AFP
The right hand of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, suggests a salary increase to congressmen, despite the fact that his mission is to cut government expenses.
Elon Musk was appointed by President Donald Trump to make cuts in the government. (Free Press Photo: EFE)
Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President Donald Trump to cut the number of officials, suggested this Thursday, February 27 that congressmen charge more to discourage corruption.
Although it is only an advisor, Trump has given him enormous power to cut federal expenditure and bureaucracy, as part of an efficiency commission known as Doge.
“It could make sense to increase remuneration for Congress and senior government officials to reduce corruption incitement, since the latter could be a thousand times more expensive,” Musk published on his social platform X.
Congressmen of both parties usually distrust salary increases, but recognize that competitive salaries are the best way to prevent the function from being reserved for wealthy people.
The head of Tesla and Spacex has launched into a wide restructuring of the federal apparatus, and has begun to dismantle several government agencies, which it accuses of fraud and waste.
American congressmen charge US $ 174 thousand a year.
Their salary normally adjusts annually to follow inflation, but since 2009 the congressmen decided to freeze these increases.
Elon Musk protested in December against a budget draft in Congress that included in 15 years a “adjustment depending on the cost of living”, and therefore opened the door to a salary increase of parliamentarians.
“Any House or Senate congressman who vote in favor of this scandalous expenses project deserves to lose” his seat, he said then.
The richest man in the world achieved torpedo the text and the new version adopted included again a freezing of the remuneration of the congressmen.
Numerous parliamentarians, both Republicans and Democrats, are in favor of a salary increase.
They claim that a good salary is the best way to attract new talents to politics, taking into account the high cost of electoral campaigns in the United States.