Billionaire Elon Musk defended the work of his newly launched Department of Government Efficiency, specifically the firing of thousands of government workers and cutting back on federal spending, as he claimed the United States shouldn't be run by a "bureaucracy."

“If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president and the Senate and the House, then we don’t live in a Democracy. We live in a bureaucracy,” Musk said while speaking next to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday (February 11) via the New York Post.

Trump gave Musk, the leader of DOGE, another mandate to direct agencies to keep only "essential" employees and eliminate others deemed unneeded, allowing him more authority to overhaul the United States government on Tuesday. DOGE has already cut several federal agencies and eliminated money set for federal projects including the entire U.S. Agency for International Development, a museum exhibit former White House Coronavirus Task Force leader Dr. Anthony Fauci and subscriptions for federal bodies.

“We do find it sort of rather odd that there are quite a few people in the bureaucracy who have, ostensibly a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars but somehow managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth while they are in that position,” Musk claimed.

“Which is what happened to USAID. We’re just curious as to where it came from…. I think the reality is that they’re getting wealthier at taxpayer expense.”

Musk's access to altering the executive branch despite having never been elected has created concern from opponents. Courts have pushed back on the Trump administration's attempt to revamp government structure and the president said he would "abide" by the rulings but planned to appeal.

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