• “I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind. … It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said.
  • The South African-born engineer and tech entrepreneur has been named by Trump as a “special government employee” and the head of a new entity under the administration called DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.

The U.S. government needs to “delete entire agencies” in a cost and efficiency drive, tech billionaire and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk said Thursday when asked about whether the changes he is implementing as part of the Donald Trump administration will last beyond the current president’s term.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind … It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said. “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back. But if you remove the roots of the weed — it doesn’t stop weeds from ever going back, but it makes it harder.”

“Nothing’s forever,” he added, “but I think we can strengthen the foundations of the United States substantially.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/elon-musk-calls-for-the-us-government-to-delete-entire-agencies-remove-the-roots-of-the-weed.html