Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ in Trump administration
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new initiative called the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which, despite its name, will not function as a formal government agency.
The acronym “DOGE” playfully references Musk's favored cryptocurrency, dogecoin. According to Trump’s statement, Musk and Ramaswamy will offer “advice and guidance” to the White House while collaborating with the Office of Management and Budget. Their goal is to introduce large-scale structural reforms and foster an entrepreneurial mindset within the government. Trump emphasized that their efforts are intended to shake up existing systems.
Details about how this initiative will operate remain uncertain. It might fall under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires external advisory groups for the government to be transparent and publicly accountable.
Typically, federal employees must disclose their assets and potential conflicts of interest and div/est from any holdings that might interfere with their work. However, since Musk and Ramaswamy will not be official federal employees, they will not be bound by these requirements or restrictions.
Musk commented on the initiative on X, stating, “Department of Government Efficiency. The merch will be 🔥🔥🔥.” He later added, “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!” Musk has frequently been seen at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s election victory.
Trump has previously expressed interest in giving Musk a leadership role in a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission aimed at identifying ways to cut costs and enhance government efficiency. Musk once claimed he could uncover more than $2 trillion in potential savings, nearly a third of the federal government’s annual spending.
Trump also acknowledged that Musk would not take on a full-time position due to his commitments, including his work with space exploration and technology ventures. “I don’t think I can get him full-time because he’s a little bit busy sending rockets up and all the things he does,” Trump joked at a Michigan rally in September. “He said the waste in this country is crazy. And we’re going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter.”
Ramaswamy, who ended his presidential campaign in January, has since endorsed Trump. In his statement, Trump said that Musk and Ramaswamy will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."
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