This article was originally published on the website CapitalAndMain.com.
Tesla workers at the automaker’s massive factory in Fremont are all too familiar with CEO Elon Musk’s efficiency approach that he’s now using to slash government programs as one of the most powerful members of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Back in April, Musk cut Tesla’s workforce by 10%, informing workers in a late-night company-wide email. The layoffs came in the wake of an 8.7% year-over-year drop in revenue at the automaker.
In the email to workers, he said: “There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.” Since then, though its stock price has doubled, automotive revenue has declined again, dropping 6% for the year.
Musk has repeated that approach at his other companies. He fired 80% of X’s workforce and even auctioned off coffee makers and office chairs soon after buying the company in 2022, when it was known as Twitter. He dismissed employees at SpaceX who complained about his leadership and sacked whistleblowers at The Boring Co., his tunnel construction firm.
Musk’s modus operandi is “Take it over, ruthlessly purge anyone who he sees as opposition and crash operations to remake it in his worldview,” said Emily Horne, who was head of Twitter’s global policy communications before joining former President Joe Biden’s administration, in an interview with the Associated Press. It often backfired, as when Musk had to reach out to rehire several dozen software engineers at X whom he’d fired by mistake.
Now Musk is applying that ruthless management style to government, leading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he has made headlines by claiming to have saved billions by eliminating long-standing agencies and firing thousands of essential workers such as air traffic controllers and food safety inspectors.
The slash-and-burn tactic can be disruptive in the private sector, but when applied to government, it can be disastrous and destructive to millions of Americans, management experts said.
“The question facing Americans isn’t whether government needs modernization; it’s whether they’re willing to sacrifice democracy in pursuit of Musk’s version of efficiency,” said Allison Stanger, distinguished endowed professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. “When we grant tech leaders direct control over government functions, we’re not just streamlining bureaucracy—we’re fundamentally altering the relationship between private power and public governance.”
Musk did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The focus on cutting costs without taking into consideration outcomes or effects—and neglecting to increase investment in government programs that have been shown to improve the lives of Americans—can be extremely harmful, experts said.
“If all we’re doing is focusing on the buck and not the bang, we’re not going to be able to get that far,” said Jason Saul, executive director of the Center for Impact Sciences at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.
“At some point, you’re going to hit bone where you just keep cutting, to the point where you’re now reaching vital government services that your constituents depend on,” Saul added.
Such cost-cutting in government can backfire because it fails to take into account the role of government, Saul said. “The purpose of government is not to spend money and not to generate a profit—it’s to produce desirable outcomes for its citizens.”
Musk’s DOGE is so focused on cutting costs and targeting programs that are considered too “woke” by Trump—without centering its efforts on outcomes that will improve the lives of working Americans—that its destructive effect will far outweigh any savings to the budget.
“Wholesale dismissals, reductions-in-force, and probationary firings are a slash-and-burn approach,” said James K. Galbraith, who holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in government and business relations at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, in an interview with The Daily Beast. “They will make the federal government less efficient: queues will get longer, maintenance will be deferred, more mistakes will be made, it will be harder to hire new people if they don’t think the jobs are secure.”
Even fellow Republicans have expressed alarm at Musk’s technocratic approach. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is upset that dozens of her constituents have been fired, telling ABC News that she agreed with reducing the size of government, but that “his approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants. Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren’t efficient and won’t fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation.”
Musk’s approach may just be the latest and most controversial iteration of a long-standing behavior, but “the history of trying to make government more efficient has come up as a failure time and again,” Saul said. And much of that is due to the failure to focus on outcomes: examining “the cost per outcome of every government initiative and program.”
He suggested that every single federal program be tagged with a desired outcome. “We’re doing this school busing program because we want to increase student attendance. We’re doing this food security program and preventative health initiative because we want to reduce emergency room visits.”
The next step is to collect data to assess whether that program is achieving those outcomes, he added.
Between DOGE’s slash-and-burn strategy and wasteful spending is “something in the middle, which aims to create twice the impact for half the cost,” Saul said. “That’s what efficiency is. It’s not just half the cost, but about a better cost per outcome.”
Musk is squandering an opportunity to transform government for the better, said Forbes contributor Robert B. Tucker, whom the publication calls an “innovation guru.” “He needs to acknowledge that the federal government does function: Air traffic controllers keep planes flying. Polluters get punished. Medicare checks go out. Warfighters get trained and armed. FEMA workers show up at disasters, and taxes get collected.”
Rather than mock and denigrate federal workers, Musk should “figure out ways to inspire and empower them instead,” Tucker said “Find ways to lift them up while challenging them to do better. My advice: Make everyone in government a hero. Challenge them to join you in this once-in-a-lifetime endeavor to upgrade and revitalize the federal government.”
The extent of Musk’s cuts to government have shocked many of his employees at Tesla, even those who likely voted for Trump, said a person close to the workforce at the automaker who asked not to be identified because he’s concerned about retaliation against workers. “They’re like, ‘What’s our boss doing?’ This is bizarre,” the person said. And they’re worried for their own sakes and those of their loved ones, the person added: “When your boss has become not just the most powerful auto exec, but one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the country, it’s intimidating. They know what he’s capable of.”
The Editor’s Desk
I invited a couple of millennials to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and was shocked by their response—“It’s too old,” they said after watching a preview.
TOO OLD??
It got me thinking: what’s the difference between something being dated or classic?
What would they think of the upcoming Alfred Hitchcock Festival in Scotts Valley this weekend, written about in our cover story by Mathew Chipman? If 1980s John Hughes movies are too old—and to me they are timeless portrayals of high school—what would they think of a filmmaker whose work dated from 1922 to 1976 and will continue to amaze anyone with a passion for shocking and provocative movies?
What’s next, English teachers chucking Shakespeare?
There’s so much to be learned and enjoyed from the past. Art is our time machine to revisit and delve into what came before, and to avoid repeating the mistakes or to crib the good parts and bring them to the present.
I think about Hitchcock’s The Birds, as I see the huge swarms of seabirds flying over the ocean every August, which reportedly inspired the director to create that movie. And, of course you can’t visit the mission in San Juan Bautista without thinking of Vertigo, which was filmed there.
If I had my way, I’d attend all three days of this great Scotts Valley festival and not only watch the master’s work, but listen to the educated guides speaking about it.
Speaking of which, our columnist Christina Waters, truly a master guide, launched a new column called “Performance” last week, putting her performing arts chops to work.
She will spotlight our many outstanding small musical ensembles, from theater and opera to orchestral concerts and vocal recitals. This will be the place for reviews of short programs that run for only a weekend, or one-shot occasions that rarely receive media attention. Watch for Waters’ “Performance” column in the first issue of each month. You’ll be amazed at how much great music happens outside the pop/rock genre.
Also on tap this issue: Santa Cruz was one of the first places to give women tools to see if their drinks have been spiked in a bar. We did it long before it became state law, and we celebrate the bars that got right on the bandwagon—and we aren’t happy with some of the ones around town who aren’t following the law. Have you been informed and gotten the kit to test your drinks?
Let us know if you know of places not helping women.
There are plenty of great events in town this week, including Squid Fest, which features local musicians raising funds for our nonprofit FM radio station, KSQD. There’s Wake the Dead, an Irish Grateful Dead cover band (what could be more appropriate around St. Paddy’s) and Dirty Cello, a cool rock band centered around a cello (the instrument integral to some classic rock by Nirvana and the Beatles).
Have a great week
Brad Kava
Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
BIRDS OF A FEATHER Me and my fiancé Pamela walk the Seacliff State Beach every day. We always keep a handful of peanuts and they keep getting closer and closer to us. Photograph by Paul Markowski
GOOD IDEA
“Legends Among Us” celebrates the cultural legacy of influential artists in Santa Cruz. The featured musical artists are Samba Ngo and Mandjou Koné, along with renowned visual artists. It will feature live performances, art exhibitions, and tributes to the contributions these artists have made to both the global and local arts scenes.
The bands include five musicians who have played with JGB, Santana and Sheila E. Folk artist Rachel DK Clark will showcase her story-telling wearable art; Michael Bashista will present his fluid stone sculptures; Beth Purcell will display her joyful mosaics; and Tony Cockrell shares his animal sketches whose characters come to life. March 29, Kuumbwa, 7pm.
GOOD WORK
Nearly 200 frontline healthcare workers who are part of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West at Watsonville Community Hospital have reached a tentative contract agreement with hospital executives that they believe will improve working conditions and patient care. The new agreement will help ensure valued healthcare workers have access to affordable healthcare for themselves and their families as they continue to provide quality care. The tentative agreement also provides raises of 9% over three years and some special adjustments in the first two years to help close the gap in pay between the frontline workers at this hospital and other area hospitals.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” —Elon Musk