President-elect Donald Trump continued to fill his administration at breakneck speed Tuesday night, tapping SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Despite the name, Trump clarified in a statement that the Musk-Ramaswamy effort would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government” in tandem with the White House and its Office of Management & Budget “to drive large scale [sic] structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”
The president-elect, 78, likened the effort to the Manhattan Project that produced the atomic bomb and quoted Musk, 53, as saying: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
“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,” Trump added.
Musk and the 39-year-old Ramaswamy, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, were widely rumored to be teaming up on whatever venture the president-elect decided for them.
One source familiar with the Trump transition team’s workings told The Post Tuesday that Ramaswamy had “been with Elon all week” since the 45th president won a second non-consecutive term by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
“SHUT IT DOWN,” Ramaswamy cryptically tweeted moments before Trump’s announcement.
“We will not go gently, @elonmusk,” he wrote on X, including Musk’s handle and an American flag emoji, shortly after the president-elect released his statement.
Ramaswamy, who had been floated as a possible replacement for Vice President-elect JD Vance in the US Senate, also announced that he is withdrawing himself from consideration for the soon to be open Ohio Senate seat.
The founder of Roivant Sciences dropped out of the GOP presidential race and endorsed Trump in January after a fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
Follow the latest on President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections:
Meanwhile, Musk explained in a social media post that “DOGE” – an initiative seemingly named after the widely-memed Shiba Inu dog that the X boss initially replaced Twitter’s bird logo with – will strive for “transparency.”
“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency,” he wrote. “Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!”
Musk also teased a “leaderboard” ranking the “most insanely dumb” ways taxpayer money is being spent.
“This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” he said.
Musk endorsed Trump for president in the moments after the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. The billionaire joined Trump on stage in Butler in October during the then GOP nominee’s return to the site of the attempt on his life.
The tech tycoon stumped for Trump at several swing state rallies leading up to Election Day and through his political action committee, offered daily, $1 million checks to swing-state residents who registered to vote and pledged to uphold the right to free speech and the right to bear arms.
Musk was by the president-elect’s side on election night in Palm Beach, Fla., as election results rolled in.
Trump indicated that he expects Musk and Ramaswamy to deliver meaningful results within the next two years.
“Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026 – 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,” the president-elect wrote. “I am confident they will succeed!”
