September 6 :
In a comprehensive speech outlining his economic agenda for the nation, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed on September 5 that he would create a government efficiency panel led by billionaire backer Elon Musk if he were elected on November 5.
According to Reuters' sources, the concept of a government efficiency panel has been broached by the former president and his advisors for weeks. The first public endorsement of the proposal, nevertheless, came during his speech on September 5th at the New York Economic Club.
It was also Trump's first public mention of Musk's agreement to head the organization. Without going into specifics, he just said that the committee would devise a strategy to eradicate "fraud and improper payments" within six months of its formation."I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms," he added.
Musk expressed interest in serving on the body and stated he had discussed the topic with the former president in a podcast that came out on August 19. "I am excited about the prospect of serving America if the chance presents itself," Musk wrote on X on September 5th. "No pay, no title, no recognition is needed."
American Federation of Government Employees president Everett Kelley, who speaks for over 750,000 federal employees, slammed Trump's commission idea right away. He said that Trump and Musk were plotting to remove impartial federal servants from their positions and replace them with friends and cronies.
If you ask Kelley, "There's nothing efficient about that," she told Reuters. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an existing federal watchdog body in the United States that is neutral and responsible for investigating government expenditure and performance.
The president's goal to reduce the corporate tax rate in the United States from 21% to 15% was restated throughout his speech, but only for domestic manufacturers. In an effort to reduce house prices, he also promised to make large swaths of federal property available for homebuilding. Trump made vague remarks about these new housing zones being "low tax" and "low regulation," but he did not spell them out.
"We're going to open up our country to building homes inexpensively, so young people and other people can buy homes," declared the president. Trump had previously stated his desire to reduce taxes to 15%, but he had not connected the retention of domestic manufacturing to this lower rate.
One of Trump's campaign promises was the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund to help pay for massive construction projects like new roads, airports, and industrial parks. Trump acknowledged several prominent businesspeople in the crowd during his address, including Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group, and his own Steve Mnuchin, who served as treasury secretary in the past.
Among those in attendance on September 5th was Howard Lutnick, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald and a member of Trump's transition team. Many times during his campaign, Trump has accused Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris of being responsible for the increase in the prices of common commodities under the presidency of Joe Biden.
Despite a slowdown in headline inflation over the last two years, public opinion polls show that many Americans are still unhappy with the increased prices they must pay for food, petrol, and other items. The majority of Americans believe that Trump will be a better manager of the economy. Polls reveal, however, that his lead over Harris on the matter is beginning to fade.
