Who wants to lead the Ministry of Government Efficiency?
With the departure of Elon Musk and His right hand Steve Davis The government, administrative officials and members of the controversial cost -saving efforts have been detailed discussions this week about who will be functional about it, according to four people who are familiar with the conversations.
Debate about those who should take the lead, has spread throughout the White House, Doge and Silicon Valley. In the first days after Mr. Musk it was aimed at the billionaire Joe Gebbia, one of the good friends of Mr. Musk and a board member at his car maker, Tesla.
Mr. Gebbia Become a member of Doge In February and was considered to effectively take over the characteristic government project of Mr. Musk, according to half a dozen people who have been informed about the conversations. They spoke about the condition of anonymity to announce private interviews.
But Mr Bbia, who was familiar with a fame in Silicon Valley when he co-founder of Airbnb, began to tell others that he was not interested in a role in which he would lead do, according to some people. That is partly because of the intense control that would come with a formal role that is in charge.
The current plan is for a small advisers’ Council, including Mr Bbia, to supervise doge, according to some people. The co-founder of Airbnb has shown interest in this broader leadership team.
Another member of Doge, the investment banker Anthony Armstrong, could join this manager’s platoon, the people said. In 2022, Mr. Armstrong, then in Morgan Stanley, edited About the deal of Mr. Musk to buy Twitter.
The increase of Mr Bbia and Mr. Armstrong would be allies of Mr. Musk partly leading the project, Despite the fight of the Tesla Chief with President Trump. Neither Mr Gebbia nor Mr. Armstrong answered to requests for comments.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, said that Mr. Bbbia “is not interested in, nor the specific role that plays a supervision of the cost -saving effort, called the US Doge Service Administrator. Neither Mr. Musk nor Mr Davis found that role while he led the initiative, and took it by a former name care Amy Gleas.
Mr. Fields said that Mr. Gebbia would “continue to serve American taxpayers by improving the usability of government websites.” He did not comment on other leadership roles that the Lord Bbia had considered. The cost -saving work would continue “under the leadership of the president, his cabinet and desk heads,” said Mr. Fields.
The management of Mr Musk’s efforts to lower the bureaucracy has been unusually informal. Even then Mr. Musk had a good reputation, the White House recognize who actually ran did.
On paper, Mr. Musk is not even part of the organization, although Mr Trump regularly called him as head. Mr. Musk embraced the role and wore a T-shirt that labeled himself ‘De Dogefather’. Mr Davis, a Musk-Loyalist who worked for the billionaire at various of his companies, acted as a daily leader. Mrs. Gleason was mentioned as the acting manager In February the members of the project saw her so much less an authority than Mr. Musk and Mr. Davis.
Yet Mr. Musk reputation damage endured and the effort led. Protests against his federal cutbacks arose outside of Tesla dealers, and the shares of the company fell by around 15 percent this year. The return has made the filling of his shoes an unsavory prospect for other managers.
Mr Bbia and Mr. Armstrong are already among the more visible members of Mr. Musk’s cost -saving initiative and appeared on television to defend his work.
In a voluntary role at the Personnel Management Office, Mr. Gebbia has supervision of a revision Focused on solving one of the most stubborn problems in federal bureaucracy: the paper -based pension system for its employees. Mr Bbia said he would modernize the pension process.
Mr. Armstrong was an early member of Doge and joined the staff office shortly after Mr Trump’s inauguration. He left that role in April, but stayed in the government service at the Department of Homeland Security, according to a person familiar with the scheme and internal data that were assessed by the Times. A spokeswoman for the department did not respond to requests for comments.
To a certain extent, neither Mr Gebbia nor Mr. Armstrong can replicate Mr. Musk, with his wealth and public platform. Mr. Musk has often used his social media service to influence political change and to punish critics. Mr. Musk also maintained a close relationship with the Lord Trump, who did not have Mr. Armstrong and the Lord Gebbia.
Mr. Musk’s allies would also take over his efforts to reduce federal expenses at a precarious moment. There is concern within the organization that some members of the group can leave, either because they follow Mr. Musk back to the industry or because they expect that she will be the target by Mr Trump if his feud with Mr. Musk, according to people near the effort.
On the last month of Mr. Musk in Washington last month, Doge -members of him threw him a big party to celebrate his performance, said two people who are familiar with the meeting. But some in dooge are angry with Mr. Musk and see his attacks on Mr. Trump as a movement that could be counterproductive on anyone with an observed loyalty to the billionaire, according to a person who is familiar with their feelings. Even some friends of Mr. Musk are worried about his actions that cause a recoil against doge.
Several members of the initiative have already left Mr. Musk, including Mr Davis; James Burnham, the best lawyer in the group; and Katie Miller, the competent political assistant of Mr. Musk.
That leaves the Lord Gebbia and Mr. Armstrong behind the senior leaders. Mr Gebbia’s focus on the technical effort that digitizes the government’s pension process – a project that is widely supported by members of both political parties – has helped him protect against the controversy around some other initiatives of Doge, such as reducing foreign aid efforts and reducing the federal staff file.
Some members of the DOGE team are enthusiastic about the potential leading role of Mr Gebbia because of this technical background, one of the people said. Since he left Airbnb in 2022, he has focused more on other interests, such as his partial ownership of the San Antonio Spurs, a new startup that he founded named Samara and his board chair at Tesla.
Mr Bbia lives in the Austin area, just like Mr. Musk. Just like Mr. Musk, the Lord Bbia once described himself as a democrat; He has said He largely went to the right because of his views on health -related issues. The interest of Mr Gebbia in the “Make America Remory Again” movement has drawn him close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the health and human services.
Mr. Armstrong also comes from Silicon Valley. Before working as a Morgan Stanley banker who specializes in technology companies, he is Roles At Credit Suisse and at a company in Qatar. Mr. Musk has had a long relationship with Morgan Stanley and the work of Mr. Armstrong on the acquisition of Twitter has brought him in more detail with Mr. Musk.
In a joint television interview this year to promote revision, Mr. Armstrong was immediately on the right side of Mr. Musk. He said that doge used a “scalpel, not ax”.
“There is a very heavy focus on being generous, being caring, being compassionate and treating anyone with dignity and respect,” said Mr. Armstrong, and emphasized that some rooms of federal employees had been voluntary.
Mr. Musk then went in: “In short, almost nobody was fired. That’s what we say.”
Eli Murray contributed reporting.
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