Elon Musk and seven members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team appeared on Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier Thursday, to discuss their efforts to cut government waste and fraud and address critics.
The group also discussed DOGE's work relating to the federal workforce, financial management, government infrastructure, computer systems, Social Security and more.
Musk revealed that 40% of calls to the Social Security Administration (SSA) are fraudulent and defended the team's actions, despite ongoing legal challenges from far-left activists and entrenched bureaucrats.
"We want to reduce spending by eliminating waste and fraud and reduce the spending by 15%, which seems really quite achievable," The Tesla CEO and special government employee told Baier. "...The government is not efficient, and there's 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."
As of March 27, DOGE claims on its site it has saved Americans $130 billion, or $807.45 per taxpayer.
“We are cutting the waste and fraud in real time," Musk told Fox News. "So every day that passes, our goal is to reduce the waste and fraud by $4 billion a day every day, 7 days a week. And so far we are succeeding.” That’s $1.4T per year in savings by DOGE”
President Donald Trump tasked the organization with optimizing the federal government, streamlining operations and slashing spending and gave the agency 18 months to do it.
The department has canceled numerous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings and duplicate agencies and programs.
During Thursday's interview, the DOGE team members added a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the department’s work from the Internal Revenue Source to the Interior Department to Social Security. Musk was joined by DOGE members Steve Davis, a longtime Musk associate and rocket scientist, Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, Aram Moghaddassi, Brad Smith, Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker, Tom Krause, who has been involved in legal challenges, and Tyler Hassen.
"This is a revolution. And I think it might be the biggest revolution in government since the original revolution. But at the end of the day, America's going to be in much better shape," Musk said. "It's going to be a fantastic future."
Moghaddassi, a DOGE software engineer, said that the team aims to improve Social Security by helping legitimate beneficiaries and protecting them from fraud.
The DOGE members illustrated key efforts of the department to achieve Trump's goal. Davis brought up federal credit cards, which he labeled a "mundane" but "illustrative" example of DOGE's work.
"There are in the federal government around 4.6 million credit cards for around 2.3 to 2.4 million employees. This doesn't make sense. So one of the things all of the teams have worked on is we've worked for the agencies and said, 'Do you need all of these credit cards? Are they being used? Can you tell us physically where they are?'" Davis explained.
"Clearly there should not be more credit cards than there are people," Musk responded.
Musk highlighted an example of egregious government waste: a national park survey that reportedly cost the federal government nearly $1 billion. This was a simple 10-question survey asking people whether they liked national parks, which he claims could have been conducted using a platform like SurveyMonkey for approximately $10,000. He has noted that the survey appeared to lack a meaningful purpose or feedback loop, suggesting the expenditure was not only excessive but also ineffective.
The group also highlighted the archaic retirement system. The current paper system is so inefficient that only 8,000 government employees can be retired per month, with backlog of 6-9 months processing time.. Musk said. Many processes in government look like they haven’t changed or been updated since the 1950’s.
Many Republican lawmakers have come out as staunch DOGE defenders, while many Democrat lawmakers remain vociferous critics of DOGE and its leader.
Musk explained the department is keeping Congress "informed" and that lawmakers have a duty to address fraud and wasteful spending, they haven’t been doing that, the Tesla CEO said. “We try to keep Congress as informed as possible. The law does say that money needs to be spent correctly. It should not be spent fraudulently or wastefully.”
He addressed the judicial rulings against DOGE, pointing out that the D.C. Circuit has a "very far-left bias" and suggesting that judges may be influenced by NGOs that benefit from government spending.
The top DOGE official and his team defended their actions, arguing that they are working to make the government more efficient and solvent. Musk claimed that "almost no one has gotten fired" and that the team's efforts are necessary to ensure critical government services continue to function.
Critics contend the organization has too much access to federal systems and should not be permitted to cancel federal contracts or make cuts to various agencies.
"They may characterize it as shooting from the hip, but it is anything but that," Musk said, noting the agency's approach to cuts is to "measure twice, if not thrice and cut once."
"Which is not to say that we don't make mistakes. If we were to approach this with the standard of making no mistakes at all, that would be like saying someone in baseball has got to bat a thousand. That's impossible. So when we do make mistakes, we correct them quickly and we move on," he added.
The top DOGE official also argued that when critics "attack DOGE, they never attack any of the specifics."
"They'll say what we're doing is somehow unconstitutional or illegal or whatever. We're like, 'well, which line of the cost savings do you disagree with?' And they can't point to any," Musk said.
Musk also spoke out about what he sees as a growing wave of violence against Tesla owners, blaming left-wing rhetoric for inciting the attacks. He argued that the real issue isn’t just the individuals committing these acts but the people spreading anti-Tesla narratives.
Reports of Tesla-related incidents have been increasing, ranging from minor vandalism, such as keying or graffiti, to more extreme cases like arson and drive-by shootings targeting Tesla vehicles and dealerships.
Musk and DOGE have been a lightning rod for criticism due to the department's commitment to slashing waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.
"The real problem is not the people. It's not like the crazy guy that firebombs a Tesla dealership," Musk said. "It's the people pushing the propaganda that cause that guy to do it. Those are the real villains here."
According to Musk, the rise in vandalism and attacks on Tesla cars and dealerships stems from criticism of his leadership at DOGE. He claims that rhetoric from Democrat leaders, especially those opposed to DOGE and his involvement, has fueled anger against Tesla and its supporters.
"They are being fed propaganda by the far left, and they believe it," Musk said. "....Tesla is a peaceful company that has made great cars, great products. That's all it's done. It hasn't harmed anyone. And yet people are committing violence."
"They are firebombing Tesla dealerships. They are shooting guns into stores. They are threatening people. They are issuing death threats against me and other Tesla personnel," Musk told Baier.
Musk also said that the Trump administration has vowed to take action.
"The president has made it clear: We’re going after them. The ones providing the money, the ones pushing the lies and propaganda. We're going after them," he said.
When asked why he continues his role at DOGE despite the backlash, Musk compared the attacks against him to those faced by President Trump, particularly accusations that he is a Nazi.
"I got the normal playbook," he said.
"They called the president all these things… At one point there was a magazine cover, which said the president was worse than Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin combined. And the president hasn't killed anyone. He hasn't started any wars. In fact, he's good at stopping wars."
Musk argued that such extreme language is part of a broader strategy to disrupt his and Trump’s agenda.
"Why do they push these lies? I think we need to hold people responsible for pushing these lies, because those lies almost got the president killed," he said.
In response to the violence against Tesla, the FBI announced Monday that it has launched a task force to investigate attacks on Tesla owners. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that the incidents are being treated as "domestic terrorism."
Thursday's interview marked a significant public appearance for the DOGE team, which has generally kept a low profile since its inception. Despite the team's efforts to present a positive image, the interview highlighted ongoing controversies and legal challenges surrounding their activities.
