Government can not cut own expenses as effectively as an outside audit.
Discussion
Can be true. But this outside entity needs some legitimation. And currently the only legitimation is, that Musk is loyal to Trump. Or what other legitimation is there?
I agree there's a "legitimacy" problem here. There's an entire agency called the GAO whose sole purpose it to do this kind of audit. Trump could have ramped this up, Musk could even have played some role in upgrading their tech, etc...
But "auditing" is more than just sending in a bunch of 19-year olds to download sensitive data. It's a process that involves trained professionals.
I see your point
I think you are looking at this from ideology point. Put yourself in the shoes of the US taxpayer. They’ll love getting tax refunds from cost-savings Musk did.