Latest news with #Musk-driven
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How William Howard Taft's approach to government efficiency differed from Elon Musk's slash-and-burn tactics
For four months, the world's richest man has played an unprecedented role in U.S. government. At the start of his 2025 term, President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to cut government 'waste and fraud.' That translated into the Musk-driven firing of 121,000 federal workers, essentially closing entire government programs and departments. Many Americans protested Musk's work. His unsupervised access to sensitive government materials and unchecked influence over the firing of federal employees represents an unprecedented moment in the United States. An unelected billionaire sought to overhaul the federal government, empowered and legitimized not by Congress but only by the president. There are two individuals intrinsic to any presidential effort to restructure government: the president himself and the person he entrusts with the task. In 2025, Musk has been the person designated to carry out the president's aims. In 1910, it was Frederick Cleveland, an academic, who was President William H. Taft's designated head of his effort to streamline government. Both presidents, Taft and Trump, have said they wanted to improve how government functioned. But while Taft worked with Congress to launch his effort, Trump hasn't followed that route. And the men each president asked to lead their efforts were vastly different in the responsibility given to them, and different in values as well as temperament. Among the many historic attempts by presidents to streamline federal government, Taft's administration provides a distinct parallel to an administration attempting to make government more efficient. The Taft administration's early 20th-century equivalent to the Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was called the Commission on Economy and Efficiency. Unlike DOGE, created by presidential fiat via an executive order, Taft's efficiency commission was funded by Congress. Taft also delegated the work of this reorganization to trusted Cabinet subordinates, rather than an outsider who was not confirmed by Congress. Other presidents of Taft's generation would have found it unthinkable to delegate such consequential work to someone outside of the bureaucracy to the extent that Trump has empowered Musk. The work of Taft's commission took place during a time of turmoil for the role and power of the president, as the country itself became more powerful and its governance more complex, calling for increased efficiency through streamlining. Taft organized his commission in 1910, a year into his presidency. It lasted until his divided party led to his election defeat in 1912. The commission's aims were tied to economy and efficiency – as the commission itself was named. Indeed, Secretary of the Navy George von Lengerke Meyer, one of Taft's trusted Cabinet members, concisely explained how the 'main object was the establishment of a system which would enable the Secretary to administer his office efficiently and economically, with the advice of responsible expert advisers, ensuring continuity of policy for the future.' Taft came to the presidency in 1909 with clear concepts of how the nation's top office needed to become more powerful to meet the growing country's burgeoning needs. The presidency, he believed, also needed to expand its power to meet the modernizing demands of the Progressive Era in early 20th-century America. This era put new demands on government to be responsive to the country's expanding needs, from grassroots demands by voters for greater government activism to professionals seeking more efficient support for their businesses from the government. Taft was critically aware of existing inefficiency, with bureaucratic work overlapping at expense to the government, without any clear mandate, job description or hierarchy. The vision of the commission is clear in a diagram for the War Department that sought to streamline the bureaucracy, conglomerating the existing 18 divisions into eight. The Commission on Economy and Efficiency focused on providing solutions for this clearly defined problem of government inefficiency. At the time of Taft's final message to Congress in 1913, the commission had submitted 85 reports to Taft encouraging the reorganization of executive departments, including new and specifically defined roles for government employees. Unlike the radical unilateral actions taken by DOGE, the Taft commission recommended action to Congress for the long term, while making more targeted changes to the executive bureaucracy behind the scenes. Despite Taft's pleas stressing the need to sustain these changes beyond his tenure, Congress was tired of the empowerment of the executive by Republican presidents Theodore Roosevelt, followed by Taft, and had no incentive to support reorganization. This is in direct contrast to Trump and Musk's less substantiated concerns over 'fraud and abuse' or ongoing vague concerns over the size and cost of the federal government. That phrasing may inspire more consensus over the problem, but not necessarily the solution. Taft's choice to head his commission, Frederick Cleveland, was a kindred spirit who believed in a strengthened presidency. Cleveland was an academic with past affiliations with the University of Pennsylvania and New York University. Congress accepted Cleveland's nomination, seeing him as a pioneer in the realm of public administration. Cleveland fit the Progressive Era's mantra of employing experts. As a professional but not a member of the wealthy elite, and having been considered by Congress, Cleveland represents a clear distinction from Musk, who appears to have little understanding of what an average American may need from an operative federal bureaucracy. Cleveland reflected the Taft administration's approach of wanting to remold the government without animosity toward federal workers specifically or the government more broadly. He embraced the Progressive Era ethos in seeking to rectify inefficiency. Streamlining did not equate to big cuts. The priority remained ensuring the American government could meet the increased demands of the new century. Similar to DOGE, the White House was the command center for the Commission on Economy and Efficiency. That enabled Taft to manage reorganization of the executive branch from the Oval Office. Not all of the modernizing and streamlining of the federal government would come at the behest of Taft's commission. Impatient to implement change while awaiting the commission's reports, and with the commission hampered by a decrease in congressional funding in 1912, Taft had immediately sought improvement within his own administration. But when the commission's reports were finally available, Taft was in the unfortunate position of being a lame duck and could do little besides emphasize the need for further action. While limited in the short term, the commission's reports were later credited for major changes: 'Although the report fell on deaf ears in Congress, it would become an essential roadmap for the budget reforms of 1921. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 addressed and mirrored the concerns and proposals of the Commission's Report,' as described by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation. Unlike DOGE, the approach of Taft and his commission focused on streamlining rather than gutting federal bureaucracy. That approach was reflective of an era when experts were revered and sought after rather than maligned. As an experienced bureaucrat, Taft characteristically directed that the problem of government inefficiency be studied. This secured his legacy, as his agenda was eventually put into practice and embraced, proving his reflective approach to be ahead of its time. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Laura Ellyn Smith, Arizona State University Read more: President Trump promises to make government efficient − and he'll run into the same roadblocks as Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush, among others Efficiency − or empire? How Elon Musk's hostile takeover could end government as we know it Trump's DOGE campaign accelerates 50-year trend of government privatization Laura Ellyn Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Axios
28-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Elon Musk, in first DOGE team interview: "This is a revolution"
Elon Musk described the Department of Government Efficiency 's work as a "revolution" in his team's first interview on the department's behalf Thursday. Why it matters: DOGE has forced out tens of thousands of employees, shuttered agencies, canceled grants and contracts and upended how the U.S. does business — changes the public tells pollsters they don't generally like. What they're saying: " This is a revolution, and I think it might be the biggest revolution in the government since the original revolution," Musk, flanked by seven DOGE colleagues, told Fox News. Musk suggested the balance of that work could be done soon. Zoom in: He holds "special government employee" status, which means he can work on government business for 130 days in every 365-day period. Fox host Bret Baier asked Musk if he had any plans to stay on past that 130-day window. "I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that timeframe," he said. He later added that he'd like to be moving even quicker: "What seems like incredibly fast action by government standards is — it's slower than I'd like, to be totally frank." The intrigue: Until now, DOGE has mostly been a shadowy operation — neither Musk nor the administration confirming precisely who works there or exactly how many employees it has. The DOGE staff who joined him Monday included engineers, bankers and corporate executives who've all been deployed to overhaul various government agencies. Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder now working on streamlining the retirement process for government employees, said: "We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store-like experience." Flashback: Musk stirred controversy with his last TV appearance earlier this month, when he told Fox that in his crusade to cut government spending and root out fraud, entitlements were the "big one" to target. DOGE subsequently pushed for deep service cuts at Social Security, which were partially rolled back this week. The White House has promised people will keep receiving their benefits. Musk and colleagues insisted Thursday that Social Security is plagued by fraud, claiming that 40% of calls to phone centers in some cases were fraudulent and that 15 million "living" people age 120+ were on the agency's rolls. Social Security's acting commissioner has repeatedly downplayed those fraud allegations and said the actual tally was on the order of $100 million a year, a small fraction of 1% of what the agency pays out. By the numbers: Anger over Musk-driven cuts has spilled over to his business interests, particularly Tesla, whose shares have lost a third of their value this year.
CNN
25-02-2025
- Business
- CNN
White House reveals who DOGE acting administrator is
Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US DOGE Service, the agency that houses the temporary Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday. The announcement, after weeks of questions about Elon Musk's official role and authority over DOGE, reveals the technical leader of the Musk-driven initiative tasked with reconfiguring the federal government. Gleason has a background in health care and previously worked at the US Digital Service, an office created by President Barack Obama and most recently named after DOGE. Her position with DOGE was first reported by the Washington Examiner. She also worked in President Donald Trump's first term, including being placed on the White House Coronavirus Task Force's data team because of her technology background. That team was led by Dr. Deborah Birx. Despite pledging full transparency, the White House has refused or been unable to identify the administrator of DOGE, including during Tuesday's press briefing. While Musk has served as the initiative's public face and continues to issue social-media directives to government workers, the White House has maintained that his status is one of a special government employee, and not a full-time worker. 'So, the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Tuesday when asked directly who was administering the initiative. 'There are career officials and there are political appointees who are helping run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.' Justice Department attorneys were grilled in a court appearance Monday about who the administrator was, but none were able to say then, either. 'Who's involved? Who's in charge? Who's giving them direction?' Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked government attorneys at the hearing, which examined DOGE's access to sensitive data systems at the Treasury Department. Judges, including Kollar-Kotelly, have raised the lack of clarity around DOGE's structure as impeding their ability to decide the emergency disputes before them. She and others have raised possible constitutional issues, depending on the chain of command at DOGE and who is behind the sweeping decisions that have the upended federal government's operations in recent weeks. The White House official did not say how long Gleason has been the acting adminstrator. CNN's Michael Williams contributed to this report.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
White House reveals who DOGE acting administrator is
Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US DOGE Service, the agency that houses the temporary Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday. The announcement, after weeks of questions about Elon Musk's official role and authority over DOGE, reveals the technical leader of the Musk-driven initiative tasked with reconfiguring the federal government. Gleason has a background in health care and previously worked at the US Digital Service, an office created by President Barack Obama and most recently named after DOGE. Her position with DOGE was first reported by the Washington Examiner. She also worked in President Donald Trump's first term, including being placed on the White House Coronavirus Task Force's data team because of her technology background. That team was led by Dr. Deborah Birx. Despite pledging full transparency, the White House has refused or been unable to identify the administrator of DOGE, including during Tuesday's press briefing. While Musk has served as the initiative's public face and continues to issue social-media directives to government workers, the White House has maintained that his status is one of a special government employee, and not a full-time worker. 'So, the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Tuesday when asked directly who was administering the initiative. 'There are career officials and there are political appointees who are helping run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.' Justice Department attorneys were grilled in a court appearance Monday about who the administrator was, but none were able to say then, either. 'Who's involved? Who's in charge? Who's giving them direction?' Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked government attorneys at the hearing, which examined DOGE's access to sensitive data systems at the Treasury Department. Judges, including Kollar-Kotelly, have raised the lack of clarity around DOGE's structure as impeding their ability to decide the emergency disputes before them. She and others have raised possible constitutional issues, depending on the chain of command at DOGE and who is behind the sweeping decisions that have the upended federal government's operations in recent weeks. The White House official did not say how long Gleason has been the acting adminstrator. CNN's Michael Williams contributed to this report.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's message to federal workers becomes his latest fiasco
On Saturday morning, for reasons unknown, Donald Trump published an all-caps missive to his social media platform about Elon Musk. The president's top campaign donor, the Republican wrote, is 'doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.' He did not elaborate as to what 'more aggressive' tactics might entail, but just hours after Trump's message reached the public, Musk did, in fact, take his efforts in a new direction. NBC News reported: Billionaire Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to federal employees Saturday, saying in a post on his social media platform X that employees must respond to an email justifying the work they completed this week or resign. ... 'Consistent with President [Trump's] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,' Musk wrote. On Saturday afternoon, federal employees soon after received an email from the White House Office of Personnel Management, asking workers to summarize their accomplishments from last week — complete with five bullet points. The directive was ridiculous enough at face value — it was far from clear who would read and assess these emails — but making matters worse was the number of federal agencies that directed their employees to ignore the email. The New York Times reported: Several Trump-appointed agency leaders urged federal workers not to comply with Elon Musk's order to summarize their accomplishments for the past week or be removed from their positions, even as Mr. Musk doubled down on his demand over the weekend. Their instructions in effect countermanded the order of Mr. Musk across much of the government, challenging the broad authority President Trump has given the world's richest man to make drastic changes to the federal bureaucracy. The FBI, for example, told its employees not to respond to the email, as did the Departments of Defense, State, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security. The Times' report added that the Musk-driven email even reached federal judges — which was odd in large part because jurists don't work for the executive branch — prompting the administrative office for the federal courts to advise judges and staff not to reply. For an administration and a DOGE endeavor that has been hampered by one shambolic fiasco after another, the developments were no doubt discouraging. But hanging overhead was a related question: What about the White House's court filing last week on Musk and his quasi-governmental 'department'? In fact, it was just seven days ago when a White House lawyer argued, in writing, that Musk is little more than a 'senior adviser to the president' — a role in which the GOP megadonor has 'no actual or formal authority.' What's more, according to that same court filing, Musk isn't leading the Department of Government Efficiency at all. The claims were at odds with effectively everything the president and his team have said about the DOGE initiative, but apparently indifferent to the contradictions, Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House's Office of Administration, delivered the message to a federal judge anyway. Two days later, Trump boasted at a public event that he put Musk 'in charge' of DOGE, which was largely the opposite of the assertions in the White House's court filing. Three days after that, the president urged his ostensibly powerless adviser to 'get more aggressive,' at which point a Musk-driven email reached millions of federal employees, threatening their careers. So, which is it? Was the White House's court filing true, or not? Because at this point, Team Trump's contradictions are starting to overlap. This article was originally published on
