Feb 20 (Reuters) - Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked

with slashing U.S. federal government spending, took to the

stage at a conservative conference outside Washington on

Thursday with a gift from Argentina's libertarian President

Javier Milei: a chainsaw.

"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," said Musk, holding

the gleaming power tool aloft at the Conservative Political

Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The red metallic chainsaw, given to Musk by Milei earlier in

the day, was engraved on its side with the Argentine leader's

coarse Spanish slogan: "Viva la libertad, carajo," which loosely

translates to "Long live freedom, damn it!"

Musk is leading sweeping cuts under U.S. President Donald

Trump that have targeted bank regulators, forest workers, rocket

scientists and tens of thousands of other government employees.

On Thursday, 6,000 employees at the U.S. Internal Revenue

Service were told they would be fired, a person familiar with

the matter said.

Musk, the CEO of automaker Tesla and the world's

richest man, has enthusiastically promoted Milei's speeches.

Before Milei became Argentina's president in late 2023, he

would often brandish a chainsaw at campaign rallies as a symbol

of his drive to cut the size of government.