U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk to lead a new initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) as part of his incoming administration.
Trump announced that biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy will work alongside the SpaceX and Tesla CEO on this project—named after Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin—with the goal of “dismantling” bureaucratic inefficiencies.
According to Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy will offer external guidance to the White House on implementing “large-scale structural reform.”
In related appointments, Trump also nominated Fox News host and combat veteran Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and selected former Texas congressman and federal prosecutor John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA.
Musk, a major donor to Trump’s campaign, had been widely expected to assume a role within the administration. Ramaswamy, who ran as a Republican presidential candidate earlier in the year, eventually endorsed Trump after ending his campaign.
During Tuesday night’s announcement, Trump said the Doge initiative aims to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.”
Although named as a department, Doge does not have official government status—establishing such an agency would require congressional approval and substantial staffing.
Trump stated that Musk and Ramaswamy will work with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to combat “massive waste and fraud” in the government’s $6.5 trillion yearly budget.
Musk recently urged for at least $2 trillion in federal spending cuts—nearly a third of the government’s budget—but has not provided specifics. He has also proposed the elimination of multiple federal agencies, claiming that many of their functions overlap.
Trump has compared the new Doge endeavour to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret World War II program that developed the first nuclear weapons.
The president-elect stated that Musk and Ramaswamy will complete their work by July 4, 2026 (American Independence Day).
“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,” Trump wrote.
In a press release from Trump’s campaign, Musk said: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people.”
After the announcement, Musk posted on his social media platform, X: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”
Ramaswamy reposted Trump’s announcement on social media saying “we will not go gently”. He also said he was withdrawing from consideration to fill incoming US Vice-President JD Vance’s soon-to-be-vacated Ohio Senate seat.
Last year, while running for president, Ramaswamy proposed firing over 75% of the federal workforce and closing several major agencies, including the Department of Education, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Since Trump’s election victory last week, Musk has reportedly been by Trump’s side daily at his Palm Beach estate in Florida. Musk also participated in a recent phone call Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency backed by Musk, has surged in value over the past week.
Trump announced the appointments of Musk and Ramaswamy along with several senior national security appointments on Tuesday evening.
Among these, John Ratcliffe, nominated to head the CIA, previously served as Trump’s director of national intelligence, overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been selected to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security.
The nomination of Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon has raised some eyebrows; though a veteran of the Iraq War, Hegseth has limited government experience but has been a vocal Trump supporter for years.
