Elon Musk’s latest privatization proposal targets two beloved federal agencies, and it’s a direct hit on Joe Biden’s legacy; here are the reasons
Elon Musk's privatization proposal
Musk, who is advising the US President Donald Trump on reducing the size of the US government budget, said that anything that can be privatized should be privatized and pointed out that Amtrak and USPS are included in that category, according to Daily Mail.
The suggestion was made by the billionaire tech entrepreneur at a recent Morgan Stanley conference, where he said, «I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example… We should privatize everything we possibly can,» as quoted by Daily Mail. While he admitted that privatizing the agencies would need to be approved by Congress, as per the report.
Joe Biden’s strong connection to Amtrak
Meanwhile, Biden had gained a reputation for making regular Amtrak journeys between Washington and his home state of Delaware while he was in the Senate, has long been an advocate of the expansion and upgrading of rail services, as per Daily Mail. In 2024, he made a $16 billion investment to upgrade America's rail network, the report added.
Amtrak's financial struggles despite increased ridership
Amtrak was established in 1970 as a government-owned company, and over the years has experienced financial difficulties. Though Amtrak had a 15% rise in ridership last year to a record 32.8 million customer trips, as per Daily Mail. Even with the increase, however, the company recorded a large operating loss of $705 million, which led Musk to comment on its performance compared to China's high-speed rail system. Musk said «Amtrak is a
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