Elon Musk’s guide to shrinking the government

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Nov 13, 2024 View in browser   By Joel Kirkland President-elect Donald Trump offers his hand to Elon Musk backstage during a campaign rally Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images “Do we really need, whatever it is, 428 federal agencies?” Elon Musk posited during an interview with Tucker Carlson. “We should be able to get away with 99 agencies,” he added in the interview posted on Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday. For Musk’s 200-million-plus followers on X, the billionaire’s commentary signaled a government demolition operation — one that neatly dovetails with President-elect Donald Trump’s deregulatory plans, Robin Bravender writes. It could mean the end of the Biden administration’s whole-of-government approach to addressing the causes and effects of climate change. Trump announced Tuesday evening that Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” (using the acronym DOGE, an apparent reference to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin). Trump said the newly conceived skunkworks to downsize the federal bureaucracy will “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Major questions remain about what authority the Musk-Ramaswamy team will have and how consequential they’ll be in achieving the “drastic change” Trump promises. Musk himself has huge vested interests in government programs. Tesla has tangled with safety regulators in recent years, and SpaceX benefits from billions of dollars in federal government contracts. The group’s leaders will provide advice and guidance from outside of the government, Trump said, and will partner with the White House to “drive large-scale structural reform.” People in the private sector are regularly asked to advise leaders on the size and merit of government programs. DOGE appears set to go a step beyond, by using a broad polling of American opinions through social media to kick off the large-scale dismantling of government. X, formerly Twitter, is at the center of it all. Musk has turned the entire platform into a megaphone for the incoming Trump administration, Derek Robertson writes. “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency,” Musk posted on X . “Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Downsizing and relocating federal agencies have been priorities of Trump and his allies. Eliminating them entirely would be more complicated and would require congressional approval. The power Musk is able to wield depends in part on who else inside the government stands with Trump. “Policy priorities have to come from somewhere,” said James Goodwin, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform. Trump will “put out his first regulatory agenda. What is in that — or not in that — could be heavily influenced by what I call the Musk-Ramaswamy clown car,” Goodwin said.   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Joel Kirkland. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jkirkland@eenews.net. Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Alex Guillén offers a climate and energy backgrounder on former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Trump's pick to lead EPA.   The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now.     Power Centers Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Florida. | Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Gaetz's stance: Address climate, abolish EPA Trump on Wednesday announced Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz as his nominee to lead the Justice Department, writes Robin. Gaetz has long been a loyal Trump ally. If confirmed as attorney general, he would lead the department charged with defending Trump's environmental and energy policies in court. The Florida Republican has urged action on climate change, once saying that "history will judge very harshly those who are climate deniers." But he also introduced legislation as a first-time lawmaker to abolish EPA. "Today, the American people are drowning in rules and regulations promulgated by unelected bureaucrats," Gaetz said at the time, calling EPA an "extraordinary offender." No(em) disaster here The Federal Emergency Management Agency may soon be overseen by a Homeland Security secretary who has voiced doubt about the reality of climate change, write Thomas Frank and Avery Ellfeldt Trump has nominated South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security at a time when damage from extreme weather is soaring. Noem, whose agency would oversee FEMA, said in 2022 that "it hasn’t been proven to me that what we’re doing is affecting the climate." She is also one of five governors who declined to accept EPA planning grants that the Biden administration offered every state to address climate pollution. Noem is expected to focus largely on border and immigration issues if confirmed by the Senate. 'Green' hydrogen, we hardly knew ye The incoming Trump administration could quash the nascent "green" hydrogen industry before it even gets off the ground, writes Brian Dabbs. Congress has invested billions of dollars in the industry, which aims to make hydrogen from renewable energy or natural gas with carbon capture. Those projects are at risk if the sector sees less federal support under Trump, who suggested on the campaign trail that hydrogen cars could result in a "massive bomb-bang drop" (translation: explode). Since the election, stocks have tumbled for large hydrogen companies like Plug Power, Ballard Power Systems and Global X Hydrogen. COP Corner People walk past the logotype at the venue for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku on Nov. 11, 2024. | Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images Our news roundup from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan U.S. 'likely' to pledge stronger climate target : The Biden administration plans to set a new emissions reduction target by February — and fulfill the country's obligations under the Paris climate agreement — despite Trump's imminent return to the White House. France boycotts COP29: The country, which helped engineer the 2015 Paris Agreement, will not send a senior official to the climate summit after the Azerbaijan president accused France of “brutally” suppressing climate change concerns in its overseas territories. Trump's moves overshadow attempts at optimism: As world leaders urge ambitious climate action in Baku, Trump is making a series of rapid-fire personnel moves that signal his intention to dismantle Biden's climate legacy. The split screen holds troubling implications for the roles of both domestic and international climate institutions during the second Trump presidency. The autocrat's guide to climate diplomacy: While Trump plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Europe's nationalist prime ministers and autocratic leaders made a right-wing case for championing (some) climate measures during the opening days of COP29. Argentina withdraws negotiators: The Guardian reports that the government of Argentine President Javier Milei — who denies climate science — has ordered its negotiators to withdraw from the climate summit after only three days, raising concerns about the stability of the Paris Agreement. In Other News Tiny but mighty: Plankton may be unable to thrive in the rapidly warming oceans, putting huge portions of marine life at risk. Power move: Electric vehicle makers are increasingly adopting a new type of lithium-ion battery that is made up of a different mix of minerals and is cheaper to produce. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. The White House strategy includes restarting shutdown reactors, like Three Mile Island. | Sam Mintz/POLITICO's E&E News The Biden administration offered a road map for tripling nuclear power capacity by 2050, a move that could see bipartisan support under Trump. The young challengers who have been suing the federal government over climate change say they plan to try again after the Supreme Court declined a bid to reverse their federal appeals court loss. A recent ruling by the D.C. Circuit could echo through an upcoming Supreme Court case that has the potential to limit federal environmental reviews. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy.       Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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