No one is coming out stronger from the 2024 Presidential election than X owner and billionaire Elon Musk. And that success is not just due to the potentially lucrative federal contracts he's set to snag or the legal protections Musk's ventures are taking on from his Republican alignment — he's gaining political power, too.
Announced by president-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 12, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — the pharmaceutical mogul and former Republican presidential hopeful — have been picked to lead a brand new agency tasked with "large scale structural reform" of the federal government. It'll be known as the "Department of Government Efficiency." (Yes, that's right, "DOGE.")
Trump likened the new venture to a modern Manhattan Project — the secret U.S. program that developed the atomic bomb, devastating Japanese civilian populations and changing warfare and international politics from WWII on. Under the new administration, DOGE appears to be a downsizing weapon in the war against "corruption" in the administrative state, helmed by what Ramaswamy and Musk call "a band of small-government revolutionaries."
But what exactly will this meme-mandated agency do under the new administration, and what will a more "efficient" government under Musk look like?
What will the 'Department of Government Efficiency' do?
Though its name suggests otherwise, the "Department of Government Efficiency" isn't a department at all, but rather a commission or advisory body consulting with the president on spending and regulations. While Congress retains oversight of large budgetary actions, advisory groups like DOGE can advise members under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and both Trump and Musk have said the agency would have the power to make some cuts.
Musk also claimed the agency would retain a publicly accessible scoreboard of its cuts, open for feedback, and a leaderboard of "most insanely dumb spending" of tax dollars. "The entertainment value will be epic," he said.
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DOGE's streamlining plans, helmed by the private sector, aren't a new concept for the federal government, nor is the notion of outside advisors aiding in the implementation of a president's vision, including Trump's "Save America" plan, unprecedented. The executive branch's current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is tasked with managing and coordinating the president's policy, budget, and regulatory objectives. Trump's picks, however, have been pegged to bring an "entrepreneurial approach" to government at an unprecedented scale, working alongside the OMB to make the government "smaller," according to the president-elect.
In Trump's words, this involves "dismantling government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies." In the announcement, the president-elect said the DOGE's work would last through July 4, 2026. Ramaswamy has said the pseudo-department's first task will be "crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, and abuse" from Americans at large.
The department's announcement has been met with a mix of support and derision from both parties. "I’m a Democrat for Government Efficiency," posted Democratic Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, in support of the announcement. Ramaswamy responded: "Welcome aboard to Americans for Government Efficiency!" Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren was more critical, swiping at the fact that DOGE will have two executives leading it. “The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person,” Warren said. “Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient.”
What is on the 'DOGE' chopping block?
The agency continues the regulatory shedding that became a beacon of Trump's previous presidential term, which targeted federal safety regulations, climate policy, and even space exploration. Boosted by Musk and Ramaswamy's own gusto for "streamlining" workforces (aka laying people off), most recently modeled under Musk's takeover of X/Twitter, the conservative shrinking is set to begin again.
Slashing of federal agencies
During his first term, Trump tried and failed to downsize more than a dozen federal agencies. Past comments from both Musk and Ramaswamy show an eagerness to carry on his mission and hit agencies first. Musk has previously said he would like to cut the number of agencies down from 400 to a striking 99.
Ramaswamy has previously alluded to the dismantling of the FBI, the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service; and, to mass outcry, the Department of Education. He's also said he would limit the power of the Federal Reserve.
A major part of the Trump campaign's goals, Musk has also publicly posted about eliminating the Department of Education, which he says isn't "great value for money."
Budget cuts and federal employee layoffs
The Trump administration has made a big show of supporting federal spending cuts, with Musk adding to the budget austerity cries with claims that he would help trim the federal spending by $2 trillion. Musk has since reposted several X threads positing examples of "ridiculous" spending, which include several public health campaigns and federal science grants.
In his own presidential campaign, Ramaswamy promised to cut 75 percent of the civilian federal workforce — or 1.7 million jobs — in order to diminish federal spending and trim waste.
Clearing of federal regulations
DOGE's leaders have both spoken out about loosening the chokehold of federal regulations within the last 24 hours.
"The world is suffering slow strangulation by overregulation. Every year, the noose tightens a little more. We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good," said Musk in a recent X post.
Ramaswamy cited several U.S. Supreme Court decisions in a claim that "eliminating bureaucratic regulations isn’t a mere policy preference. It’s a legal mandate."
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Musk, owner of transportation companies Tesla and SpaceX, has previously taken issue with the regulatory power of the Federal Aviation Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ramaswamy, founder of pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, called the Food and Drug Administration's "regulations hypocritical, harmful, and unconstitutional."
