The world’s richest man has given himself a new job title: Volunteer IT Consultant.
Elon Musk said Monday that is the proper way to describe the role he plans to play as co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is tasked with finding ways to make government more efficient.
“My preferred title in the new administration is Volunteer IT Consultant. Need to fix the IT infrastructure in order to make government work,” Mr. Musk posted on X. “This is a grind & hardly glorious, but we can’t make government efficient & fix the deficit if the computers don’t work.
Mr. Musk said the title fits because the federal government’s “computers & software are in such bad shape that they often cannot verify that payments are not fraud, waste or abuse!”
“That’s why the government can’t pass basic audits. They often LITERALLY don’t know where your tax dollars went. It’s insane,” he posted.
Sen. Joni Ernst, the Iowa Republican leading a new Senate DOGE caucus, also is having some fun with the name game.
In an email asking supporters for input into her group’s work, Ms. Ernst signed off as “Top Senate WatchDOGE.”
On Monday, Mr. Musk also shared the findings of a 2019 government watchdog report that found 10 federal information technology systems that agencies rely on to carry out their missions are outdated.
The report said the systems cost roughly $337 million to operate and maintain, adding that relying on them poses challenges, including “known security vulnerabilities.”
Mr. Musk heads the new panel with billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who briefly ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
It still needs to be determined what authority the DOGE will have to implement whatever recommendations.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy are focused on highlighting where they believe the government can better steward taxpayers’ money, including weeding out waste, fraud, and abuse in entitlement programs.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor of Georgia, who is heading a DOGE subcommittee in the House, said Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy are also considering compiling “naughty” and “nice” lists based on lawmakers’ spending records.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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