Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Promises More Waste & Corruption

It’s a dark day for anyone who values effective government. Enter Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency”, which claims to be laser-focused on cutting waste but is instead primed to dismantle the public sector and channel taxpayer dollars to corporate allies. Don’t be fooled by the buzzword “efficiency” here. This is about rewarding political backers, firing apolitical civil servants, and handing their jobs to more political backers, inevitably in the “efficient” hands of billionaire donors receiving government contracts.

It will all be an excuse to gut public services while rewarding campaign contributions.

These firms know the game. One study found that for every $201,220 in campaign contributions, a firm could expect to gain an additional 107 federal contracts, raking in around $5.3 million in additional revenues. That’s “efficiency” in the Musk-Trump era—swapping out accountability for kickbacks and creating a corporate free-for-all on the public dime.

That Trump is also putting a Fox host-hack with zero bureaucratic expertise as head of Department of Defense reflects that this is about doling out dollars from the largest honeypot of federal contract payoffs to contributors, since the DOD is the largest source of those in govt.

Wait—Why Does the “Department of Government Efficiency” Have Two Co-Chairs?

Nothing says streamlined like appointing multiple co-chairs, right? This department, which supposedly aims to slash “bureaucratic waste,” comes with its own built-in redundancy. Musk, known for controversial management at Twitter (now X), claims he can tackle inefficiency on a national scale by eliminating government workers. But even he can’t justify this setup without showing that it’s all about concentrating power, not cutting waste. When the mission is to gut essential services, why not bring in as many cronies as possible?

The reality is that this “efficiency” agenda already has a playbook, and it’s not one that saves taxpayers money. It’s worth remembering that in Trump's first term, grant and contract employment boomed, especially in the defense department. So we know exactly what "government efficiency" will mean.

Federal workers have long seen the effects of these kind of moves: long-time civil servants being pushed out in favor of private contractors who may have political clout but lack experience in public service.

Outsourcing Gone Wild: Where the Money Really Goes

If Musk’s “efficiency” program follows previous patterns, we’ll see a wholesale replacement of government jobs with outsourced contracts. Multiple reports have documented time and again how outsourcing doesn’t actually save money. In fact, contractors can end up costing far more. A GAO report from recent years highlighted cases where outsourcing in sectors like defense and education led to cost overruns, shoddy service, and a reduction in oversight. Contractors don’t answer to the public, and accountability evaporates.

Let’s not pretend this is new. For decades, so-called efficiency efforts have been used to justify gutting the public sector while making big payouts to contractors. During the George W. Bush administration, outsourcing and contracting spiked, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina when private contractors failed spectacularly in their disaster response roles. Yet, these contracts—often awarded without competitive bids—kept flowing to companies with political ties. This same playbook was revived under Trump, with defense and other critical agencies seeing a surge in contracts that lined the pockets of donors while cutting actual government jobs.

Ironically, as the chart above documents, it was under Obama—and before him, Clinton—that contract employment was actually scaled back. But the GOP has consistently used “government efficiency” as a Trojan horse for slashing public roles and privatizing core services. Musk’s new “department” will simply take this to its logical extreme, eliminating the very federal roles that keep critical systems running and handing off responsibilities to private companies looking to make a profit.

Musk’s “Efficiency” Means Corporations Cash In, Workers Get the Axe

What does Musk’s “efficiency” look like in practice? Here’s the cold, hard truth: for each dollar cut from public payrolls, contractors and corporate allies get richer. The Project on Government Oversight has shown that that contracting costs the government far more than employing federal workers directly, once you factor in profit margins, admin overhead, and the reduced accountability that comes with outsourcing. Musk’s scheme, then, isn’t about saving money; it’s about redirecting funds to a corporate system that prioritizes profits over public service.

Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” will be privatization masquerading as progress. ProPublica has reported on numerous cases where politically connected firms received lucrative contracts only to fail spectacularly, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for cleanup costs and additional oversight.

And what of the workers who will be axed in the name of Musk’s efficiency? Many will lose stable, well-paying jobs only to be replaced by lower-paid, less secure contractor positions. Musk’s approach would flood government roles with transient, often underpaid workers who aren’t accountable to the public they serve. Efficiency here means throwing seasoned civil servants out the door to make room for those who know the right people in power.

The Inevitable Political Blowback

If there’s a silver lining, it’s this: Musk’s efficiency crusade might just wake up voters. Americans are increasingly wary of corporate influence in politics, especially as it becomes clearer that “efficiency” is a one-way street to contracting windfalls. Alarge swath of the public already distrusts the close ties between corporations and government. When Musk rolls out his efficiency “solutions,” which will likely be thinly veiled outsourcing initiatives, it could ignite backlash from voters who recognize that they’re the ones footing the bill.

A Department of “Efficiency” that Works Backward

The biggest joke of all? Musk’s efficiency department starts with a goal and then works backward to justify it. Real efficiency would involve assessing actual needs, investing in long-term improvements, and holding contractors accountable. But this “efficiency” department operates in reverse: the cuts are predetermined, the contracts are ready to be doled out, and the evidence will be cherry-picked to support the outcome Musk already wants.

In truth, the only thing Musk’s department will efficiently be doing is erasing the boundary between public service and private profit. By pushing an agenda that treats government as a problem to be dismantled, Musk isn’t making government more efficient—he’s setting up a cash pipeline for his and Trump’s corporate allies, funded by taxpayers who will see fewer services for more dollars spent. So, the next time you hear about “efficiency,” remember: it’s just a mask for massive corporate payoffs hiding in plain sight.