---
title: "Did the market see it? \"Musk-style\" deficit reduction shakes the American political arena, \"DOGE works 120 hours a week for free, while bureaucrats only work 40 hours\"!"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/226931243.md"
description: "Throughout the weekend, Musk was frantically posting on his social media platform X, revealing plans to significantly cut federal government spending and regulations, including the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Analysts believe that these measures mark the beginning of Musk's extensive plan to disrupt the federal government"
datetime: "2025-02-03T10:03:40.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/226931243.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/226931243.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/226931243.md)
---

> Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/226931243.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/226931243.md)


# Did the market see it? "Musk-style" deficit reduction shakes the American political arena, "DOGE works 120 hours a week for free, while bureaucrats only work 40 hours"!

Minister Ma is controlling the U.S. government at lightning speed, and stated that the U.S. bond market should thank him.

**Throughout the weekend, Musk was frantically posting on his social platform X, revealing plans for significant cuts to U.S. federal government spending and regulation, including the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)** — Musk stated that USAID is a criminal department and it is time to abolish it.

Additionally, Musk also stated, **DOGE works 120 hours a week, while bureaucratic opponents (referring to traditional federal agency officials) only work 40 hours a week**. Musk also mentioned that by fiscal year 2026, the federal deficit should be reduced from $2 trillion to $1 trillion, meaning that from now until September 30, **an average of about $4 billion in spending needs to be cut daily.**

More importantly, Musk will speak with JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon this week, **to convince the bond market that the cost-cutting plan named DOGE will enhance confidence in U.S. Treasuries.**

Analysts believe that **these measures mark the beginning of Musk's extensive plan to disrupt the federal government**.

Undoubtedly, Musk's actions have provoked anger among Democrats and some Republicans, who argue that Musk has no right to overturn congressional decisions on plans and spending priorities. Furthermore, there are concerns about the nature of Musk's actions, as **DOGE is operated by individuals connected to the tech industry, who may profit from DOGE's decisions without Senate confirmation.**

Richard Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush's administration, stated:

> “This is unprecedented; I have never seen anything like this before.”

## Grandly Saving Fiscal Expenditures

Over the weekend, DOGE's account posted a message listing over 100 canceled contracts, which saved the federal government more than $1 billion.

Musk also stated, **by fiscal year 2026, the federal deficit should be reduced from $2 trillion to $1 trillion, meaning that from now until September 30, an average of about $4 billion in spending needs to be cut daily**. Even so, there will still be about $1 trillion in deficit, but economic growth should be able to offset this amount, which means there will be no inflation in 2026 
Elon Musk also stated that the DOGE plan intends to cancel some funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and claimed (without providing evidence) that terrorist organizations had received payments through the Treasury's payment system. However, analysts pointed out that the Treasury has a "Do-Not-Pay" system specifically designed to prevent such situations from occurring.

In addition, Musk accused Treasury officials of breaking the law every single day, approving fraudulent payments or payments that do not comply with the funding laws passed by Congress.

Musk stated that the DOGE team found that Treasury payment approval officials were always instructed to approve payments, even to known fraudsters or terrorist organizations, and they had never refused a payment in their entire careers, not once.

**Musk also criticized government officials, stating that DOGE works 120 hours a week, while bureaucratic opponents (referring to traditional federal agency officials) only work 40 hours a week.**

Musk also mentioned that almost no one in the government bureaucracy works on weekends, so it's like the opposing team just leaves the field on weekends! Working on weekends is a superpower.

## **USAID Must "Die"**

On Saturday local time, about eight DOGE representatives attempted to enter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office building in downtown Washington and requested access to confidential systems and certain floors.

Initially, USAID officials denied the DOGE representatives' request, but security chief John Voorhees and his deputy were administratively suspended for failing to cooperate with DOGE's demands.

Ultimately, the DOGE representatives gained access to the USAID Executive Secretariat and the Office of General Counsel—two departments that are the core hubs of high-level decision-making within the agency. Additionally, DOGE representatives also attempted to enter the Office of the Inspector General, but it is unclear whether they were successful.

Reports indicate that **Musk is dismantling USAID, which has 10,000 employees and a budget of $40 billion, and weakening its autonomy**. Throughout the weekend, Musk was actively posting on his social platform X, attacking USAID: USAID is a criminal department, and it's time to abolish it 

Previously, DOGE successfully obtained approval from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to begin engaging with and managing the core payment systems of the U.S. government.

Currently, the USAID official website has been taken offline and incorporated into a subpage of the State Department's website. In addition, USAID's X account has also been removed, with the remaining message indicating that the account does not exist. Matt Hopson, the chief of staff for USAID appointed by Trump, has resigned, and David A. Lebryk, the chief information officer who served in the Treasury for decades, also resigned abruptly after a conflict with Musk's assistant over access to sensitive payment system permissions.

## The Expanding Power of DOGE: Trump's Henchman?

Initially, DOGE was only considered an external advisory agency of the U.S. federal government; however, shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order formally incorporating DOGE into the government executive branch.

**The problem is that DOGE's operations are very opaque**—the Trump administration has not released a list of DOGE staff nor clarified any potential conflicts of interest they may have.

Previously, Trump signed an executive order directing all agencies to ensure that DOGE could "fully and promptly access all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems." **Analysts believe that Musk's takeover of key government functions through the DOGE department may be providing Trump with more power support, potentially even influencing some political decisions of the government.**

Gerry Connolly, a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, warned:

> "Trump is exhausting every trick he and his 2025 plan loyalists can think of to circumvent established civil service protections, so they can clear out experts from the civil service and replace them with political loyalists."

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