DiabloWags said:
I Repeat...
Musk can only make Recommendations.
Congress is in charge of the purse strings and doesnt have to follow anything he says. There is NO LEGAL MANDATE.
This is really the point. Who pays for the investigation, development and putting together recommendations and report(s)? This endeavor lacks a dedicated budget and has no legal jurisdiction. Maybe the get a budget allocation because both parties want to stand for ridding wasteful spending in Washington. It's a noble cause.
So let's say that happens. There is only so much of the budget that is discretionary and subject to modification in the short run. And a lot of that is very political. Try doing away with farm subsidies for example.
Musk and Ramaswamy undoubtedly will uncover plenty of stuff to enrage outraged social media users, including funding bizarre research projects, numerous grants and subsidies, and absurdly priced items bought through the archaic procurement process (e.g., really expensive toilets for the Pentagon). It won't be hard to find, but I'm not sure you see much gained dollar wise from these type of cuts.
Then there are some legal issues. It is easy to say you will eliminate departments or agencies, and let's say Congress even agrees. Can you shred civil service protections so that bureaucrats in neutered agencies can be fired? What about all the contacts. etc that the disappearing department has? Savings may be somewhere down road at best.
I'm somewhat skeptical.