Elon Musk‘s chief cost-cutter who relentlessly slashed jobs at Twitter and SpaceX has taken on a new challenge as he joins the Department of Government Efficiency to control state spending.
Steve Davis has spent over two decades helping the Tesla billionaire across his companies, in addition to his day job as president of Musk’s infrastructure tunnel company, Boring Co.
He has also garnered a reputation for his frugality over the years.
Most notably, he rushed to narrow Twitter’s headcount when Musk acquired the company in 2022, helping him cut $500 million from the social platform’s annual operating costs.
Davis is said to have taken his role so seriously that he slept at the Twitter headquarters with his partner and their newborn at the time.
At Boring, he signed off on costs as low as a few hundred dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times, and has been known to drive hard bargains with suppliers.
So, when Musk recently brought him on to oversee hiring for DOGE, shock waves were felt across Washington as the Tesla CEO executes Donald Trump‘s campaign pledge to cut government spending.
While the mandate for the newly-created DOGE is still largely unclear, Davis’ presence suggests that he could recreate his infamous transformation efforts.
Elon Musk pictured with Steve Davis in 2018 at a Boring event in California
Pictured: Twitter HQ campus in downtown San Francisco. Steve Davis helped Musk slash jobs at Twitter when he acquired the firm in 2022
It comes as DOGE on Monday cut about $900 million in Education Department contracts after concluding they were a waste of taxpayer money, a department spokesperson said.
The cuts spanned 90 contracts at the Institute of Education Sciences, a research branch of the federal agency.
The department did not immediately release additional details.
The cuts will not affect core operations at IES, including the NAEP exam, known as the nation’s report card, and the College Scorecard, which provides data about the cost and outcomes of U.S. universities, the department said.
DOGE has faced scrutiny in recent days after the Trump administration gave the Musk’s department access to systems with personal information on tens of millions of Americans without their consent.
A coalition of labor unions filed a lawsuit Monday asking a federal court to halt Musk from accessing private data at the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management after they alleged the Trump administration was violating federal privacy laws.
The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of handing over sensitive data for reasons beyond its intended use, allegedly violating the Privacy Act.
DOGE on Monday cut about $900 million in Education Department contracts after concluding they were a waste of taxpayer money
Elon Musk has asked his chief cost cutter Steve Davis to oversee hiring at the Department of Government Efficiency
Instead of carrying out the functions of the federal student loan program, the lawsuit says DOGE has been accessing loan data “for purposes of destroying” the Education Department.
Davis began working for Musk since 2003 when he joined SpaceX after graduating as an aerospace engineer from Stanford University.
He has stuck with Musk ever since and has been leading Boring for nearly a decade.
