Billionaire Musk brandished a chainsaw gifted by the President of Argentina, symbolizing spending cuts, at a conservative event in Washington.
“This is a chainsaw for bureaucracy,” said US billionaire Elon Musk as he held up a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC on February 20.
The red chainsaw, engraved with the Spanish slogan “Viva la libertad” (Long live freedom), was a gift to Musk from Argentine President Javier Milei on the same day. Before being elected in late 2023, Milei often swung the chainsaw at campaign rallies as a symbol of his efforts to reduce the size of the government.
However, it is not yet possible to verify how much DOGE has cut and what it is targeting, as the agency admitted that it has only published a portion of the contracts that will be canceled in the cutback campaign. DOGE also said that information on about 20% of the savings is currently available on its website, affirming that it will continue to publish new data.
In addition to canceling contracts, DOGE has also cut its budget through fraud detection, selling off public assets, canceling subsidies, streamlining staff, applying process changes and regulatory savings.
