Musk suggests more money for lawmakers after blocking pay hike

Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump to slash the size of the US government, suggested Thursday that members of the U.S. Congress should get salary increases as a way to discourage corruption.

Although the tech billionaire is officially only an advisor, Trump has bestowed him with enormous power to cut federal spending and bureaucracy, as part of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"It might make sense to increase compensation for Congress and senior government employees to reduce the forcing function for corruption, as the latter might be as much as 1000 times more expensive to the public," Musk posted on his social media platform X.

Lawmakers in both parties are typically wary of the optics of large pay rises but acknowledge that competitive salaries are the best way of ensuring that the less well-off can serve.

The first draft of a short-term government funding bill that Musk helped defeat in December would have allowed for a modest salary increase by reenacting an automatic cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers.

Congress has been blocking the adjustments every year since 2009.

But Musk argued against the provision, claiming falsely that it would mean a lavish 40 percent rise, and it was removed from the package.

The real increase for members of both chambers would have been about $6,600, or 3.8 percent.

Their $174,000 annual salary has been frozen for 15 years but is still far more than the average household income.

Musk, the world's richest person, spoke about the controversial DOGE program at Trump's first cabinet meeting Wednesday.

"If we don't do this, America will go bankrupt," the tech tycoon said, adding that he was "taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats."

One-third of his DOGE staff resigned in protest on Tuesday after he engineered a mass email to the federal government's two million workers, ordering them to justify their work or risk being fired.

Cabinet members have voiced frustration over the DOGE emails, according to U.S. media, but Trump insisted that his team was "thrilled" with Musk.

© Agence France-Presse