Department of Government Efficiency? Trump picks Musk to crack down on bureaucracy
WASHINGTON – US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed tech billionaire Elon Musk as the head of a newly created advisory body that will purportedly “dismantle” bureaucracy and eliminate the government’s “wasteful expenditures”.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Trump said Musk will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, alongside biotech entrepreneur and one-time Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy. The special office will be established once Trump returns to the White House.
“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,” the Republican leader said.
Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual US$6.5 trillion dollars of government spending.
Trump believes, “a smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America”.
‘I need an Elon Musk’
Both Musk and Ramaswamy have been vocal supporters of Trump, with Musk having donated at least US$132 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and to his Republican allies, Fortune earlier reported.
The proposed office – whose acronym DOGE takes inspiration from the popular internet meme and Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency, the Dogecoin – will not be an official department sanctioned by the US Congress. It will be more akin to an advisory council or special commission than a government agency employing thousands.
Musk and Ramaswamy will work closely with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget, but will end their assignment on 4 July 2026, Trump said.
DOGE was the result of a conversation between Trump and Musk back in August after the Republican leader praised Musk for his ability to streamline his businesses and cut back on operational costs.
“You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump said. “I need an Elon Musk. I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts.”
Also Read: Is Elon Musk's pay package too much?
Musk’s hands-on approach
Since acquiring the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Musk has introduced sweeping – and often impulsive – changes to the business. His strategy at X included terminating 80% of the staff, from rank-and-file employees and engineers to key members of the C-Suite like former CEO Parag Agrawal.
Musk also famously demanded that X’s data centre in Sacramento, California be shuttered for good. The company was reportedly hemorrhaging US$100 million annually in operational costs.
When managers told Musk it would take six to nine months to relocate the servers to a new data centre, he insisted that the move be completed within 90 days. Dissatisfied with the pace of change, Musk and a few others from his inner circle at Tesla and SpaceX entered the Sacramento data centre on the night of Christmas eve. Using a pocket knife, Musk cut the cords of the servers one by one. The act reportedly disrupted X’s services in other parts of the US.
Musk promises to cut government spending for Trump administration
As an advisor to Trump, Musk is expected to lead an extensive audit of government spending and deliver on his promise to save the Trump administration $2 trillion, which is about a third of the government’s annual budget. He believes certain federal agencies with similar functions can be streamlined, if not eliminated outright.
Mocking Trump critics, Musk posted on X: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”
The tech mogul said DOGE “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people”.