President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will appoint billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to a new government entity nicknamed “DOGE.”
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump said in a statement.
“It will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time,” he continued, referring to the government program from the ’40s that created the first atomic bomb.
DOGE stands for the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which, despite the name, is not an official government agency. The title of the new “department” was coined by Musk himself, seemingly nodding to Musk’s endorsement of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
The DOGE department likely won’t have the same powers or responsibilities as other official departments, such as the Department of Defence, Department of Education, etc.
Musk and Ramaswamy posted about the news online on Tuesday.
“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency,” Musk claimed. “Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for [the] most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”
Ramaswamy said that he will be withdrawing from trying to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Ohio seat in the Senate given his new appointment. He added, “We will not go gently.”
Previously, Trump addressed the possibility of picking Musk, the Tesla Motors CEO, for a Cabinet or advisory position following one of his campaign rallies in August.
“He’s a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump said at the time.
Prior to that, Musk pitched himself to Trump during an audio conversation the two had on X, Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that taxpayer money...is spent in a good way,” Musk told Trump. “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”
Musk briefly worked for Trump during his previous administration before quitting in 2017.
On the other hand, Ramaswamy ran against Trump during the Republican presidential primary earlier this election cycle, and the two had notably been in public disputes with one another.
It’s been just a week since his election victory and Trump has already begun announcing his second administration picks — which also prompted House Republicans to call on him to stop looking at the House for his Cabinet picks.
“He’s already pulled a few really talented people out of the House. Hopefully, no more for a little while until special elections can come, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Republican, Louisana) said at a Tuesday press conference.