Elon Musk Wants The US Government To Hang Up The Phone: 'Government Is Wasting About $100 Million Per Year On Unused Phone Lines'

Tesla Inc. TSLA Elon Musk amplified a cost-cutting move by President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Wednesday, stating that the U.S. government may be wasting $100 million a year on inactive phone lines.

What Happened: In a post on X, formerly Twitter, DOGE's official handle revealed that an internal audit found 198 out of 1,048 phone lines at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) were either unused or duplicated — roughly 19% of the total.

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DOGE said canceling the lines took one hour and would save around $100,000 annually.

"Since OPM is ~0.1% of the federal government, this suggests that ~$100M/yr is wasted on unused lines," the agency wrote.

Musk, who helped lead DOGE's early initiatives but announced plans to reduce his involvement during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call, reposted the update and added:

"Government is wasting about $100 million per year on unused phone lines!"

This latest move by DOGE could impact leading telecom providers that deliver services to both residential and business customers.

Only 2% of U.S. adults use landlines exclusively, according to a 2023 report by The Washington Post. In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission scrapped requirements that made it compulsory to run copper wires to each home. The report noted that Verizon Communications Inc. VZ is the dominant landline player in the Northeast of the country.

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