Bessent says DOGE principles ‘popular,’ Musk ‘was not’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the principles of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were “popular,” but also said tech billionaire Elon Musk, formerly the leader of DOGE, “was not.”

“He announced this weekend that he is starting a new political party,” CNN’s Dana Bash said of Musk on “State of the Union.” “Does that worry the Trump administration?”

“Look, the principles of DOGE were very popular. I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not,” Bessent responded. 

“So, I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone,” he added. “So, I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities.”

Musk said Saturday that he had officially created the “America Party,” separate from Republicans and Democrats.

“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it. When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk said in a post on the social platform X after he put out a poll asking users of the platform if they wanted a third political party.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” the tech billionaire added.

Shortly after Musk left the Trump administration in the late Spring, he and President Trump entered into an intense back-and-forth in which Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and said he was in the files of sex crimes offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Hill has reached out to Tesla for comment.