(NEXSTAR) – President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will team up to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But what does the department do?
Named with an obvious nod Meme Cryptocurrency DogecoinDOGE is not actually a government agency. Instead, he would work outside of government to “dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce excessive regulation, reduce wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies.” President Trump said in a statement:.
Details of how the department will operate are still unclear, but the department's two leaders, Musk and Ramaswamy, wielded influence under the Trump administration and are working with the Office of Management and Budget. It is clear that he will advise the president.
“This could potentially become a modern-day 'Manhattan Project,'” Trump said.
DOGE has a deadline. According to a statement from President Trump, construction is expected to be completed by July 4, 2026.
“A smaller government with more efficiency and less bureaucracy would be the perfect gift to America on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” he wrote.
Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy, also an entrepreneur, has supported Trump since suspending his presidential campaign in January.
Following this announcement, Mr. Ramaswamy said, said They will launch “crowdsourced examples” of fraud and waste and pursue “significant downsizing” of government. His first proposal is to defund programs that have not been reauthorized by Congress.
“We should not be forcing the government to spend money on expired programs, but that is exactly what is happening today. Every year, half a trillion dollars in taxpayer funds (more than $51.6 billion) are spent on programs that Congress has allowed to expire. is being invested in the program. It's just crazy that over 1,200 programs are still receiving funding even though they are no longer approved.Hundreds of billions of dollars can be saved each year by eliminating funding for government programs that Congress no longer approves. , we should do that,” he said. I wrote to X.
Musk said he was aiming to “remove a mountain of suffocating regulations that don't serve the greater good” but did not remove them immediately. Revealing details in his post about X.
At one point, Mr. Musk suggested that more than $2 trillion could be saved, nearly a third of total annual government spending.
DOGE could be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which governs how outside groups that advise the government operate and are accountable to the public.
Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements and divest significant holdings related to their jobs to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy are not official federal employees, so they do not face these requirements or ethical restrictions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
