“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk are not working fast enough to make the sweeping cuts they are proposing to the federal workforce and government agencies.
In a panel discussion with CNN’s Abby Phillip, the chairman of O’Leary Ventures said Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission should take advantage of the “24-month mandate” they have before the midterm elections, when Republicans could lose their majorities in the House and Senate.
“Keep slashing, keep hacking, while you have a 24-month mandate before the midterms,” O’Leary said. “Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, more, more cutting. Believe me, it’s going to work out just great. Everybody should be happy about this.”
Asked whether they should be cutting people with nuclear codes, too, O’Leary said, “Cut everything.”
“Because if you don’t see what they’re doing, and they can’t show you that they’re adding value, you whack,” he continued.
O’Leary said DOGE should be cutting more, invoking a concept in private equity that calls for more cuts in order to determine where the excess lies in a bankrupt organization.
“I think the issue is they’re not whacking enough,” O’Leary said. “There’s this concept in private equity, when you get a bankrupt company and you go in there, you cut 20 percent more than your initial read, and then you find, like a pool of mercury, the organization gels back together again.”
“Always cut deeper, harder when there’s fat and waste,” he added.
DOGE, which is facing multiple lawsuits related to its efforts, said in a post on its website this week that it found $55 billion in savings. In an executive order signed last week, Trump directed federal agencies to prepare for “large-scale reductions in force” and instructed DOGE personnel to develop new hiring plans.
O’Leary said that, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — the latest organization to face major cuts, with “hundreds” of probationary workers getting fired — the problem is “not the people” but is, instead, the code. He said the technology needs to be upgraded to make it safer.
“All of these agencies are like big fat chickens dripping over barbecues of fat. This is the best barbecue I’ve ever seen. But I don’t think it’s happening fast enough,” O’Leary said. “They’re not cutting enough.”
A panelist pushed back on O’Leary, pointing to reporting that Musk had to rehire employees he fired after he realized they were essential to the agency’s operation.
“Okay, he gets it wrong once in a while. Big deal. So what? That’s 10 percent of the time,” O’Leary responded.
