DOGE team says its work is a 'revolution,' claims work will reduce deficit by $1 TRILLION

Elon Musk spoke publicly on behalf of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Thursday along with members of the department previously relatively unknown, calling its efforts a "revolution" as it continues to make massive cuts to government spending, fraud, abuse, and and bureaucracy. The department has already eliminated tens of thousands of useless jobs, shut down wasteful agencies, and canceled grants and contracts.

"This is a revolution, and I think it might be the biggest revolution in the government since the original revolution," Musk told Fox News, joined by seven DOGE staffers. He also noted that much of the department’s work could be completed soon.

Musk holds "special government employee" status, meaning he can work on government affairs for up to 130 days a year. When asked if he would stay on beyond that limit, he said, "I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that timeframe." He also admitted he wished things were moving faster: "What seems like incredibly fast action by government standards is — it's slower than I'd like, to be totally frank."

Until now, details about DOGE have been scarce, with little public information about its staff or operations. The team includes engineers, bankers, and corporate executives assigned to overhaul various agencies.

Joe Gebbia, an Airbnb co-founder working on making government retirement processing more efficient, compared their approach to a retail tech giant: "We really believe that the government can have an Apple Store-like experience."

Earlier this month, Musk made waves when he called entitlement programs "the big one" for spending cuts. Following that, DOGE pushed for major cuts to Social Security, though some were later reversed. The White House assured the public that benefits would continue.

Musk and his team state that Social Security is riddled with fraud, claiming that 40% of calls to certain phone centers were fraudulent and that 15 million people over age 120 were still listed as living beneficiaries. Social Security's acting commissioner has disputed these claims, saying actual fraud accounts for only around $100 million per year, a tiny fraction of total payouts, reports Axios.

Backlash against Musk’s involvement in government cuts has apparently spilled into his business interests, with Tesla’s stock dropping by a third this year, with declining sales worldwide. The government is also investigating alleged domestic terrorism charges tied to the #TeslaTakedown movement.