(Reuters) -Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who was tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump as his cost-cutting czar, said on Thursday in a Fox News interview that his goal of slashing $1 trillion in federal spending could be achieved without impacting services.
Musk told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” that he was confident his Department of Government Efficiency could find $1 trillion in savings, slimming current total federal spending levels of about $7 trillion down to $6 trillion.
“The government is not efficient, and there is a lot of waste and fraud, so we feel confident that a 15% reduction can be done without affecting any of the critical government services,” Musk said.
Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency estimates it has saved U.S. taxpayers $115 billion as of March 24 through a series of actions including workforce reductions, asset sales and contract cancellations.
However, its savings total is unverifiable and its calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections. Budget experts say Musk cannot reach his target without touching entitlement programs like social security, which Trump has vowed not to cut.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Ross Colvin and Jamie Freed)
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