CALIFORNIA – White House aide Richard Grennell posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “We need DOGE California” to which DOGE advisor and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk replied “Crucial or California will go bankrupt.”
Crucial or California will go bankrupt https://t.co/7h4xIcFkES
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
The exchange comes amid news from Grennell that wildfire aid to California will ‘come with conditions.’
Governor Gavin Newsom asked Congress to approve almost $40 billion to help communities hit by wildfires in the Los Angeles area last month.
In comments to Politico, February 21, Grennell said that as a Californian he’s all for the wildfire aid to have strings attached.
“Squeezing their federal funds, making sure they don’t get funds, putting strings on them to get rid of the California Coastal Commission is going to make California better,” he said.
Grenell mentioned that the administration is discussing what conditions will be attached. He suggested focusing on the California Coastal Commission, which he described as “a disaster” and criticized as an unelected group of individuals who are “crazy woke left.”
Vandenberg wants to increase number of SpaceX launches to 100 per year
In October 2024, SpaceX sued the California Coastal Commission after the agency denied its proposal to increase the number of annual rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
SpaceX alleged that the decision was politically motivated, influenced by bias against Musk’s personal views, rather than based on legitimate environmental concerns.
Vandenberg is expected to increase the number of launches to 100 this year.
The commission told a federal court, last month, that SpaceX wasn’t harmed by its October decision because the U.S. Air Force disagreed with the ruling and decided to go ahead with more SpaceX launches.
Florida governor creating DOGE task force to review 900 state jobs
President Donald Trump appointed Richard Grenell as his Special Envoy for Special Missions in December 2024. Most recently, the administration named him head of the Kennedy Center.
Grenell’s idea about bringing a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the state level is shared by several Republican state lawmakers.
Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa have announced plans to establish DOGE programs in their states
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is creating a DOGE task force that will review about 900 state positions, university spending, local government spending and the need for about 70 state boards and commissions.
The state will also expand the use of artificial intelligence to identify DEI-related spending in contracts, DeSantis said.
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