Musk said Thursday that “compensation is zero” for the “revolutionaries” who will advise on cuts to the federal budget.

Summary

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) began recruiting “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” willing to work 80+ hours per week with no pay to help slash federal spending.

Appointed by President-elect Donald Trump, the panel is tasked with recommending spending cuts, regulatory rollbacks, and agency restructuring by July 4, 2026.

Musk and Ramaswamy advocate for drastic measures, including cutting grants to nonprofits and potential mass layoffs.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    10·
    1 hour ago

    Ok, get this. You elect politicians to “help slash federal spending”.

    What the hell is Musk even doing and why is he outsourcing this job to unpaid idiots, when politicians already get paid to do this?

    Okay, I’ll do a few suggestions for free:

    • Stop subsidizing companies. All of them.
    • Tax the rich to boost the federal income.
    • Legalize all immigrants so they can be tax paying citizens.
    • Crack down on employers using illegal underpaid illegal immigrants.
    • Provide universal health care. Sick people don’t work.
    • Cut down on police force spending.
    • Cut down on car infrastructure spending.
    • Cut down “defense” spending in artificial oil wars.
    • Help Ukraine to defeat Russia, so Russia will have to surrender and disarm their nukes, so that USA can also cut down on cost for maintenance of nukes.
    • Expand renewable energy. It’s free energy yo, and it creates jobs for tax paying citizens.
    • Stop mining fossil fuels. It will cost more to clean that shit up than is earned.
    • wildcardology@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 hour ago

      Undocumented immigrants paid $96 billion in 2023, they don’t benefit from them but imagine if all of them get to pay taxes.

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    6·
    2 hours ago

    I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!

    –Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord

  • JPSound@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 hours ago

    “High-IQ” aka boot lickers who agree with everything Musk says or does and are willing to do so for no compensation. And let’s consider those who have the financial means “work” for free. The over privileged fundees who think they earned their wealth by hard work even those its all daddy’s money… Rining any bells? Unpaid positions are exactly what we don’t need to help with combat our economic woes anyways.

  • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
    11·
    21 minutes ago

    I don’t know about you all but as soon as Trump was elected I immediately resolved to cut my personal spending by as much as humanly possible. I’ve already canceled many of my subscription services and I have reduced my use of Amazon and other online purchases to absolute zero. I’m going to work on paying down every dime of debt I owe as soon as possible and save every penny. Because shit’s going to get fucked in the next 4 years with these clowns in charge. It’s gonna be a light Christmas in my household this year.

    I highly recommend you all do the same. Don’t be the last one holding the bag when the music stops and reality sets in. For example, look at the people in the UK after Brexit.

    • tetris11
      1·
      9 minutes ago

      The UK was shit before Brexit, it was 14 years of austerity policies (read: cut health services, cut benefits, cut social housing, deregulation of services, legalisation of toxic dumping, I can go on…) by a right-wing “fiscally responsible” government who has left the current one with a sizeable financial black hole… that has brought the country to its knees.

      If we had Brexit but still maintained public services, there’s a good chance the country would have been fine.

  • rustydrd@sh.itjust.works
    18·
    3 hours ago

    Fun idea: Flood their contact addresses with fake applications and fake credentials like certificates with high scores on made-up IQ tests or Mensa membership cards.

  • umbraroze@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 hours ago

    Ah, this will be the Department of Dunning-Kruger. The workers are idiots who think they are supergeniuses. Led by an idiot who thinks he’s a supergenius.

    During Trump’s first term, this was just a metaphor, suggested by random comedians. Now, life will imitate art to its full extent.

  • auzy@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 hours ago

    High IQ people only wanted to do paid work for SpaceX because going to space is amazing.

    I’m fairly sure none are working because of him though

    Even paid work for any other Musk jobs would be an act of desperation. Fortunately, I suspect the unemployment rate will grow with Trump in charge… Because it is likely more profitable to beg than make minimum wage (and he won’t be increasing it). So maybe he will find people.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
    1·
    3 hours ago

    Nobody was smart as he thinks they should be will work for free - especially not for him and the orange idiot.

      • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
        2·
        3 hours ago

        yes they tried that in Turkey, president’s highly incompetent son in law was made minister of Finance. At the start (2018) of this I think pounds/Turkish lira was sth like 4. He stayed for two years and it ended with maybe something like 10-12. As of now it is around 50 (people after him weren’t that great either). Since nowadays production of almost anything in Turkey is tied to imports, prices of daily consumption goods as well as rent, housing etc went up by that amount too (salary increases not even comparable). good luck USA