Unlock the White House Watch watch newsletter for free
Your guide on what the US elections of 2024 mean for Washington and Le Monde
Donald Trump said he would seek billions of dollars from the Pentagon budget as the next major target in the effort led by Elon Musk to reduce spending by US government agencies.
In an interview on Sunday, Trump supported the push reduction of Musk costs through the so-called “Ministry of Effectiveness of the Government” even if he is confronted with growing setbacks before the federal courts and the allegations of the allegations of the allegations of Democrats that he exceeds his powers.
Trump said Musk had been “formidable” and “great help” to browse the federal government for possible spending reductions. He said that the Ministry of Defense, which has an annual budget of around $ 800 billion, would be the next in the billionaire images.
“Check the army. We will find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud and abuse. You know, people have elected me about it, “said Trump.
The potential role of Musk in the fact that the Pentagon for savings has already raised concerns concerning conflicts of potential interests, since its SPACEX societies and its subsidiary Starlink have contracts with the government.
But Mike Waltz, Trump National Security Advisor, rejected these concerns in an interview with NBC. He said that “all appropriate firewalls” would be in place to prevent any conflict, although he did not offer more details.
“The American people said enough, enough with bloating and waste and debt,” said Waltz. “We need great minds and need business leaders to go there and absolutely reform the process of acquiring the Pentagon,” he said.
With Musk in a leading role, Trump’s second administration has aggressively decided to grind certain federal programs and agencies.
In a setback for Musk on Saturday, a federal judge of New York temporarily blocked his team’s efforts to access the payment data of the US Treasury Department, saying that this could lead to the disclosure of sensitive personal information that could cause a “Irparable damage” to Americans.
Democrats have cried more and more.
“This is the most serious constitutional crisis that the country has been confronted, certainly since Watergate,” said Chris Murphy, the Democratic Senator of Connecticut on Sunday.
“The president wants to be able to decide how and where the money is spent so that he can reward his political friends, he can punish his political enemies. This is the evisceration of democracy, “he added.
The hardest affected federal agencies include USAID, which administers foreign aid, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose employees were informed on Saturday by its interim director, Russell Vought, to stop practically all their activities, including Investigations and supervision. Trump also promised to eliminate the Ministry of Education, which has long been the target of conservative anger.
The Congress Republicans supported Trump and Musk while they moved to stop a wide range of federal programs, even if the push has undermined the constitutional role of the legislators in the authorization of spending.
Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, said on ABC that the Trump administration had to take a “critical view” from American spending policies because the country’s budgetary path was “unbearable”. But he also said that Musk could move more cleverly.
“He needs, in a more professional way, to communicate with the American public,” said Turner.
