New names for President–elect Donald Trump’s forthcoming administration are being announced daily, as he spent much of his first post-election week b
New names for President–elect Donald Trump’s forthcoming administration are being announced daily, as he spent much of his first post-election week behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, selecting cabinet members and other senior officials.
Today, Trump announced that Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in his incoming administration.
Musk—a major donor to Trump’s campaign—was widely speculated to take on a role in the administration. Since Trump’s election victory, Musk has reportedly been a regular presence at Mar-a-Lago.
Currently ranked by Forbes as the world’s wealthiest person, Musk is expected to benefit from Trump’s win, with the entrepreneur likely wielding significant influence to aid his companies and secure favourable government treatment.
Ramaswamy—a biotech investor—ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination before dropping out and endorsing him.
Not an Official Government Agency
Despite its title, the Department of Government Efficiency is not an official government agency. Such agencies require establishment through an act of Congress and typically employ tens of thousands of staff.
The acronym DOGE nods to Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. In today’s announcement, Trump explained that the DOGE initiative would help his administration “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies.”
The Goal of DOGE
Trump stated that Musk and Ramaswamy would operate outside government to provide external guidance to the White House on how to “drive large-scale structural reform.”
The two would collaborate with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to address “massive waste and fraud” within the $6.5 trillion in annual government spending.
Musk recently claimed he could identify more than $2 trillion in savings, approximately one-third of the total annual government budget, although he did not offer specifics.
Following the announcement, Musk posted on his social media platform X: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people.”
Musk pledged transparency, writing on X: “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency.”
According to Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy are expected to complete their work by 4 July (American Independence Day) 2026.
Meanwhile, Trump has nominated Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth, an Iraq war veteran with limited government experience, has been a vocal Trump supporter for several years.