--- title: "Experts Say Elon Musk’s Ridiculous “DOGE” Initiative Could Actually Crush Innovation" description: "Elon Musk chopping down the \"discretionary\" budget could be a disaster for innovation in the United States, experts warn." date: "2024-11-22" modified: "2024-11-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-doge-innovation" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "innovation" - "the digest" - "vivek ramaswamy" --- # Experts Say Elon Musk’s Ridiculous “DOGE” Initiative Could Actually Crush Innovation ![Elon Musk chopping down the "discretionary" budget could be a disaster for innovation in the United States, experts warn.]() *\Image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images\* ## Innovation Killer President-elect Donald Trump has [appointed]() multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk and big pharma shill Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency" (or DOGE, in a nod to a [cringey memecoin]()) an effort to inflict "[temporary hardship]()" on the American people by making massive cuts to the federal government. And even if it were to successfully do just that — something experts [have plenty of doubts about]() — chopping down the "discretionary" budget could be a disaster for innovation in the country. As [*Politico* reports](), indiscriminate budget cuts could sever key public-private partnerships and leave United States startups behind. "If you are indiscriminately cutting these expenditures or staff, you are very much at risk of damaging the connective tissue across our innovation system," Center for Strategic and International Studies senior fellow Sujai Shivakumar told *Politico*. "This is a time when we actually need to be doubling down and reinforcing our innovation system, and we would hope that any department looking to create efficiencies is mindful of that." ## Mass Firing Musk's approach to cutting budgets, which has historically [involved mass layoffs]() and the dissolution of [entire vital departments]() across his companies, could end up being more of the same when it comes to DOGE. In an [op-ed in the *Wall Street Journal*](), Musk and Ramaswamy detailed how they'll fire people across the federal government. But whether applying that kind of Silicon Valley-style thinking to government bureaucracy will prove effective remains dubious at best. "I think \[Musk and Ramaswamy are\] focused on the fact that having civil servants is the problem, and that they need to be like tech company employees," Bay Area venture capitalist Rohit Krishnan told *Politico*. "I’m not sure it’s true. Because there is a lot of operational work needed, and actual negotiation to make things work." Now that Musk and Ramaswamy are searching for [people with a so-called "high IQ]()" who are willing to work for no pay on the former's social media platform, their ability to fill the massive civil servant hole they want to bore sounds highly questionable. In short, by ripping up the established connections between entrepreneurs and the government, the DOGE department could be devastating to American innovation. But whether they'll even have a chance to tear down these relationships in the first place is far less clear. The so-called "department" will be operating from outside the government in what increasingly sounds like an advisory role. In other words, Musk and Ramaswamy will need to get Congress on board with their indiscriminate mass culling of civil servants — which could prove far more difficult. **More on DOGE:** *[Elon Musk's "DOGE" Department Sounds Like It Might Be a Fake Thing to Make Him Feel Important]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()