Trump pledges to appoint Elon Musk to US government efficiency commission, government demand for printing ‘increasing in age of digital’: news in brief
Global Government Forum’s weekly roundup of public service news
- Trump pledges to appoint Elon Musk to US government efficiency commission
- Demand for printing increasing in age of digital, UK government reveals
- Australian climate change advisors set out decarbonisation pathways
- White House begins hiring drive to make AI skills key to national security
- Also on GGF this week
Trump pledges to appoint Elon Musk to US government efficiency commission
US presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he will enlist the owner of X, Elon Musk, to head a government efficiency drive if he wins the election in November.
In comments made last week, Trump said Musk had urged him to create a government efficiency commission “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms”.
Musk, a controversial figure since his purchase of the social media website formerly known as Twitter, has endorsed Trump in the current campaign.
Responding to the comments, Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, highlighted that the announcement comes after Trump had already announced plans to expand the number of political appointments in the US federal civil service.
He has pledged to reintroduce the Schedule F powers that allow him to remove career civil servants from their posts, and a Trump-aligned think-tank is now developing a list of officials it considers hostile to Trump, which it plans to share publicly.
“Billionaires like Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the folks behind Project 2025 want to get rid of the apolitical civil service, fire hundreds of thousands of dedicated public servants and replace them with a corrupt spoils system where government workers are hired and fired based on their loyalty to Donald Trump, not on their ability to do the job or fulfill their oath to uphold the law and the constitution,” Kelley said in a statement reported by GovExec.
Read more: Canada’s ‘back-to-the-office’ mandate for public servants takes effect
Demand for printing increasing in age of digital, UK government reveals
The UK government’s property agency has revealed that there is increasing demand for printing services across Whitehall.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) said that while the world is increasingly digital, there are always going to be times when a document needs to be printed, copied or scanned safely and securely. It has therefore developed what it calls its GovPrint service, which allows civil servants to print from their work devices while complying with National Cyber Security Centre cloud security principles.
Al Gardner, the GPA’s head of technology, said demand from departments for the service is increasing. “The service is currently rolling out over 1,300 devices in the Cabinet Office, Home Office and Department for Education, significantly increasing GovPrint’s reach,” Gardner said.
Read more: Getting back to basics on government cybersecurity, the latest on digital ID, and more
Australian climate change advisors set out decarbonisation pathways
The independent Climate Change Authority in Australia has set out details of how decarbonisation can be achieved across the economy.
The review by the commission examines the barriers to decarbonisation in six sectors – agriculture and land; built environment; electricity and energy; industry and waste; transport and resources – as well as actions to address them.
Requested by the Australian parliament, the review found that there are many pathways to achieving emissions reductions in these sectors using existing, mature technologies, as well as options for rapid development of emerging low emissions technologies, such as hydrogen and engineered carbon removals.
The insight from the review will inform the Australian government’s Net Zero Plan which will lay out and extend Australia’s action on climate change.
“The authority has charted a course for how Australia can decarbonise by 2050,” said Matt Kean, chair of the authority.
“Good progress is being made on decarbonising the energy sector and rolling out firmed renewables. But to achieve a rapid and orderly transition to net zero, all sectors of the economy, along with all levels of government, must plan and act together.
“By overcoming the barriers to reducing emissions we can make the Australian economy more prosperous while creating new industries and jobs, improving our energy security, protecting the environment, and reducing the cost of living.”
The authority’s review proposes changes that can be incorporated in the government’s net zero plan, including working with local, state and territory governments, businesses, communities and households to build on existing climate change policies, reform development approval processes, and address mounting workforce shortages to allow for agile adoption of new technologies.
White House begins hiring drive to make AI skills key to national security
The White House has kickstarted a hiring sprint across the US government for roles in AI and cybersecurity.
Hiring officially began on 4 September and will last until the end of October, according to its announcement. Many of the positions advertised begin at unusually high starting salaries for the public sector, with some pegged at more than US$100,000 per year.
The hiring drive is part of a fresh bid to fill 500,000 national security-focused job openings across the US. Dubbed ‘Service for America’, this project is a joint effort by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the National Cyber Director to boost skills considered key for national security.
Harry Coker, director of National Cyber, warned that many American citizens “do not realise that a cyber career is available to them” and that subsequently there remains a perception that “you need a computer science degree and a deeply technical background to get a job in cyber”.
He added that the Service for America initiative seeks to expand federal learning programmes and reduce “unnecessary degree requirements”.
Coker commented: “These jobs offer an opportunity to serve our country by protecting our national security, while also offering a personal path to prosperity.”
In 2023, the White House unveiled a national cyber workforce strategy which specified the need for better cyber education and training across the federal government, as well as stronger incentives.
Read more: Public servants tip AI as the top tech to boost productivity
On Global Government Forum this week:
- Canada’s ‘back-to-the-office’ mandate for public servants takes effect
- US National Institute of Standards and Technology refreshes digital ID guidelines
- Data needs diverse thinking: Five minutes with NHS data chief Ming Tang
- Governments urged to get back to basics to stay ahead of cybersecurity threats
- Getting back to basics on government cybersecurity, the latest on digital ID, and more
- Data innovation for local impact: Five minutes with Greater Manchester’s Christopher Pope
- Public servants tip AI as the top tech to boost productivity
- ‘Be your own kind of leader’: Old leadership models shouldn’t hold female civil servants back
- Watch: US presidential election: what the party platforms say – and what you need to know
- Register now: How Whitehall Works: Operations, Activity and Processes
About Richard Johnstone
Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
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