Trump says he will appoint Musk to lead efficiency commission if elected

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he would establish a government efficiency commission headed by billionaire supporter Elon Musk if he wins the November 5 election.

He said this during a wide-ranging speech in which he laid out his economic vision for the country.

Speaking at the New York Economic Club, the former president also pledged to slash corporate tax rates for companies that manufacture domestically, establish “low tax” zones on federal lands where construction companies would be encouraged to build new homes and start a sovereign wealth fund.

Trump had been discussing the idea of an efficiency commission with aides for weeks, people with knowledge of the conversations have told Reuters. His speech on Thursday was the first time he publicly endorsed the idea.

It was also the first time Trump said Musk had agreed to head the body. He did not detail how such a commission would operate, besides saying it would develop a plan to eliminate “fraud and improper payments” within six months of being formed.

“I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,” Trump told an audience that included his former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, and financiers Scott Bessent and John Paulson.

Musk said on an August 19 podcast he had held conversations with the former president about the commission and he would be interested in serving on it.

“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” the Tesla CEO wrote on X on Thursday. “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”

There are components of the US government that identify waste, including the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency tasked with investigating federal spending.

Politicians have called for separate efficiency commissions before. Republican president Ronald Reagan established a similar body during his 1981-1989 term called the Grace Commission.

Trump's proposal drew a rebuke from Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing about 750,000 federal workers. He accused Trump and Musk of wanting to gut the non-partisan civil service and replace fired workers with allies.

“There's nothing efficient about that,” Kelley said.

During his speech, Trump reiterated his plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% from 21%, but only for companies that manufacture domestically. He also said he would open up federal land to homebuilding in a bid to drive down housing costs. The new housing zones would be “low tax” and “low regulation,” Trump said, without elaborating.

While Trump had previously said he wanted to cut the corporate rate to 15%, he had not tied the rate to keeping manufacturing inside the country.

Trump also called for creating a sovereign wealth fund, in part to fund major infrastructure projects. He said he would rescind unspent funds related to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, one of President Joe Biden's signature legislative accomplishments. Trump said he would “issue a national emergency declaration” in a bid to help new energy projects more easily clear bureaucratic hurdles.

His housing affordability plan differs drastically from that of Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, who has proposed creating a $25,000 (R443,000) credit for first-time homebuyers.

Harris' plan has been criticised by Republicans and some economists who said the credit will drive up housing prices. Trump's plan to develop federal lands, on the other hand, could draw the ire of environmentalists, and it is unclear how much housing demand there would be in the rural areas where most federal land is located.

Senior Harris policy adviser Brian Nelson said on Thursday Trump's economic agenda would “explode the national debt” while driving up inflation and killing jobs.

Many economists believe the economic policies sketched out by Trump will lower growth and drive inflation higher. But they also noted that to implement much of his policy agenda, Republicans need to retain control of the House of Representatives and seize the Senate from Democrats.

Some imported goods would likely become more expensive in a second Trump administration because of his proposed tariffs on the US' foreign trading partners and his plan to deport millions of workers who are in the country illegally, economists said.

Asked by Reuters about a government efficiency panel headed by Musk, Paulson on Thursday said it is “great to have him as an ally. He's a terrific businessman, and I think the government could become much more efficient”.

On the trail Trump has frequently blamed Harris for the rise in prices of everyday goods during Biden's term in office.

While headline inflation has slowed in the past two years, many consumers are unhappy with the higher prices they have to pay for food, fuel and other goods.

Trump is seen as a more competent steward of the economy by most voters. But his advantage over Harris on the issue is eroding, surveys show.

Reuters