As “secretary of cost-cutting,” Elon Musk could cut regulations for his cars and rockets

Elon Musk used his money and his platform to help bring about a second Trump presidency. And Musk and his businesses stand to gain a lot from that patronage.

Perhaps most notably, Trump has said he’d appoint Musk, known for decimating the staff of Twitter after he purchased it, to a new position in the American government: “secretary of cost-cutting.” As part of what Musk has dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency” — or DOGE, a nod to the meme coin — Musk has said he’d cut a whopping $2 trillion out of the federal budget.

Obviously, like Musk’s long-delayed promise of autonomous, full self-driving, take these proclamations with a grain of salt.

But if we’re to take these iconoclasts at their word, Musk could use his position to tackle one of the biggest roadblocks to his businesses: government regulation.

Recently, Musk called fines the Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX for violating launch requirements during two missions last year “politically motivated,” and accused the FAA of “regulatory overreach.” He also criticized the FAA following delays in approving the Starship’s fifth test flight over environmental concerns and changes in the vehicle configuration. Musk said FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker should resign.

Back on earth, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has repeatedly scrutinized Musk’s use of the term “full self-driving” to describe his cars’ capabilities. The agency is currently looking into Tesla’s self-driving software systems, noting that full self-driving is actually “a partial driving automation system.” This might be a first step in a move that could potentially lead to a recall of 2.4 million cars.

On Tesla’s latest earnings call, Musk and other Tesla executives repeatedly mentioned the need for a federal approval process for autonomous vehicles. “It’s incredibly painful to do it state by state for 50 states,” Musk said. “There should be a national approval process for autonomy.”

If I were a betting person, I’d look to NHTSA and FAA — the government bodies responsible for Americans’ safety on the roads and sky — for the biggest cuts.

Of course, Trump’s presidency could also pose some problems for Musk. Getting rid of government subsidies to electric cars would definitely hurt, but Musk is hoping that offering the public self-driving cars — autonomous, as he’s said again and again, has been the bigger picture all along — would make up for any shortfalls.