Mr. Musk's highly aggressive efficiency measures failed to prevent US federal spending from rising to a record $603 billion last month, according to new data from the US Treasury, highlighting the difficulties the Trump administration is facing in reducing the size of government. Mr. Musk's government efficiency department claims to have saved more than $100bn, but only a handful of departments have seen spending fall in the new administration's first month in office. Spending rose by $40 billion, or 7 per cent, year-on-year compared with the same period last year. The new figures come after Mr. Musk and members of the department infiltrated several government entities, including state and health departments, as well as several departments of the Treasury. Tens of thousands of workers have been suspended or laid off, and thousands of government grants and contracts have been cancelled. Musk has repeatedly claimed that the Department of Efficiency is on track to save $1 trillion worth of money from the annual federal budget, and said the program is currently being cut at a rate of $4 billion a day. But the monthly financial statement for February showed that few broad categories of spending saw significant declines. Treasury officials noted that the Ministry of Education cut spending by $6 billion.