55% of Americans believe Elon Musk has excessive influence on national decisions

A poll released Wednesday shows that 55% of Americans believe tech billionaire Elon Musk-a key ally of US President Donald Trump, and head of an unofficial team tasked with cutting the US federal government budget-has too much power in influencing decisions that affect the nation.

The Quinnipiac University survey, done on Feb. 3-17 with 1,039 registered voters, found that 55% of respondents feel Musk wields excessive power over national decisions. In contrast, 36% believe he has an appropriate level of influence, while only 3% think he has too little.

Among Democratic respondents, 96% agree that Musk has excessive power, compared to 56% of independents and just 16% of Republicans.

Additionally, 1% of Democrats, 33% of independents, and 78% of Republicans believe Musk has an appropriate level of power. Meanwhile, 4% of independents and 1% of Republicans feel he has too little influence.

Trump last month tapped Musk to lead the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency with the stated aim of eliminating wasteful spending. It has proved controversial, however, in seeking to fire huge numbers of government employees and eliminate popular agencies, as well as in gaining access to sensitive government data on the public with little oversight and no apparent authorization.