk and Allied groups spent more than $ 20 million on a Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s State, transforming the race into a referendum on him – and he lost. And he threatened the main challenges against any republican member of the Chamber who does not support President Trump’s agenda.
-
He picked up a ton of personal data. Thanks to his decree, creating DOGE, Trump granted the access of the Musk group to “all non -classified agency files” – a category that includes sensitive information about almost everyone in America. A recent survey has revealed that the Musk team has tried to access databases that follow more than 300 separate data, in particular not only social security numbers, but immigration status, game income, student loan sales and even professional professional references. We do not know precisely what data the DOGE team have about you, but it could be a lot.
By figures
Americans like the idea of reducing government waste, but don’t like musk
The idea that underlies the government’s ministry of efficiency – that the government is useless and ineffective – is a point of view that most Americans have for decades, according to surveys. And the Americans mainly support the concept of Doge when it was questioned directly.
Thank you for your patience while we check the access. If you are in reader mode, please leave and connect to your Times account, or subscribe to all time.
Thank you for your patience while we check the access.
Already subscribed? Connect.
Want all the time? Subscribe.