Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk to Head New Department of Government Efficiency

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, President-elect Donald Trump announced this evening. In a statement posted to social media, Trump said the department will help to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy and slash excess regulations.”

In the statement, Trump likened the effort to the Manhattan Project that produced the atomic bomb. “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.’” It also quoted Musk saying that the newly formed department “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”

Trump said the department would exist “outside of Government,” giving advice to those in the White House on overhauling federal agencies. News reports speculated that “the arrangement would also likely allow Musk and Ramaswamy to continue working in the private sector and serve without Senate approval.” He gave a deadline of July 4, 2026, for the department to conclude its work. 

A source familiar with the Trump transition team’s workings told the New York Post that Ramaswamy had “been with Elon all week” since the 45th president won a second non-consecutive term by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. The publication also noted that the name of the agency, DOGE for short, is “a reference to a popular internet meme and cryptocurrency associated with Musk.”

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Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign in January and endorsed Trump. Since then he embraced his role as a Trump surrogate, appearing frequently on the cable news shows to defend Trump against his critics. 

Last month, he arrived at a campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina in a T-shirt showing Oscar the Grouch in a trash bin and wearing a yellow vest. In a video shared on X, he was seen operating a garbage truck, greeting sanitation workers, and collecting trash on the streets. “We’re not the garbage,” he told the attendees. “It’s time to take out the real trash in America, and send Kamala Harris packing,” he said to a thunderous applause.