WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that government spending could be separated from gross domestic product reports in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn.

“You know, that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.”

Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the U.S. economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because changes in taxes, spending, deficits and regulations by the government can influence the path of overall growth. GDP reports already include extensive details on government spending, offering a level of transparency for economists.

Musk’s efforts to downsize federal agencies could result in the layoffs of tens of thousands of federal workers, whose lost income could potentially reduce their spending, affecting businesses and the economy at large.

Lutnick’s remarks echoed Musk’s arguments made Friday on X that government spending doesn’t create value for the economy.

“A more accurate measure of GDP would exclude government spending,” Musk wrote on his social media platform. “Otherwise, you can scale GDP artificially high by spending money on things that don’t make people’s lives better.”

The argument as articulated so far by Trump administration officials appears to play down the economic benefits created by Social Security payments, infrastructure spending, scientific research and other forms of government spending that can shape an economy’s trajectory.

“If the government buys a tank, that’s GDP,” Lutnick said Sunday. “But paying 1,000 people to think about buying a tank is not GDP. That is wasted inefficiency, wasted money. And cutting that, while it shows in GDP, we’re going to get rid of that.”

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis published its most recent GDP report on Thursday, showing that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in the final three months of last year.

The report makes it possible to measure the forces driving the economy, showing that the gains at the end of last year were largely driven by greater consumer spending and an upward revision to federal spending related to defense.

Carolina wildfires: Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry, gusty conditions. Evacuations were ordered in some areas.

The National Weather Service warned of increased fire danger in the region due to a combination of critically dry fuels and low relative humidity.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday to support the wildfire response. A statewide burning ban remained in effect.

Crews worked to contain a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, where residents were ordered to evacuate several neighborhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated Sunday afternoon that the blaze was burning about 1.9 square miles with zero percent containment. No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service said fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning on more than 400 acres in four forests across the state Sunday. The largest, 300 acres, was at Uwharrie National Forest, about 50 miles east of Charlotte.

Pope update: Pope Francis remained in stable condition and didn’t need any mechanical ventilation Sunday, the Vatican said. It was a sign that he had overcome the possible complications from a respiratory crisis Friday and that his breathing function overall was improving as he recovers from double pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pope did continue to receive high flow supplemental oxygen after Friday’s coughing episode, which sparked fears of a new lung infection. Doctors in their late Sunday update said Francis remained stable but again referred to the complexity of his overall condition and kept his prognosis at guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.

Francis, in the hospital since Feb. 14, rested, prayed in his private chapel and participated in Mass for the rest of the day after having a visit in the morning from the Vatican secretary of state.

Civil rights advocate: Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York State chapter of the NAACP and lifelong civil rights advocate, died Saturday at the age of 92.

Dukes peacefully passed away in her New York City home surrounded by family, her son, Ronald Dukes, said in a statement.

Dukes, who led the New York State NAACP for nearly five decades, fought tirelessly for voting rights, economic development, fair housing and education through her career. Even in her 90s, she spoke out against police brutality and for adequate health care in underserved neighborhoods, the NAACP’s New York State chapter said.

In 2023, Dukes received the NAACP’s highest honor — the Spingarn Medal.

Dukes was instrumental in former President Joe Biden’s decision to choose a Black woman as his 2020 running mate, she noted in an interview with CBS last year. In a post in X Saturday, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ 2024 presidential candidate, called Dukes one of the heroes “upon whose broad shoulders we stand.”

World chess champ: Boris Spassky, a Soviet-era world chess champion who lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries, died Thursday in Moscow at 88.

The death of the one-time chess prodigy was announced by the International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body. No cause was given.

Spassky was “one of the greatest players of all time,” the group said on the social platform X. He “left an indelible mark on the game.”

The televised 1972 match with Fischer, at the height of the Cold War, became an international sensation and was known as the “Match of the Century.” When Fischer, 29, won the international chess crown in Iceland, the chess genius from Brooklyn, New York, brought the U.S. its first world chess title.

Former world champion Garry Kasparov wrote on X that Spassky “was never above befriending and mentoring the next generation, especially those of us who, like him, didn’t fit comfortably into the Soviet machine.”