Trump's Second Term, 'Muskification' Begins... Next Target is GSA

"If You Don't Want to Work Hard, Leave"
Key Musk Employees Focus on GSA
Expert Points Out, "Government Is Not a Business"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and a key figure in the second Trump administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is reportedly driving a ‘Muskification’ of the federal government, according to CNN on the 30th (local time). This means that Musk is applying the way he runs his company to the U.S. government. In particular, he appears to be targeting the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to improve efficiency.

After acquiring the social networking service Twitter (now X) in November 2022, Musk sent an email to employees titled “A fork in the road,” giving them an ultimatum to either commit fully and work very hard to achieve outstanding results or leave the company. According to CNN, federal government employees recently received an email with the same title.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.

CNN stated, "The strikingly similar email signals that Musk is likely bringing the way he acquired Twitter into the federal government," adding, "It raises questions about whether the U.S. government can rapidly reduce staff like a tech company or if it will face outcomes similar to Twitter’s steep decline in value."

After acquiring Twitter, Musk drastically reduced the safety team, laid off the majority of employees, relaxed content review policies, and ordered the closure of data centers. Subsequently, Twitter experienced service outages for several months, leading to a mass exodus of users and advertisers. Asset management firm Fidelity reported that X’s corporate value dropped by about 80% after Musk’s acquisition last year.

Lara Cohen, former global marketing head and partner at Twitter who left after Musk’s acquisition, wrote in a social media thread on the 28th, "As a former Twitter employee, it feels eerily similar to when Musk took over Twitter," and warned, "Twitter was a social media company, but this is about running a country, and it will cause irreparable damage."

Recently, Musk has been closely monitoring the GSA, according to the New York Times (NYT), citing three sources. The Department of Government Efficiency has recently focused on ending leases for vacant federal office spaces, which fall under the GSA’s jurisdiction. Musk also visited the GSA headquarters. Additionally, GSA engineers were asked by Thomas Shedro, a Tesla engineer appointed as head of the Department of Government Efficiency’s Technology Transformation Service, to submit recent technological achievements. Steve Davis, who led Musk’s efficiency drive at Twitter, has also recently focused on the GSA within the Department of Government Efficiency.

CNN questioned whether the U.S. government can rapidly reduce staff like Twitter did. It also expressed concerns that the government might face similar outcomes to Twitter’s system collapse and decline in corporate value following Musk’s acquisition.

William Klepper, professor at Columbia Business School, pointed out, "The formula for winning in business is to provide customers with greater value and superior profitability than competitors," adding, "The government is not a business."