Musk suggests more money for lawmakers after blocking pay hike
Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump to downsize the US government, suggested Thursday that members of 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 1,000 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.
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 per year, 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."
- 'Musk in charge' -
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.
Cabinet members have voiced frustration over the DOGE emails, according to US media, but Trump insisted that his team was "thrilled" with Musk.
The operation has been shrouded in mystery, with the government only naming its administrator this week, after weeks of DOGE announcements of firings, aid freezes and other cuts that angered critics.
Amy Gleason, a former official at the US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator, a White House official said, without revealing when she was formally appointed.
The White House argued in a court filing last week that Musk doesn't even work for DOGE, let alone lead it, despite Trump repeatedly implying that Musk is in charge.
"I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge," Trump said in a speech in Miami as recently as last week. "Thank you, Elon, for doing it."
Musk -- who was not accompanied by Gleason -- met Republicans in the Senate's DOGE Caucus at the White House on Thursday to brief them on the task force's work.
Mike Lee, a hardline Trumpist, posted on social media that Musk had clarified that DOGE personnel "have no authority to fire federal workers or cancel federal contracts or payments."
"Rather, they make recommendations to department heads and other executive-branch personnel who have such authority," he added.
"Those most inclined to demagogue @DOGE are attributing to @DOGE authority it does not have."