Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) anticipated the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) department to yield “good results” but warned that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would have their work cut out.
What happened: During a podcast with Ben Ferguson, Cruz said he was upbeat about Musk’s new role in the administration but emphasized the fundamental differences between working for a private company and a government department.
Cruz said he had a phone conversation with Musk and urged the tech tycoon to read the book “Bureaucracy” by Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, who argued why private players may find it difficult to administer a government agency.
The senator emphasized that the incentives in the government department were opposite to the profit motive seen in private companies.
Cruz added he asked Musk to take note of the fact that unlike private institutions, one cannot fire government employees because of civil service protections in place.
"I pointed out to Elon. Look, when you went into Twitter, you fired 60% of the employees. That's the flexibility you have."
On the DOGE connection, Cruz said that the nomenclature was not accidental as everyone knows that Musk is a vocal supporter of Dogecoin DOGE/USD.
Why It Matters: Cruz and Musk have a friendly relationship, and the senator previously lauded the SpaceX CEO for maintaining the U.S.’s leadership in space technology.
A known cryptocurrency advocate, Cruz has invested in Bitcoin BTC/USD and believes in the upside potential of the leading digital asset.
Price Action: At the time of writing, DOGE was exchanging hands at $0.3853, up 0.92% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo by Consolidated News Photos on Shutterstock
Read Next:
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.