President-Elect Donald Trump has tapped Tesla chief Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, “working in conjunction with” former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, tasking the two with driving “large scale structural reform” through the department, which is not yet recognised as an official government agency.
Musk was one of Trump’s largest financial backers ahead of the 2024 election. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- Trump announced Tuesday that Musk and Ramaswamy, the former of which is one of his largest financial backers, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which was first proposed by Musk and has been championed by Trump as a way to cut down on government bureaucracy.
- The department, which when acronymized shares the name of the dogecoin cryptocurrency often touted by Musk, will “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” according to a statement from Trump.
- Trump likened the department to the Manhattan Project—the research and development program behind the creation of the first nuclear weapons—and said it would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government.”
- The department’s work will be done no later than July 4, 2026—the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence—according to the statement, suggesting the new consultancy will only last for about half of Trump’s term.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth at $308.1 billion, making him the wealthiest person in the world.
What We Don’t Know
Exactly how the department will operate and what its relationship will be with Trump’s administration, though the statement said it “will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” The statement also suggested the department will function as a consulting organization that will be “outside of Government,” rather than a new federal department, which would require congressional approval and seemingly go against the department’s proposed mission. It is not clear whether the initiative will receive federal funding.
Key Background
The Department of Government Efficiency was first pitched by Musk seemingly as a joke, suggesting the Shiba Inu dog breed, the mascot of the “joke” cryptocurrency dogecoin, would also be the mascot of the department. Musk posted and reposted AI photos of him as the department’s head and said in September he would “look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises.”
Around that same time, Trump said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York he would create the department “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms.” Musk became one of Trump’s most staunch supporters, endorsing the president-elect after he survived an assassination attempt this summer and later becoming one of his most prolific backers with more than $100 million donated to his own Trump-supporting America PAC.
Ramaswamy and Musk, the latter of whom controls several companies including SpaceX, Tesla and X (formerly known as Twitter), have been critics of government regulatory power. Ramaswamy has vowed to fire more than 75% of the federal workforce and shut down agencies including the Department of Education, the FBI and the Food and Nutrition Service. Meanwhile, Musk has said he is looking to “curtail [federal] agencies to be much smaller,” telling Joe Rogan on his podcast, the “Joe Rogan Experience,” that he wants the agencies to “stick to what Congress authorized instead of all this other stuff.”
