President-elect Trump said Tuesday that Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency"—which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym "DOGE" is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin, the AP reports. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House "advice and guidance" and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to "drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before." He added that the move would shock government systems and "will, potentially, become 'The Manhattan Project' of our time."
It's not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.
- Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.
- Trump has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission that would recommend ways to slash spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings—nearly a third of total annual government spending.
- "This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people," Musk said.
- Axios notes that Trump's description of the project as "outside the government" suggests that Musk and Ramaswamy "won't have any power to implement changes, only to advise the White House and executive branch departments on cuts."
- Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy's work will conclude "no later than July 4, 2026," adding that a government "with more efficiency and less bureaucracy" will be "the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence."
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