Timesdo | Washington, United States — Elon Musk said Thursday that cutting one trillion dollars in federal spending is “quite achievable” without affecting essential services — and vowed that Social Security recipients “will receive more money” thanks to the reforms implemented by his team.
In an interview with Fox News alongside members of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, Musk, 54, stated that they are already cutting $4 billion a day, which would allow them to meet the goal of halving the annual federal deficit in just 130 days — the time he is legally allowed to serve as an unpaid special government employee.
«This is a revolution, maybe the biggest since the original one,» Musk said, insisting that America will be solvent and that critical programs will keep functioning, though “we’re going to get a lot of complaints along the way.”
If the current pace continues, Musk would manage to cut about $520 billion, more than half the target. He emphasized, “Our goal is to reduce waste and fraud by $4 billion a day, every day.”
Since January, Musk has led an aggressive restructuring of federal agencies, with sweeping staff reductions. Among the most notable cuts: the near shutdown of USAID (10,000 employees) and operational closure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which had 1,700 workers.
Social Security has become a key focus. DOGE software engineer Aram Moghaddassi explained they are working to improve user experience and protect against fraud, revealing that 40% of calls to the agency come from scammers.
Musk jumped in emphatically: “What we’re doing will help their benefits. Legitimate recipients will receive more money, not less.” He added that elderly people, like “a 94-year-old grandmother,” will safely receive their checks because “the solvency of the government will ensure those payments continue.”
Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia, another billionaire involved in the DOGE project, said they’re working to digitize the retirement process, which is still done on paper and limits retirements to about 8,000 per month. “It’s an injustice to civil servants,” he said, envisioning a government with an “Apple Store-like experience.”
Despite headlines about mass firings, Musk stated that less than 0.15% of the federal workforce has been formally notified of termination. “Basically, almost no one’s gotten fired,” he said, noting that over 75,000 employees took voluntary buyouts.
DOGE continues operating at full speed, though major agencies like the Pentagon remain largely untouched. Musk concluded with a warning: “If we don’t do this, America will sink.”