Elon Musk is coming to Washington
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Elon Musk enters the Beltway funhouse. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Elon Musk — billionaire, Trump whisperer and most powerful civilian ever — is coming to Washington.
Why it matters: Musk doesn't play small. So now that he's getting involved in one of the biggest employers on planet Earth, our company town may need to get used to the disruptor-in-chief.
The big picture: President-elect Trump on Tuesday night announced Musk will head up a new Department of Government Efficiency, through which he could make good on Trump's promise to ship 100,000 federal workers out of Washington — and fire many entirely.
- "This will send shockwaves through the system," Musk said in a statement about the new post.
- Musk will have unprecedented power to reshape the economy of metropolitan D.C. — a 6.4 million-person juggernaut that has grown with federal spending.
What I'm hearing: Musk's influence could be a boon for privatization and the tech-defense hub in Northern Virginia.
- An entourage of tech and biz types could follow Musk's lead.
- All the while, Musk would be in close proximity to his rival Jeff Bezos, who anchored Amazon HQ2 in Arlington and owns the Washington Post. The two compete on business with NASA (Musk's SpaceX vs Bezos' Blue Origin) and have a wide portfolio of government contracts.
State of play: After parking himself in Pennsylvania for the campaign, Musk is now fused with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Axios' Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei wrote in their Behind the Curtain column this week:
- Musk, rocking an "OCCUPY MARS" T-shirt, loves to think out loud as he drops innovative — sometimes quirky — ideas for rewiring the federal government.
- Trump drinks it in, they write, debating and stress-testing the torrent of ideas from Musk, whose instinct is to start with a blank sheet of paper when determining government staffing.
- Trump is clear-eyed that Musk's companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, benefit from federal incentives and contracts — and could reap a windfall from deregulatory moves by Trump.
Zoom in: Musk is on his way to world — or, well, Washington — domination, well before inauguration day.
- Musk is helping staff the top ranks of the incoming White House, as Axios reports.
- Musk's government efficiency agency, co-led with Vivek Ramaswamy, will give Silicon Valley conservatives the opportunity they've long wanted to bring a startup-inspired shakeup — and plenty of deregulation — to the federal government.
- Musk stands at the intersection of artificial intelligence, new media, defense and conservative politics — a swirl that's shaping the federal government and our local economy.
Go deeper: Behind the Curtain: The Trump, Musk fusion
💭 Also rising with Elon: Dogecoin, the Shiba Inu-themed meme crypto. Town Talker is a weekly column about money and power in Washington. If you hear gossip about Elon Musk buying a pad in the DMV, drop me a line: [email protected]