Wearing a black “Make America Great Again” hat and dark sunglasses, Elon Musk received a rock-star welcome as he took the stage at a right-wing gathering. He even had a literal chainsaw. As the crowd of several thousand cheered, Argentine President Javier Milei handed Musk a shiny chainsaw with “viva la Libertad carajo! – Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it!”- emblazoned on the blade. Musk waved the power tool high, shouting: “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy! Chainsaw!”
Musk’s chainsaw approach to federal government – which includes shuttering agencies, defunding programs and mass civil service layoffs – may be cutting too close to the bone. Outside of Washington, there are signs that Musk’s approach is not well-received. At about the same time as Musk was celebrating the work of his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” at the event near Washington DC, Republican congressman Rich McCormick was holding a town hall forum for his constituents.
Many in Roswell, Georgia, were angry about the impact of the Musk-inspired cuts and let the congressman know it. “Congress controls the budget, not the president,” a woman said. “You are doing a disservice to set that down and not stand up for us.” McCormick’s response was drowned out by jeers. “I understand trying to do more with less – that’s reasonable,” another constituent said. “What’s not reasonable is taking this chainsaw approach.”
Earlier this month, Pew Research found that 54% of Americans have an unfavourable view of Musk, including 37% that responded “very unfavourable”. Only 23% of Americans told Reuters-Ipsos pollsters this week that the president has the right to fire “any federal employee who disagrees with the president”. Fifty-eight percent said they were concerned that popular government programs, like Social Security retirement benefits for the elderly and subsidized student loans – could be affected. Just over half of Americans in a CNN poll said Trump had gone “too far” in exercising his presidential power.
At an earlier event at Cpac on Thursday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson praised Musk and his team. “They are exposing this massive fraud, waste and abuse that we have not been able to uncover because the deep state has hidden it from us,” he said. Many Republicans have agreed with this sentiment, even if it means ceding congressional power over government spending to the president. Congressional conservatives have been trying to downsize the federal government for decades with limited effectiveness – and now Musk and Trump are delivering, albeit through a sweeping expansion of executive power.
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