Analysis-Trump’s plan for Musk-led efficiency commission could give CEO influence over rules of his work, wealth.

By Sheila Dang, Akash Sriram, Joey Roulette and Nora Eckert

(Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk will lead a government efficiency commission with a broad mandate if Donald Trump is elected U.S. president, which could put him in a position to change the rules for corporate America, including the wide range of industries in which it competes his companies.

Trump announced the plan, including Musk’s role, on Thursday and said he wanted to see recommendations for “drastic reforms,” ​​starting with the hunt for fraud and improper payments, that would target “the entire federal government.” The commission would give Musk, who runs rocket company SpaceX, electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ: ), tech companies X and xAI and others, a chance to plan for the slimmer government that Republicans often support but l -could see making rules that directly affect them. own work and wealth.

Musk repeatedly suggested the creation of a government efficiency commission in a public conversation with Trump on social media platform X in August, saying that government spending should be reduced to a sensible level and that Musk himself was willing to help. In the conversation, Trump responded that Musk is the “biggest cutter” of jobs.

Presidential commissions have been created on a number of topics, such as when President Joe Biden created one to examine the idea of ​​reforming the Supreme Court, said Nikolas Guggenberger, assistant professor of law at the University of Houston Law Center, whose activity focuses on antitrust. , law and technology. But Musk’s significant relationships with the US government, worth billions of dollars, make it different.

“He has a big company that sells electric vehicles, he has a big company that sells satellites, he has a social media platform. In all those areas, you can imagine that the advice is affected by the fact that he has strong economic interests,” Guggenberger. said.

To be sure, Trump offered few details about how the commission would work, but he described it as conducting audits and making recommendations, which has been tried before. “There have already been many, many audits done and recommendations made for efficiency,” said Cristina Chaplain, former director of the Government Accountability Office. Moreover, changing laws and rules is complicated. While business people could bring a fresh perspective, she added, “that often clashes with the reality of government operations and the laws and regulations that affect them.”

Musk has resented for years what he sees as government inefficiency, and his own corporations are heavily regulated: SpaceX must get approval for rocket launches and new technologies; Auto regulators examine safety of Tesla’s self-driving technology; and health agencies must approve much of the work done by his brain-technology implant startup Neuralink.

Some investors would welcome his influence in Washington.

“Musk cleaned up on Twitter. It would also reduce government spending,” said Triple D Trading analyst Dennis Dick, who holds a long position in Tesla, referring to Musk’s massive job cuts when he took over the social media giant. farm.

Musk’s vision for efficiency in the space sector and elsewhere could trigger actions that hurt rivals, some space industry experts said. That could mean seeing government efforts to support multiple missile vendors as wasteful, for example.

“There are a lot of people who are nervous about Musk, just because of the policies he’s pushing and the statements he’s making and the fights he’s getting into with governments,” said Tim Farrar, a satellite industry analyst.

Investors frequently wonder if Musk is doing too much. “Is he going to spread himself thinner and try to make government more efficient, as well as run an electric car company, a space company, the Boring Company, and Twitter? Something should give,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president at the research firm. AutoForecast Solutions.

“You can’t imagine that Elon Musk would volunteer to work for a president who was planning to destroy his business,” Fiorani said, adding that the EV market could benefit overall.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment, but wrote of the efficiency board’s X: “It’s very much needed.”

Tom Schatz, president of the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, which grew out of a commission under President Ronald Reagan, said there is precedent for big savings. Moreover, bringing in more directors would spread the responsibility.

“With the right team working on this full-time, the chair of these task forces is not the one working every minute of every day,” he said. “With someone of Elon Musk’s stature, that would help bring in other CEOs, other independent, non-government people to come in and look at the operations of the federal government.”