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A new poll has shown that less than 40% approve of the job done by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in trying to scan the federal government for areas where it can identify and remove what it deems as unnecessary government expenditures.
Knewz.com has learned that the Musk-led department's approval ratings are nearly 10 points behind the "historically low" ratings of President Donald Trump.
According to a new Economist/YouGov poll, only 38% of the surveyed individuals said they approve of the job the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is doing with DOGE.
Reports mentioned that 24% of those in approval said they strongly approve of DOGE and how it is functioning and 14% said they “somewhat approve.”
Led by Musk and a group of engineers, DOGE just shuttered the civilian foreign aid and development assistance agency USAID as one of its first projects, slashing its workforce from 10,000 to less than 300.
Furthermore, the department attempted to stop money from going into USAID by accessing the Department of Treasury payment system, although they had originally assured federal lawmakers in a letter that they only intended "to review the integrity of the payments and had “read-only access” to the system as part of an audit process."
At the same time, DOGE reportedly gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees, as part of what reports mention is "a broader effort to take control" over the Office of Personnel Management.
Protests have already erupted against the Musk-led DOGE and their downsizing of government employees at a concerning rate.
The Economist/YouGov poll found that 47% of surveyed individuals said they disapprove of Musk and DOGE’s job performance, of which 41% said they “strongly disapprove” while 6% said they “somewhat disapprove.”
Nearly a month into his second Presidential term, Trump did relatively better in the poll, with 46% approving of his job performance.
Much like Trump, the job approval ratings of Musk and DOGE seem to be politically polarized as well. For instance, Musk's approval among Democrats is just 9%, while his approval among Republicans is as high as 90%.
"Among those who identify politically as independent, Musk’s approval drops to 31%, while nearly 50% disapprove," reports have further mentioned.
It is worth noting that five former Treasury Secretaries have published an open letter in The New York Times, harshly criticizing the actions of the Musk-led department and pointing out that the handling of sensitive information by "political actors from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency" risks the said information to "exposure, potentially to our adversaries."
"These political actors have not been subject to the same rigorous ethics rules as civil servants, and one has explicitly retained his role in a private company, creating at best the appearance of financial conflicts of interest. They lack training and experience to handle private, personal data — like Social Security numbers and bank account information," the letter stated.
On the other hand, despite the ruckus around the DOGE, President Trump said on Tuesday, February 11, that he was signing an executive order giving Musk more power over the federal workforce.
According to reports, the new executive order states that federal agencies must "coordinate and consult" with DOGE to cut jobs and limit hiring, and will be ordered to "undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force" and limit their hiring process to "essential positions" only.