The world's richest man, Elon Musk, who is facing accusations of running the US government through his control of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has denied leading a "hostile takeover". Musk, who made his first White House appearance on Tuesday as President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving Musk's DOGE more authority to cut the federal workforce, called his actions "common sense" measures that are "not draconian or radical".
Musk also faced questions on a wide range of subjects, including the conflict of interest between his businesses and his role in DOGE.
¡°All of our actions are fully public,¡± Musk said. ¡°So if you see anything like, 'Elon, there may be a conflict there,' it's not like people are going to be shy about it. They are going to say it immediately.¡±
Musk's various companies, including SpaceX and Starlink, have government contracts worth billions of dollars. According to the White House, Musk is a special government employee who is not getting paid, a distinction that allows the world's richest man to skirt public scrutiny of his potential conflicts.
Also read:?Time Magazine puts Elon Musk behind US President's desk
Musk also acknowledged that his claim that the US was spending $50 million on condoms for Gaza was wrong.
¡°Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody can bat 1,000,¡± he said. He promised that he would act quickly to correct errors and acknowledged that DOGE could be making errors as well.
¡°We are moving fast, so we will make mistakes, but we'll also fix the mistakes very quickly,¡± Musk said.
The executive order signed by Trump stated that a DOGE representative will need to approve almost all new hiring, a dramatic consolidation of personnel management across the federal government.
¡°The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled,¡± the order said.
For more news and current affairs?from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.