the French Minister of Civil Service congratulates Elon Musk, responsible for “dismantling bureaucracy”

“Congratulations on accepting this great challenge Elon Musk!” Barely appointed by Donald Trump at the head of a ministry responsible for government efficiency, the controversial billionaire was greeted by… the French Minister of the Civil Service, Guillaume Kasbarian. “I look forward to sharing good practices to reduce excess bureaucracy, paperwork, and rethink public organizations to benefit the efficiency of civil servants”he added in a post in English on X, the social network of the businessman minister.

Elon Musk was appointed overnight on Tuesday, November 12, at the head of this new ministry, jointly with Vivek Ramaswamy. “Together, these two great Americans will chart the path for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy,” “cut unnecessary spending and restructure federal agencies” by sending “shock waves in the system” promised the president-elect in a press release. A fervent supporter of Donald Trump, the billionaire has injected more than $100 million into his campaign. Tagged in Guillaume Kasbarian’s message, Elon Musk did not react immediately.

Unsurprisingly, Guillaume Kasbarian drew the wrath of the left with his message. “We thought that Trumpism in France was limited to the far right. We were wrong”charged PS boss Olivier Faure on X. “Macronism dissolves into Trumpism”also attacked communist senator Ian Brossat, when his colleague Pierre Ouzoulias estimated that “Guillaume Kasbarian shows his true face: that of Trumpism, agent of the privatization of the world and the dilution of the general interest”. As for socialist senator Laurence Rossignol, she considered that “Kasbarian Minister of the Civil Service, it’s a bit as if we had appointed Depardieu, Minister of Women’s Rights”.

In France, the Minister of the Civil Service must face the discontent of civil servants, while he confirmed the freezing of the index point for 2024 and the non-payment of the purchasing power bonus, supposed to compensate for the effects of inflation. The budget also provides for more than a billion euros in savings in the public service, in particular by reducing compensation for sick leave and introducing three waiting days instead of one during these stoppages. The unions have called for a mobilization, the date of which has not yet been set.