JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) is taking on an overdue challenge, calling the U.S. government wasteful and inefficient as the Trump administration slashes thousands of federal jobs and restructures entire agencies. Speaking to CNBC’s Leslie Picker, Dimon refused to give a direct yes-or-no response when asked if he supported D.O.G.E, but his message was clear: Washington’s bureaucracy is bloated, outdated, and needs fixing. “The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” Dimon said . “It’s not just waste and fraud, it’s outcomes.” He added that the administration’s push to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies ‘needs to be done.’ Dimon: D.O.G.E will be held accountable if it overreaches D.O.G.E, which operates under Musk’s advisory role in the Trump administration, has been moving fast, entering federal offices and reviewing budgets with the goal of eliminating waste, streamlining operations, and dismantling agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When asked about the risks of overreach, Dimon said, “If it does something illegal, the courts will stop it.” Despite the criticism D.O.G.E has faced, Dimon emphasized that the fundamental idea behind it is necessary. “Why are we spending the money on these things? Are we getting what we deserve? What should we change?” he said. “It’s not just about the deficit, it’s about building the right policies and procedures and the government we deserve.” He also said he hopes Musk’s efforts succeed, signaling that even from Wall Street’s most powerful players, there is little patience for runaway government inefficiency. Markets react to tariffs, stock valuations, and uncertainty Beyond government spending, Dimon also weighed in on the U.S. stock market, tariffs, and economic uncertainty. JPMorgan analysts have warned that investors may be too relaxed about tariffs, even as the S&P 500 has stayed near 6,000, despite months of turbulence. The CBOE Volatility Index, often called Wall Street’s fear gauge, has risen 11.5% since the start of the year. Mislav Matejka, JPMorgan’s top equity strategist, warned in a note Monday that investors are underestimating the risks of Trump’s escalating trade war. “We do not believe that we are out of the woods on the tariffs front yet,” Matejka wrote. “We see tariff headline newsflow risk as a continuous theme through this year, and beyond.” Stocks soared in Trump’s first year in office, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 20% in 2017. But by 2018, trade war fears and Federal Reserve rate hikes drove the market down 6%. Analysts are warning of similar risks now. Even billionaire investor Steve Cohen is skeptical. He told investors last week that tariffs, immigration policy, and spending cuts will drive inflation higher. “Tariffs cannot be positive,” Cohen said. Matejka also pointed out that U.S. stock valuations are stretched. Historically, the S&P 500 has traded at a 10% premium to global markets. Right now, that gap is 50%, a major red flag. “The ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks are not what they were in the past,” Matejka warned, referring to Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla. These companies drove 40% of the market’s gains over the last decade, but their influence is fading. “If the group stops driving the market returns, that would be a meaningful impediment for the chances of renewed U.S. outperformance,” he wrote. Despite these concerns, JPMorgan isn’t telling clients to sell yet. “We do not advocate an underweight U.S. position,” Matejka wrote, citing strong growth and earnings compared to the rest of the world. But with trade war risks and tariffs still on the table, it’s a wild card. Federal judge blocks D.O.G.E from accessing student loan data While Musk’s government overhaul gains momentum, D.O.G.E just ran into its first legal roadblock. A federal judge in Maryland issued a restraining order Monday, blocking it from accessing personal data of millions of student loan borrowers. Judge Deborah Boardman ruled that D.O.G.E officials cannot access data held by the Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management, halting their ability to conduct investigations into waste and fraud in student loan programs. The ruling was prompted by a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a union representing 1.8 million members. The union accused the Department of Education of illegally sharing student borrower records with D.O.G.E staffers, including income information and Social Security numbers. “When people give their financial and other personal information to the federal government—namely to secure financial aid for their kids to go to college, or to get a student loan—they expect that data to be protected and used for the reasons it was intended,” said AFT president Randi Weingarten. According to court filings, six D.O.G.E affiliates had already begun working inside the Education Department, requesting access to student loan records to investigate potential fraud. But Boardman ruled that there was no justification for why they needed such sweeping access to borrower data. The restraining order is temporary and will last until March 10 at 8 a.m. Boardman said she believes the plaintiffs will likely succeed in their claim that the Education Department violated the Privacy Act by handing over private data. Ben Winters, the director of AI and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, said the case raises serious concerns about data security. “The data in question includes really sensitive information on a population of people who had to give that information for one clear purpose: borrow money to get an education,” Winters said. “It’s crucial that institutions like governments only allow your data to be used for strictly the purpose you gave it for.” Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot
