Musk says DOGE will make 'rapid safety upgrades' to air traffic control system

Tech billionaire Elon Musk connected Wednesday said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) volition marque "rapid information upgrades" to the aerial postulation power systems with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"With the enactment of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE squad volition purpose to marque accelerated information upgrades to the aerial postulation power system," Musk wrote Wednesday connected the societal level X, which helium owns.

"Just a fewer days ago, the FAA’s superior craft information notification strategy failed for respective hours!" helium added, apt referring to an outage of the FAA's Notice to Air Mission strategy implicit the weekend.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN implicit the weekend that the strategy allows pilots to download formation details up of a travel and is required for planes to fly.

Shortly earlier Musk's station connected Wednesday, Duffy posted connected X that helium spoke with the DOGE team, who volition "plug successful to assistance upgrade our aviation system."

The Department of Transportation (DOT) did not instantly respond to The Hill's petition for much details connected what these upgrades could look like.

When asked astir the upgrades, a White House spokesperson doubled down connected DOGE's mission.

"DOGE is fulfilling President Trump’s committedness to making authorities much accountable, efficient, and, astir importantly, restoring due stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars," the spokesperson said. "Those starring this ngo with Elon Musk are doing truthful successful afloat compliance with national law, due information clearances, and arsenic employees of the applicable agencies, not arsenic extracurricular advisors oregon entities."

"The ongoing operations of DOGE whitethorn beryllium seen arsenic disruptive by those entrenched successful the national bureaucracy, who defy change," the spokesperson added. "While alteration tin beryllium uncomfortable, it is indispensable and aligns with the mandate supported by much than 77 cardinal American voters."

Musk owns SpaceX, a starring aerospace company, on with electrical conveyance shaper Tesla and the societal media institution X.

His remarks travel astir a week aft a deadly midair collision adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport betwixt a rider level and a subject helicopter. All 67 radical aboard the American Airlines level and chopper were killed.

The clang prompted scrutiny of the FAA, on with the Trump administration's plans to trim national bureaucracy.

FAA employees were reportedly sent an connection to resign with 8 months' wage 1 time earlier the collision, but an authoritative with the Office of Personnel Management aboriginal said controllers were not eligible for the offer, The Associated Press reported.

There is nary grounds the efforts to trim the national workforce played a relation successful the collision, and a shortage of aerial postulation controllers had been an contented agelong earlier President Trump took bureau oregon began DOGE.

Thousands of national workers person been offered the buyout arsenic Trump, Musk and DOGE look to slash authorities spending and bureaucracy. On his archetypal time successful office, Trump issued a national authorities hiring frost that applies to overmuch of the national government, but aerial postulation controllers were not included successful this freeze, the AP noted.

Musk made headlines this week aft his squad pushed for access to the Treasury Department's outgo system, and DOGE unit has been progressive astatine the Small Business Administration and the Government Services Administration. Musk has besides been a vocal proponent of gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) quickly slammed Duffy's announcement of DOGE's work.

"They person nary applicable experience. Most of them aren't aged capable to rent a car. And you're going to fto them messiness with hose information that's already deteriorated connected your watch?" she wrote connected X.

Some of the DOGE unit members are reportedly young adults, immoderate of whom person reportedly not graduated from college.

Duffy clapped back, penning connected X, "Madam Secretary, with each owed respect, 'experienced' Washington bureaucrats are the crushed our nation's infrastructure is crumbling. You request to beryllium this 1 out."