NEW YORK — Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has vowed to dismantle thousands of federal regulations as the co-head of a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, says the nation's financial security depends on it.
The U.S. risks "strangulation by regulation" as it hurtles toward "bankruptcy super fast," Musk said in a pair of posts on X this month.
Musk's general concern about the nation's multi-trillion dollar debt reflects worry among many economists, and his slash-and-burn rhetoric mirrors that of close ally President-elect Donald Trump.
DOGE, the commission co-led by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, plans to recommend a "vast reduction" of federal regulations, the two leaders said in a joint op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last week.
The rule would prevent as many as 4,500 premature deaths and 800,000 cases of asthma symptoms, an Environmental Protection Agency study found. Those health benefits could translate into as much as $46 billion in savings by 2032, the agency said.
The Trump administration may seek to undo the rule as part of wider regulatory cuts, Gerrard said. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to cut environmental regulations in an effort to ease the burden on businesses, but he did not mention this specific rule. Trump rolled back nearly 100 environmental regulations during his first term, including rules governing clean air, a New York Times analysis found.
Over three decades ending in the early 2020s, nearly 1,000 workers in the U.S. died from excessive heat exposure, amounting to about 34 deaths per year, an EPA study in June found.
For his part, Musk previously said DOGE would incorporate feedback from everyday people about which regulations it would recommend cutting. "Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Musk said in a post on X earlier this month.