President-elect Donald Trump's newest efficiency advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, wants to take at least $2 trillion off the top of the annual federal budget: here's what a cut of that scale would look like.

Musk's budget-cutting dreams came a step closer to reality Tuesday when Trump named him and fellow tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an advisory council called the "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)" with a mission to suggest ways to "slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."

The Tesla CEO and owner of social media platform X called for "at least $2 trillion" in budget cuts last month while speaking at a rally in New York.

A cut of that scale would be massive in relation to the size of the federal budget, which was $6.7 trillion in the fiscal year that ended in September. By comparison, the government's largest program, Social Security, costs $1.45 trillion. Eliminating it completely would get Musk three-fourths of the way toward his goal.

Cutting the budget by that much would also be a change of pace for Trump. The federal budget was more than 50% higher when he left office than when he entered his first term, partly reflecting the federal effort to fight COVID-19.

Budget cuts would also have to pass Congress, where lawmakers would have to weigh the risks of cutting popular programs such as Medicare. Many economists forecasting the trajectory of the economy under T♈rump are assuming Congress will make few, if any, cuts to the federal budget, notwithstanding any recommendations from the DOGE.

"It is difficult to see where additional spending cuts will be found (and these cuts tend to be resisted by both parties in Congress)," John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros, economists at Brean Captial, wrote in a commentary last week.

Musk and Ramaswamy have until July 4, 2026, to say where exactly those cuts would be made, although Musk said he would beat the deadline.