Last week, President Trump announced Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump shared in a statement, “I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement.”
“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Elon Musk said following the announcement.
While some bureaucrats have reacted negatively to the thought of their taxpayer-funded gravy train coming under fire, at least one federal agency seems to be embracing the new initiative.
According to the Daily Mail, some staff members at NASA “are calling on Elon Musk to ‘clean house.’”
The call comes, in part, because of the millions of taxpayer dollars that have been used to implement “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs.
A concerning portion of NASA’s budget of approximately $20 billion, according to spending reports under Biden-Harris, is going to”universities and consulting firms to support ‘environmental justice’ and initiatives that ’embrace greater diversity and inclusive practices.’”
LMI consulting received over $2 million in 2023 for NASA to ’embark on a venture to incorporate and deeply engrain diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility in the culture and business.’
Another $3 million went to Booze Allen Hamilton in March to support NASA’s ‘office of diversity and equal opportunity DEI data analytic specialty,’ and $ 7 million was announced last month for six ‘minority-serving institutions.’
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And in 2020, NASA allocated roughly $900,000 to the National Academy of Sciences, a private, non-profit organization.
The grant was for ‘increasing diversity and inclusion in the leadership of competed space missions by establishing an ad hoc committee to recommend actions to increase diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility in the leadership of space mission proposals.’
Software engineer Kyle Sorensen told the outlet that he hopes Musk will ‘clean house’ as other staff voice concerns regarding budget shortages and struggles with ‘limited funds’ due to ‘wasteful spending.’
A former NASA employee underscored one of the implications of the wasteful spending, telling DailyMail.com that NASA’s DEI is ‘destroying America’s ability to compete with China in space because the Biden-Harris administration will only fund programs that feature it.’
