Tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) stage Thursday wielding a chainsaw, underscoring his efforts to slash the federal budget and workforce through President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency panel.
Dressed in a black “Make America Great Again” hat and sunglasses and chain, Musk walked on stage and was joined shortly after by Argentine President Javier Milei, who gave him a black chainsaw that the DOGE leader held up as the crowd cheered.
When Musk held the chainsaw up, he screamed, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
Milei, who rose to prominence in Argentina with a vow to shake up the country’s government and economy, often wields a chainsaw at political events, emblematic of his mission to cut large swaths of his country’s federal government.
Milei has reportedly been an inspiration behind DOGE, which has set up shop in various federal agencies in what the Trump administration frames as efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the government.
Musk is facing mounting criticism for DOGE’s efforts, especially those that have led to mass layoffs of federal workers, closures of entire independent agencies and access to sensitive information. Several lawsuits have been filed contesting the layoffs and the access to federal government databases.
DOGE’s website earlier this week claimed it found $55 billion in savings.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is listed as the top saving where DOGE found total contract savings and contract savings as a percentage of the federal government, accounting for about $6.5 billion in savings. Musk and his DOGE team quickly worked to dismantle the agency, which provides food to those in need around the world, in his first month leading the effort.
The Trump administration also offered a buyout to federal workers, leading to 75,000 people opting to take it so far.
