Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- President-elect Trump appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, aiming to reduce government bureaucracy and spending by $2 trillion.
- The department, nicknamed DOGE, is expected to operate outside of government and could allow Musk and Ramaswamy to maintain private sector roles without Senate approval.
- Trump plans to request congressional authority for reorganizing federal agencies and may reinstate the “Schedule F” executive order to facilitate job eliminations within the federal workforce.
Detailed news
On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump appointed tech magnate Elon Musk and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. This appointment fulfills a campaign pledge to grant Musk comprehensive oversight of government expenditure.
In a statement posted to social media, Trump declared that the department would assist in the “dismantling of the Government Bureaucracy” and the reduction of unnecessary regulations. DOGE, the agency’s abbreviated name, is a play on words to refer to a metaphor and cryptocurrency that Musk is associated with.
“This will have a profound impact on the system and all individuals involved in government waste, which is a significant number of individuals.” In the statement issued by the transition team, Musk stated.
He also stated, “Is democracy at risk?” regarding X. No, the peril is to the bureaucracy!
Musk has declared his intention to reduce the federal budget by $2 trillion, which surpasses the discretionary budget of $1.7 trillion. Although he has targeted relatively minor recipients of federal funding, including the Education Department and NPR, he has not provided many specifics regarding the areas in which he would like to reduce spending.
Trump pledged to abolish the Department of Education during his campaign.
Musk has stated that the reductions would result in “temporary hardship” for certain individuals.
Ramaswamy has advocated for widespread cutbacks at federal agencies, a strategy that could circumvent legal safeguards that would otherwise shield the federal civil service from politically motivated reductions.
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, he stated on X this week that “if you simply mandated federal employees to work Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., like most Americans, you would see a mass exodus — probably a 25% thinning of the bureaucracy right there.”
Ramaswamy focused his presidential campaign during the Republican primaries on the repeal of federal agencies. His initial targets included the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Education Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Food and Nutrition Service within the Agriculture Department.
Trump stated on Tuesday that the new department would be located “outside of government.” He also provided guidance to White House officials regarding the restructuring of federal agencies. It is also probable that the agreement would enable Musk and Ramaswamy to continue their employment in the private sector and serve without Senate approval.
Trump expressed his desire for the department to assist in the implementation of “dramatic change” and compared its objectives to those of the World War II project to create atomic weapons.
“It has the potential to become the “Manhattan Project” of our era,” Trump stated. “For an extended period of time, Republican politicians have entertained fantasies regarding the objectives of ‘DOGE.'”
He established a deadline of July 4, 2026, for the department to complete its duties.
In his broader endeavors to reduce the size of the government, Trump may request that Congress grant him “presidential reorganization authority” under the Presidential Reorganization Act. This authority would enable him to consolidate, reorganize, or eliminate agencies within the executive branch. Congress granted a president this level of authority for the last time during the Reagan administration.
By re-signing his “Schedule F” executive order, Trump could also take steps to eliminate federal worker jobs. This order would reclassify tens of thousands of federal civil workers as political at-will positions, allowing for the installation of politically aligned workers or the removal of a portion of the federal workforce.
President Joe Biden rescinded the executive order that Trump enacted in October 2020.
The primary federal government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, has stated that it will furnish any required information to Trump’s new entity.
“GAO has previously collaborated and exchanged information with presidential or congressional commissions that were established to address the federal government’s programs and operations, as well as fiscal and other challenges.” Gene. L. Dodaro, United States Comptroller General and chief of the GAO, stated in a statement that the GAO will follow the same approach with any new commissions that are established and will be prepared to provide assistance to the new Congress and the Executive branch.
“GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, continues to investigate the expenditure of federal funds and offer lawmakers and agency heads professional, fact-based, objective recommendations to assist the government in reducing costs and increasing efficiency,” Dodaro continued.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is expected to assume a significant role in the oversight of public health issues during the upcoming Trump administration, stated in an interview with NBC News last week that he plans to dissolve numerous health departments within the executive branch.
He specifically targeted the “nutrition departments” at the Food and Drug Administration, asserting that they “must be eliminated.”
Trump’s announcement on Tuesday unites two of his most prominent surrogates from the technology sector, despite their drastically diverse backgrounds.
Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. He is also the proprietor of the social media platform X. Despite his inexperience in electoral politics, his super PAC allocated over $152 million to the election of Trump and other Republicans this year.
According to government data, SpaceX has $3.6 billion in contracts with federal agencies this year. It is unclear whether or not that expenditure is subject to potential reductions.
In January, Ramaswamy withdrew from the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race against Trump after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses. He is the proprietor of Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology corporation.
Trump did not immediately disclose the specifics of the partnership between the two individuals or the potential funding source for the department’s operations if it were to operate independently of the federal government.
Source: CNBC news
