Senator Rand Paul has extended an invitation to Elon Musk to visit Kentucky and assess the nation’s largest gold reserves located at Fort Knox.

A libertarian account on X, boasting 2 million followers, has urged the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to direct his attention towards Fort Knox to verify that the U.S. gold supply remains intact.

Musk raised the question of why the gold reserves aren’t evaluated annually, prompting speculations about his potential visit to the fortified military base that houses a vast supply of gold.

Since Donald Trump took office, Musk has been on a mission to slash inefficiencies within several government agencies, aiming to eliminate “wasteful spending.” The billionaire has already spearheaded significant reductions at USAID, resulting in job losses for over 10,000 employees, alongside cuts to billions of dollars in the Department of Education’s budget and the dismissal of multiple senior financial officials at FEMA.

‘It would be beneficial if Elon Musk were to oversee an inspection of Fort Knox to confirm the existence of the 4,580 tons of U.S. gold,’ a libertarian news aggregator, Zero Hedge, posted on X. ‘The last inspection recorded was in 1974.’

To this, Musk replied, ‘Surely it’s examined at least every year?’

Yet, Senator Paul affirmed ‘nope,’ enthusiastically inviting Musk to mobilize his DOGE team to audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox.

The United States Bullion Depository stands at Fort Knox, Kentucky, built in 1936 and safeguarding reserves of the U.S. Treasury Department.

The Bullion Depository contains approximately 147 million troy ounces of gold, equating to over half of the gold held by the federal government, around 56.35 percent of the total reserves.

Protection of these gold assets falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Mint Police.

Gold reserves in the U.S. serve as a financial buffer against economic turmoil, representing genuine, tangible assets and assisting in inflation hedging, all the while maintaining public trust in the currency, despite the discontinuation of the gold standard.

Although the recent post suggests that the last thorough inspection occurred in 1974, a more recent visit took place in August 2017, led by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell and included then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, resulting in some limited visibility photos showing golden bars.

Mnuchin’s visit marked the first by a Treasury Secretary since 1948.

The inaugural inspection of the vault was conducted in 1943 by President Franklin Roosevelt amid the economic fallout of the Great Depression and World War II.

The head of DOGE voiced concerns about the lack of annual reviews for the gold reserves.

The 1974 audit was initiated due to rampant conspiracy theories suggesting that elites had discreetly extracted the gold, leaving the vaults empty. In response, Congress members and journalists toured the facility to reaffirm the public that the gold was indeed present.

Musk and his DOGE team have been active in pushing for government budget cuts, advocating for reassessing federal funding allocations, including eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives from federal agencies.

Additionally, contracts with private companies associated with DEI activities have been nullified in pursuit of more responsible federal spending.

There is speculation about potential cuts to more agencies following the complete dissolution of USAID earlier this month.