Bill Maher Urges California Governor to 'DOGE' Bureaucracy, Invokes Elon Musk

Comedian Bill Maher challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom on the state’s regulatory burdens, drawing parallels to Elon Musk’s approach to cutting through red tape.

During a recent episode of HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ host Bill Maher took California Governor Gavin Newsom to task over the state’s extensive regulatory framework. Maher, expressing frustration over personal experiences with regulations, particularly highlighted the need for multiple inspections for his roof repairs following wildfires in Pacific Palisades. He questioned the necessity and cost of these regulations directly to Newsom, who acknowledged the state’s responsibility to streamline such processes.

Maher’s critique extended to broader issues, including the slow progress of California’s high-speed rail project, which he noted was limited to a route from Merced to Bakersfield rather than the originally proposed Sacramento to San Diego. In a pointed remark, Maher suggested that Newsom could benefit from adopting a more aggressive approach to bureaucracy, likening it to the ‘chainsaw’ method famously associated with Elon Musk’s business tactics.

The comedian’s reference to Musk and his call to ‘DOGE the s— out of these people’—a playful nod to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which Musk has famously supported—underscored his plea for drastic measures to cut through the state’s regulatory red tape. Newsom responded by asserting that his administration was actively working to reduce bureaucratic hurdles, though he also shifted some blame to regulations established by previous Republican administrations.

This exchange highlights ongoing tensions between the need for regulation and the desire for efficiency, a debate that continues to resonate in California’s political and economic landscape.