Donald Trump nominates Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the defunct Department of Government Effectiveness
President-elect Donald Trump announced tonight that he will appoint billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will head the new Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) when he takes office in 2025. The acronym DOGE appears to be a settlement authority to the digital currency Dogecoin that Musk loves so much.
The announcement from Trump stated: “These two great Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government bureaucracy, cut redundant regulations, cut wasteful spending and restructure federal agencies”.
The statement did not give specifics about the nature of DOGE, but did say it would “provide advice and guidance from outside the Government” and would “cooperate with the House Office of Management & Budget White”.
In September, Trump said he would create one Government Effectiveness Commission that Musk will run. Musk has called for cuts 2 trillion USD in federal spending. In 2023, the government spent $1.7 billion in discretionary funds. About X, Musk alluded to departments and areas he wants to cutincludes the Department of Education and funding for National Public Radio.
Musk is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters. During the election campaign, he fell close 200 million USD to his political action committee, America PAC, the organization with which he supported Trump’s campaign. He also appeared with him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvaniaand held town halls across the state to drum up support for the former president. Musk also used his celebrity and X, the social media platform he owns, to reinforce Trump’s campaign positions and encourage followers to vote for Trump. A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows Musk’s political posts on X between his support of Trump and late October garnered 17.1 billion views.
In a statement Tuesday, the president-elect said that Musk and Ramaswamy will end their employment with the new department “no later than July 4, 2026.”
