President-elect Donald Trump picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech company founder Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, to lead an effort to cut spending, eliminate regulations and restructure federal agencies.
Trump said in a statement Tuesday night that Ramaswamy and Musk—the wealthiest person in the world, who oversees six companies—would lead what the president-elect called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The group’s mandate is to streamline government bureaucracy, the president-elect said.
DOGE will operate outside of the federal government, Trump said, and will work with the White House Office of Management and Budget to implement its recommendations. Musk isn’t expected to become an official government employee, meaning he likely wouldn’t be required to divest from his business empire. Trump gave Musk and Ramaswamy a deadline of July 4, 2026—amid the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations, and just months before the midterm elections—to complete their work.
“A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” he said. “I am confident they will succeed!”
Musk has previously said that he hopes to cut federal spending by at least $2 trillion, a goal that outside analysts said would be difficult to achieve. In fiscal 2024, the government spent roughly $6.8 trillion.
Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, spent roughly $200 million in support of Trump during the presidential election. The billionaire has become one of the president-elect’s closest advisers, according to people with knowledge of the matter, sitting in on transition meetings, offering input on personnel picks and spending one-on-one time with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club.
היה הראשון לענות דיון כללי זה.
