Foreign Aid Cuts to Developing Countries: “Public Suffers More When Corruption Prevails”
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, attended the first Cabinet meeting of Donald Trump’s second administration on the 26th at the White House in Washington. As the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration, Musk is pursuing mass layoffs to reduce federal spending, while advocating for increased salaries for congressional members.
On the 27th, Musk stated on platform X that it “might be reasonable to increase the compensation for Congress and senior officials.” He argued that increasing salaries for high-ranking positions would reduce the risk of corruption, ultimately benefiting society. He claimed that corruption among high-ranking officials could cost the public 1,000 times more. According to AFP, the annual salary for U.S. congressional members has been frozen at $174,000 (approximately 250 million won) since 2009.
The American public has reacted with disbelief. Musk’s DOGE is known for making deep cuts to various government subsidies that affect American citizens, as well as humanitarian aid to developing countries around the world, under the guise of eliminating “wasteful spending.” Critics have called Musk’s advocacy for raising already substantial congressional salaries hypocritical, especially given his previous comments stressing the need to quickly reduce the federal deficit, which amounts to trillions of dollars.
Additionally, Musk has faced concerns about weakening anti-corruption systems, as he has supported merging several oversight agencies within the government. He agreed with Republican Senator Mike Lee’s call to combine the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agencies responsible for anti-monopoly oversight, stating that it “sounds logical.”