US President-elect Donald Trump picked billionaire Elon Musk and businessman-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency in his government, as he finalises the cabinet positions for his term starting in January 2025.
In a statement issued by him on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk will be heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with “slashing excess regulations” and “cutting wasteful expenditures.”
“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,” the statement by Trump reads.
“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!” Elon Musk said over his appointment to the new government post, as per the statement.
Saying that Republican politicians have been dreaming about the implementation of DOGE for a very long time, Donald Trump said that the new department will be like “The Manhattan Project of our time.”
“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the federal bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans. Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual USD 6.5 trillion of government spending,” said the president-elect.
After the announcement, Vivek Ramaswamy posted on X, “And yes, this means I’m withdrawing myself from consideration for the pending Senate appointment in Ohio. Whoever Governor DeWine appoints to JD’s seat has some big shoes to fill. I will help them however I can.”
During Donald Trump’s campaign trail for the US presidential election, Elon Musk predicted that he could cut at least $2 trillion from the US federal budget, which would exceed the amount that the Congress spends annually on government agency operations, including defense.
Cutting out such a major chunk from the federal budget will require making cuts to some of the more popular entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits.