JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon praised Elon Musk’s plan for a government efficiency commission, calling it a “very good idea” while highlighting the need for heightened government accountability.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18 at the India Investor Summit, Prashant Nair brought up Musk’s proposal for an efficiency task force to audit the federal government.
“So Elon, this idea about having an efficiency commission, I actually like the idea. I think governments have to become more efficient, more competent and look at when they take money what do they get for it?” Dimon said. “I actually think it’s a very good idea.”
Dimon said the idea reminded him of Al Gore’s “Reinventing Government” initiative launched in 1993 to make the federal government “work better.”
“We really need to do it. In America, we will do it, I’m sure,” Dimon added. “A lot of the other countries need to do the same thing.”
His comment comes less than a month after former President Trump endorsed Musk’s proposal for a government efficiency task force, revealing that he would appoint the billionaire entrepreneur to lead the panel if elected president.
The government efficiency commission would conduct a financial and performance audit of the federal government and would look to track down fraud and improper payments made from government programs. It would then provide recommendations for “drastic reforms” aimed at promoting efficiency, Trump said, with the goal of eliminating fraud and improper payments within six months of the commission being formed.
The Tesla CEO acknowledged his agreement to serve on the commission, writing on X that, “I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
Musk first suggested the creation of a government efficiency commission last month during a conversation he hosted with the former president on X after endorsing him for president. He went on to express an interest in contributing to its efforts and said, “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”
Politicians and industry leaders have pushed for government efficiency commissions in the past. Republican President Ronald Reagan established a similar body while he was in office from 1981 to 1989 called the Grace Commission.
But not everyone supports the implementation of the task force.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents 750,000 federal workers, accused Trump and Musk of wanting to gut the federal government’s nonpartisan civil service to replace fired workers with their allies.
“There’s nothing efficient about that,” Kelley told Reuters.
